Amar Chitra Katha

Amar Chitra Katha is a comic book series from India that sought to retell stories from Indian mythology, history, folklore, and culture in illustrated format.

The Early Years

The series was the brainchild of the renowned educationist and writer, Anant Pai. Pai, a former journalist with the Times of India was once appalled when students at a Quiz contest could answer questions related to Greek mythology easily but could not answer a simple question from the Ramayana, the Indian epic. This was in 1967, and Pai, already on the verge of striking out on his own in the publishing scene left his job and started Amar Chitra Katha the same year. He was helped by G.L Mirchandani of India Book House, when most other publishers from Allied Publishers to Jaico Publishing House had rejected the concept. India Book House became the de facto distributors of the series. This humble venture went on to become a publishing milestone for the Indian comic book scene, selling over 86 million copies of 436 titles.

Initially, the Mirchandanis were wary of two things—copyright issues and offending Indian sensibilities and so the first ten issues of Amar Chitra Katha were based on popular fairy tales India Book House had the rights to, like Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk. Meanwhile, Pai along with artist Ram Waeerkar worked on a comic that would be true to his vision of what Amar Chitra Katha was all about. Krishna was released in 1969 in English and Hindi, and was an instant bestseller. This was followed by other popular tales from Indian mythology such as Shakuntala, Hanuman, Ramayana, and The Pandava Princes, among others. The lucid storytelling and the vivid artwork, inspired by the imagery of the nineteenth century artist Raja Ravi Verma proved immensely popular.

People

Writers like Kamala Chandrakant, Margie Sastry, Subba Rao and C.R Sharma joined the creative team of Amar Chitra Katha, with Pai taking on the role of editor and co-writer on most scripts. The notable illustrators, other than Waeerkar, were Dilip Kadam, Souren Roy, C.D Rane, Geoffrey Fowler and Pratap Mullick.

The Comics

The original printings of Amar Chitra were not in full colour—because of budgetary constraints, the panels were printed using yellow, blue and green. Subsequent issues, however, changed to full colour. All Amar Chitra Katha books stuck to a monthly (later fortnightly) 30-page format, with emphasis on lucid, entertaining storylines. The only attempt at a serialized story was the 42-issue rendition of The Mahabharata and the nine-volume Bhagawat Purana, based on the story of Krishna ( individual issues of both these stories had both been published before).

Occasionally there were "bumper" issues with 90 pages, most collecting stories of a similar type from individual issues( Example: Monkey Stories From The Hitopadesha, Tales of Birbal) and some being longer stories ( Example: Jesus Christ, The Story of Rama). As the mythological stories became more popular, the team began to publish stories based on Indian history, of men and women belonging to different regions and religions and also on stories based on Sanskrit as well as regional classics. The continuous popularity of the comics led to reprints being issued frequently, which ensured that the back-issues remained in print throughout the seventies and the eighties. At the height of its popularity, in the mid-eighties, it had been translated into Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Punjabi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Sanskrit and Urdu and selling a million copies every fortnight. Some titles were also translated into French, Spanish, German, Swahili, Fijian, Bahasa, and Serbo-Croat.

Towards the mid-nineties, the original comics were reprinted in sleeker and more durable editions, with thick cardstock covers and better colour separations. A revised numbering system was also introduced for these newer editions, increasing the number of titles to above 700. These editions are the ones still sold online and in bookstores to this day.

Cultural Significance

Amar Chitra Katha was launched at a time when Indian society was slowly moving away from the traditional joint family system, because of (among other things) socio-economic constraints and urbanization. In a joint family system, grandparents would regale the children of the household with tales from folklore and the epics, and the Amar Chitra Katha series served to fill the lacuna left by grandparents in the smaller nuclear families in urban areas. The choice of English as the primary language led it to reach the majority of children who studied in English medium schools.

Later, when the comic veered towards history, it proved very helpful to students. For most, Indian history, a jumble of names and dates, came alive as stories. The detailed research of architecture, costumes, regional flavours and facts ensured that the comics were widely accepted into the mainstream, both parents and teachers using them as educational aids. To an extent, these books, with their homogenized and unbiased character descriptions went a long way in promoting national integration and increasing inter-provincial awareness throughout the country.

It should be mentioned that the series steered clear of controversy, taming down content and violence and adhering to strict self-censorship. The stories might also be termed excessively Indocentric and idealistic, and hence might not be "history", per se.

