Inputs by Shreya Agarwal
Some years ago, I remember my grandfather getting me different Hindu mythological books. The language in those books was really easy to understand, as well as it had so many colourful pictures which made the books even more interesting. These books can be found at every book store and in every library, and are published by Gita Press.
Gita Press, a publication dedicated to books related to Indian mythology, is based in Gorakhpur. This year, it completed 100 years of operations.
It’s a very famous publication house of India. It’s well known for its enriching content, easy to understand language, picturesque images, and extremely affordable rates.
The cheapest book costs Rs 1 while the most expensive one is the Mahabharata (six volumes) costing Rs 1350.
Gita Press was started on 29th April 1923 by Jaya Dayal Goyenka and Ghanshyam Das Jalan.
Gita Press has a lot of stores throughout the country. They run a lot of mobile vans and public outlets to sell their books. Starting first with circulating 1600 copies, Gita Press is the largest producer of Hindu scriptures today. Till now they’ve sold:
· 1365 lakh copies of the Bhagvad Gita (in different editions)
· 1049 lakh copies of Ramcharitmanas and other works by Goswami Tulsidas
· 247 lakh copies of Puranas, Upanishads, and Ancient Scriptures
· 1089 lakh copies of small books for children
· 1553 lakh copies of Bhakta-Gathas (biographies of saints) and Bhajans
· 1337 lakh copies of other books
These alone account for a total of 68,28,00,000 copies sold!
Regular Magazines
Gita Press has two ongoing regular magazines.
The Hindi magazine called ‘Kalyan’ has been running ever since 1927. It was edited by ‘Bhaiji’ Hanuman Prasad Poddar. The magazine focuses on topics like devotion, knowledge, yoga, dharma, detachment, spirituality, meditation, true motive, good thought, good action etc.
It has approximately 250,000 subscribers.
A lot of times, its special issues have contained Hindi translations of Puranas.
Puranas like Garuda, Kurma, Vaman, and Vishnu were translated for the first time by the Press and these translations were published in the Kalyan magazine.
The Press translated the 24-hour recitation of the Ramcharitmanas, called the Akhand Paath, and put it in one of its special editions.
It was only after this that the Akhand Paath became popular among the people.
Their English magazine is called ‘Kalyan-Kalpataru’ and it was first published in 1934. It contains articles of various saints and scholars. It has over 100,000 subscribers.
Apart from Hindi and English, they’ve been publishing content in 13 other Indian languages like Sanskrit, Punjabi, Assamese, Tamil, etc.
Another thing that Gita Press is famous for is its artwork. Mostly Vaishnav artwork is characterised by its fluid lines, soft hues, and divine expressions in the eyes.
Images: www.gitapress.org
Mumbai Samachar
This June, Mumbai Samachar completed 200 years of publication. This makes it the oldest continuously published newspaper in India.
It was a weekly till 1832, a bi-weekly till 1855, and has been a daily since then.
On 14th June, 2022, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi participated in the event to mark 2 centuries of publication.
The paper is published in Gujarati.
Image Credit: Wikipedia
