Maya

- Season 1

(1967)

An American teenager, Terry Bowen, travels to Bombay, India to join his father, a renowned hunter. Upon disembarking from his ship, Terry is told by the American Counsel that his father is missing and presumed killed by the man-eating tiger he and his tracker were hired to kill. Terry refuses to believe that his father is dead and rather than return to the United States decides to search for him. He is helped by Raji, an Indian orphan with a pet elephant named Maya who he believes is the reincarnation of his mother and is wanted by the authorities for stealing the ...

Terry Bowen hears a story about a great hunter, a very tall man like his father, is living in a remote town called Allapur. Terry insists on checking out the rumor despite meeting a dying man on the road who warns that the town is evil. Terry discovers that the town is rule with an iron fist by a tyrant who treats the inhabitants as virtual slaves and decides to end the man's misrule.

Terry and Raji fend off a tiger who attacks their campsite. When the tiger disappears into the bush, Terry thinks he sees a boy following in her wake. Raji scoffs at the notion until he and Terry catch the youngster stealing his rifle. They discover that the wild boy has been raised by tigers and regards himself as part of the pride. When Maya is forced to kill one of the tigers, Terry and Raji discover the lengths the boy will go to exact vengeance.

While attending a movie in Bombay, Terry spots a newspaper photograph of a close associate of his father. While searching for the man in the photograph, Terry and Raji accidentally stumble upon a murderous smuggling ring. The teenagers find themselves pursued not only by the local police, but criminal cutthroats as well.

Maya disappears after being wounded by an ivory hunter and he tracks her to finish the job. Terry and Raji are frantic, begging a retired British Colonel Meredith to help them find their elephant friend.

The boys meet a prince who's a perfect double for Raji, that wants to experience their freedom. In a Prince-and-the-Pauper turn, they change places, only to find that his highness's evil uncle schemes to overthrow him after a mystic birthday ceremony.

Raji is bitten by a venomous snake and comes under the care of local villagers. Terry learns they are being terrorized by an evil spirit and decides to repay their kindness by exposing who's behind the ill fortune befalling them.

While visiting a village to give Maya an elephant pedicure, Terry and Raji are caught in the middle of bandit raid. While trying to defend the townspeople, Terry is seriously wounded. Raji brings his wounded companion to the home of a retired British major for help. When the bandits attack the major's compound, Terry recovers sufficiently to join the battle while Raji tries to locate an Indian army patrol for help.

While visiting a friend of his father, the mayor of a small Indian village, Terry gets involved when a smooth-talking swindler sells the townsfolk to a broken down bus. Terry fixes the cut fuel line, but that's just the beginning of the vehicle's mechanical issues. With the assistance of Raji and the use of Maya's considerable strength and the villagers assistance, Terry sets about returning the bus to the crook.

Raji urges Terry to visit a holy man for information about his missing father. While the teenagers visit his temple, a thief and his accomplice steal a golden religious statue and attack a priest. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Terry and Raji are arrested for the crimes. Maya helps the youngsters escape from jail and the mob waiting for them to kill them, so they can recover the statue and clear their names.

Raji and Terry spot a plane with engine trouble and race to the spot where it crashed. They find the injured pilot hanging from his parachute in a tree and cut him down. The rescued man turns out to be a diamond smuggler with an injured leg and a big gun who forces the teenagers to carry him into the Himalayas and away from police pursuit.

After escaping from the authorities with Maya's assistance, Terry and Raji travel to a small village in search of a relative of the tracker who worked with Terry's missing father. Although they can't find any information, they do make the acquaintance of a beautiful princess and, with more help from Maya, push her car back on the road. They learn she is being forced into an arranged marriage although she loves a student who is attending college far away. The boys try to facilitate the young couple's romance.

Terry and Raji continue their search, joining a traveling circus for a time. They are unaware that Mirrcan, the magician, is plotting to abduct Maya and use her to smuggle gold. He must eliminate Terry and Raji to accomplish this.

While visiting the close friend of Terry's father, Terry and Raji witness a fight that results in the accidental death of a man who was attempting to force his unwanted attentions on a woman. The dead man's father swears vengeance, destroying the waterwheel Terry built to irrigate crops and burning the family's home. Events become worse when the dead man's father refuses to drive a family bitten by a rabid dog to a doctor and he summons the police to arrest Terry and Raji when they agree to carry the child to a hospital.

A ruthless Australian and Indian pair of thieves attempt to plunder a remote temple of it's hidden riches by tunneling under it. They trick the boys and Maya into helping them.

During an attempted kidnapping, Raji is mistaken for the son of a wealthy aristocrat and abducted by accident. Terry fears that if Raji's true identity is discovered the crooks will kill him.. Terry attempts to rescue his friend, but to complicate matters, Maya refuses to eat without Raji to keep her company.

A donkey driver rescues Terry when he is blown over the edge of a cliff. To repay him for his kindness, Terry and Raji agree to tend the animals while he visits his cousin in a nearby village. Terry witnesses a murder, he and Raji decide to leave the area to escape police entanglements, but when the boys learns Terry's rescuer has been arrested for the crime, the youngsters risk their freedom to testify at the accused man's trial.

Terry (Jay North) receives a tip that his father may be hospitalized in a remote hospital, but discovers the lead was false. Devastated, Terry runs off and Raji finds his friend in a state of near catatonic depression. Seeking medical assistance, Raji meets an American doctor who has set up a clinic to treat the poor people living in the neighborhood and seeks his help restoring Terry to his normal cheerful self. Meanwhile, an American reporter seeks the whereabouts of a famous Nobel prize winning scientist who disappeared fifteen years earlier.