An Incomplete List of Titles

Comic ID	Title
69	Agastya
78	Shridatta
96	Sharan Kaur
100	Purushottam Dev and Padmavati
116	Kadambari
121	Veer Dhaval
134	Babur
181	Guru Har Gobind
227	Sadhu Vaswani
229	Shankar Dev
230	Hemu
236	Bahaman Shah
259	The Miraculous Conch and a Game of Chess
282	The taming of Gulla
284	Albert Einstein
285	Joymati
287	The Pious Cat and other tales
289	The Elusive Kaka
292	Chokha Mela
295	Guru Arjan
296	Mahamati Prannath
298	Damaji Pant and Narhari
302	Dhola and Maru
303	Senapati Bapat
325	Jagadis Chandra Bose
328	Rajbala
330	Vidut Chora
330	Vidyut Chora
348	The Birth of Indian National Congress - I
398	Chennamma of Keladi
403	Narayana guru
421	Krishna: The Lord of Dwaraka
430	An Exciting Find
432	The Indus Valley Adventure
501	Krishna
502	Hanuman
503	The Sons of Rama
504	Rama
505	The Gita
506	Shiva and Parvati
507	Nala Damayanti
508	Chanakya
509	Ganesha
510	Buddha
511	Savitri
512	Tales of Vishnu
513	Hanuman to the Rescue
514	Tales of Durga
515	Ganga
516	Krishna and Rukmini
517	Vivekananda
518	Krishna and Jarasandha
519	Elephanta
520	Tales of Narada
521	Angulimala
522	Krishna and Narakasura
523	Raman of Tenali
524	Indra and Shibi
525	Tales of Arjuna
526	Mahiravana
527	Bheema and Hanuman
528	Kumbhakarna
529	Karttikeya
530	Shakuntala
531	Karna
532	Sudama
533	Abhimanyu
534	Bheeshma
535	Mirabai
536	Ashoka
537	Prahlad
538	The Churning of the 0cean
539	Rani of Jhansi
540	Panchatantra - The Jackal and the War Drum
541	The Lord of Lanka
542	Draupadi
543	Jataka Tales - Monkey Stories
544	Subhas Chandra Base
545	Birbai the Wise
546	Vali
547	Garuda
548	Rabindranath Tagore
549	Tales of Shiva
550	Sati and Shiva
551	Tulsidas
552	Tansen
553	Jataka Tales - Jackal Stories
554	Jataka Tales - Elephant Stories
555	Jataka Tales - Deer Stories
556	Hitopadesha - Choice of Friends
557	Birbal the Witty
558	Birbal the Clever
559	Birbal the Just
560	Panchatantra - How the Jackal ate the Elephant
561	Panchatantra - Crows and Owls
562	Panchatantra - The Brahmin and the Goat
563	Rana Pratap
564	Shivaii
565	Drona
566	Surya
567	Indra and Shachi
568	Vikramaditya
569	Malavika
570	Dasharatha
571	Dhruva and Ashtavakra
572	Ancestors of Rama
573	Jataka Tales - Bird Stories
574	Jataka Tales - The Magic Chant
575	Jataka Tales -- The Giant and the Dwarf
576	Jataka Tales - The Mouse Merchant
577	Harishchandra
578	Kesari The Flying Thief
579	Madhvacharya
580	Birbal the Inimitable
580	Fa Hien
581	Raman The Matchless Wit
582	Mahabharata
583	Panchatantra- The Greedy Mother-in-law
584	Gopal the Jester
585	Panchatantra- The Dullard and other stories
586	Jataka Tales - Stories of Wisdom
587	Birbal the Genius
588	Guru Gobind Singh
589	Krishna and Shishupala
590	Guru Nanak
591	The Syamantaka Gem
592	Ghatotkacha
593	The Pandavas in Hiding
594	Mahavira
595	Sri Ramakrishna
596	Raja Bhoja
597	Tales of Shivaji
598	Vikramaditya's Throne
599	Vishwamitra
600	Kalidasa
601	Tales of Sai Baba
602	The Quick-Witted Birbal
603	Akbar
604	Prithviraj Chauhan
605	Padmini
606	Rani Durgavati
607	A Bag of Gold Coins
608	Bhagat singh
609	Friends and Foes - Animal Tales from the Mohabhorata
610	Ravana Humbled
611	Babasaheb Ambedkar
612	Urvashi
613	Soordas
614	Jataka Tales - True Friends
615	Jataka Tales -Stories of Courage
616	Jataka Tales - Tales of Misers
