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In 1935 (notably a year before the
events of Raiders of the Lost Ark), Indiana Jones
narrowly escapes the clutches of a crime boss in Shanghai. With
nightclub singer Willie Scott and his ten-year-old Chinese sidekick
Short Round in tow, Indiana flees Shanghai on a plane that, unbeknownst
to them, is piloted by the crime boss's affiliates. The pilots leave
the plane to crash over the Himalayas, though the trio manage to escape
on an inflatable boat and ride down the slopes into a raging river. The
trio come to a desolate village in India, where the poor villagers
believe them to have been sent by the Hindu god Siva and enlist their
help to retrieve a sacred Sivalinga
stone stolen from their shrine, as well as the community's kidnapped
children from evil forces in the nearby Pankot Palace. During the
journey to Pankot, Indiana hypothesizes that the stone may be one of
the five fabled Sankara stones, which promise fortune and glory.
The trio receive a warm welcome from
the residents of Pankot Palace, who rebuff Indiana's questions about
the villagers' claims and his theory that the ancient Thuggee cult is
responsible for their troubles. Later that night, however, Indiana is
attacked by a would-be assassin, leading him, Willie and Short Round to
an underground temple where the Thuggee worship the Hindu goddess Kali with human sacrifice.
The trio discover that the Thuggee, lead by their evil high priest Mola
Ram, are in possession of three of the five Sankara stones, and have
enslaved the children to mine for the final two stones, which they hope
will allow them to rule the world. As Indiana tries to retrieve the
stones, he, Willie and Short Round are captured and separated. Indiana
is forced to drink a potion called the "Blood of Kali," which places
him in a trance-like state called the "Black Sleep of Kali Ma," and
begins to mindlessly serve Mola Ram. Willie, meanwhile, is kept as a
human sacrifice, while Short Round is put in the mines to labor
alongside the enslaved children. Short Round breaks free and escapes
back into the temple where Willie is about to be lowered into a pit of
lava. He burns Indiana with a torch, shocking him out of the Black
Sleep. While Mola Ram escapes, Indiana and Short Round manage to save
Willie, retrieve the three Sankara stones and free the village children.
After a mine
cart
chase to escape the temple, the trio emerge aboveground only to be
cornered by Mola Ram and the Thuggee on a rope bridge over a
crocodile-infested river. Using a machete stolen from one of the
Thuggee warriors, Indiana cuts the rope bridge in half, leaving
everyone to hang on for their lives. In one final struggle against Mola
Ram for the Sankara stones, Indiana evokes an incantation, causing the
stones to glow red hot. Two of the stones fall into the river, while
the last falls into and burns Mola Ram's hand. Indiana catches the
now-cool stone while Mola Ram falls into the river below and is torn to
pieces by the crocodiles. A squadron of British riflemen from Pankot arrive
to apprehend the remaining Thuggee. Indiana, Willie and Short Round
return victoriously to the Indian village with their sacred Sankara
stone and missing children.
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