617	Jataka Tales - The Hidden Treasure
618	Birbal to the Rescue
619	Jataka Tales - Nandivishala
620	Hitopadesha - How Friends are Parted
621	Udayana
622	The Tiger and the Woodpecker
623	Kabir
624	Dayananda
625	Battle of Wits
626	The Pandava Princes
627	Harsha
628	Ramana Maharshi
629	Uloopi
630	Rana Sanga
631	Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
632	Vidyasagar
633	Tales of Maryada Rama
634	Chandragupta Maurya
635	Amrapali
636	Krishnadeva Raya
637	Yayati
638	King Shalivahana
639	Krishna and The False Vasudeva
640	Paurava and Alexander
641	Gopal and the Cowherd
642	Shah Jahan
643	Ratnavali
644	Gandhari
645	Lokmanya Tilak
646	The Pandit and the Milkmaid and other Tales told by Ramakrishna
647	Lal Bahadur Shastri
648	Samudra Gupta
649	Tales from the Upanishads
650	Mahatma Gandhi - The early days
651	Baddu and Chhotu
652	Aruni and Uttanka - Tales from the Mahabharata
653	Jayadratha
654	Tales of Balarama
655	Anand Math
656	Adi Shankara
657	Vasantasena
658	Jahangir
659	Devi Choudhurani
660	Ajatashatru
661	Kacha and Devayani
662	The Learned Pandit - Tales told by Sri Ramaknshna
663	Aniruddha - A Tale from the Bhagawat
664	King Kusha - A Buddhist Tale
665	The Deadly Feast - A JatakaTale
666	Kannagi - Based on a Tamil Classic
667	Bikal the Terrible - Folktales from Madhya Pradesh
668	The Acrobat - Buddhist Tales
669	Ashvini Kumars - Tales from the Vedas
670	The Golden Mongoose
671	The Cowherd of Alawi
672	The Priceless Gem - A Jataka Tale
673	Ayyappan
674	Vasavadatta
675	Mangal Pande
676	Rana Kumbha
677	Magic Grove
678	Veer Savarkar
679	Swam Pranavananda
681	Amar Singh Rathor
682	Tanaji
683	Bahubali
684	Lachit Barphukan
685	Chand Bibi
686	Chandra Shekhar Azad
687	Panna and Hadi Rani
688	Bimbisara
689	Tripura
690	Lalitaditya
691	Hiuen Tsang
692	Veer Hammir
693	Jayaprakash Narayan
694	Guru Tegh Bahadur
695	Nahusha
696	The Historic City of Delhi
697	Chandrahasa
698	Ram Shastri
699	Jagdish Chandra Bose
700	Jawaharlal Nehru
701	Noor Jahan
702	Nachiketa
703	Tales of Yudhishthira
704	Jallianwallah bagh
705	Bappa Rawal
706	Sakshi Gopal
707	The Tiger-Eater
708	Subramania Bharati
709	Jagannatha of Puri
710	The Fearless Boy and other Buddhist Tales
711	Celestial Necklace
712	Andhaka
713	Fool's Disciples
714	The Queen's Necklace
715	Ramanuja
716	Adventures of Agad Datta
717	Baladitya and Yashodharma
718	Basaveshwara
719	Chandralalat
720	Kapala Kundala
721	Rash Behari bose
722	Megasthenes
723	Jnaneshwar
724	Bagha Jatin
725	Sultana Razia
726	Ranjit Singh
727	Raja Raja Chola
728	Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das
729	Bajirao
730	Shrenik - Jain tales
731	Ellora Caves
732	Swami Chinmayananda
733	GD Birla
734	banda bahadur
?	Bhanumati
?	Hari Singh Nalwa
?	Para Shukoh and Aurangzeb
?	Parashurama
?	Pareekshit
?	Prabhavat
?	Prince Hritadhwaja
?	Pundalik and Sakhu
?	Ranak Devi
?	Rani Abbakka
?	Sea Route to India
?	Sukhu and Dukhu
?	Tarabai
?	The Battle for Srinagar
?	The Glory of Rashtrakootas
?	The Rainbow Prince
?	The Secret of the Talking Bird
?	The True Conqueror
?	Tipu Sultan
?	Valmiki
	Bhagawat - krishna avatar
	dasha avatar
	Ramayana
	Sati Savitri
	Shalivahana
	Thyagaraja

External links

• The official Amar Chitra Katha site
• Desi Knowledge - Amar Chitra Katha source in USA