THE WORLD OF AMAR CHITRA KATHA

by Frances W. Pritchett

Columbia University

The Indian comic book industry is large and growing, with comic books in English
an especially popular product. Comics based on traditional Hindu mythological tales and
historical figures seem to sell particularly well; they find markets not only in India, but in the
West as well, among Indian immigrants. The purchasers tend to be adult, well-off and
educated--the kind of people who want their children to read in English, and also want to assure
them access to a cultural tradition that otherwise may seem increasingly remote. For the second-
generation Indian-American students I teach here at Columbia, such “Classics Illustrated”
comics have replaced grandmothers as the primary source of stories about India. While these
comics are normally bought and presented by adults, our students remember reading them
eagerly and with real enjoyment.
This flourishing genre has been dominated since the end of the 1960s by a single
series, Amar Chitra Katha (“immortal illustrated story”), originally conceived and still edited by
Anant Pai of IBH (India Book House) in Bombay. According to Anant Pai, however, the series
had its real origin not in Bombay but in Delhi. There, in 1967, Pai had his first chance to watch
television. As a government enterprise, television started in Delhi and only later came to the rest
of the country. What fascinated Pai most was a quiz show for children. It fascinated him, that is,
until a young boy was asked a question that turned Pai’s delight to consternation:
They could answer every question about Greek mythology. . . . But in Delhi, mind
you, where every year they enact the Ramlila--for ten long days they enact scenes
from the Ramayana--the youngster could not answer the question, “Who is the
mother of Ram?”1
On Pai’s return to Bombay, where he was on the editorial staff of IBH, other
children commanded his attention. Since he and his wife have none of their own, these were
nephews and nieces whom he encouraged, during their summer vacation, to try their hands at a
monthly magazine. The children who produced “Family News” had never seen much of the
world beyond Bombay; nonetheless they produced a story about a boy named Robert who lived
in Warrington, a small English village near Birmingham. Robert wanted to be someone, and
managed to get himself out of his village and off to London. Pai recalls thinking that something
was wrong somewhere. “Their libraries were filled with books that came from England. I
thought I must do something about it.”
And so he did. The publisher at IBH, H. G. Mirchandani, had tried the year before to
float Hindi translations of “Classics Illustrated” comics, but the effort had failed. Pai had
predicted as much. He had once worked on the comic strip “The Phantom” at the Times of India,
and knew that the real sales for such a product were in the English-language market. Now
Mirchandani was ready to let Pai try out his own suggestion: not Western classics in Indian
languages, but Indian classics in English. Thus, in 1967, Amar Chitra Katha began publication.
 IBH was a book-publishing firm that showed little initiative in this new kind of
marketing, so Pai remembers doing a good bit of stumping for Amar Chitra Katha. On one
occasion he violated numerous taboos by putting up a display rack in a restaurant with his own
hands--an amazing action for a white-collar worker and a Kerala Brahmin (Gangadhar
1988:139). Later he demonstrated the value of Amar Chitra Katha as a learning tool by giving
free copies to schools and arranging for students to be tested on what they read. The results were
spectacular, and many school libraries became subscribers. The emphasis on annual
subscriptions, so that the comics were received regularly through the mail like magazines, was
another innovative part of Amar Chitra Katha’s vision.
Success came slowly. The first volume in the series, “Krishna,” which by the late
1980’s had sold over half a million copies, was printed in an edition of only 10,000, and in the
first two or three years even those took a long time to sell.2 In its earliest days, the series
endeavored to bring out one new comic a month.3 The earliest titles were to be produced in
“English, Hindi, Kannada, Gujarati, Telugu and Marathi,”4 but so demanding a program was
obviously hard to sustain. For the first few years the series lost money, but then its popularity
began steadily increasing. Now sales are very satisfactory, especially for the English versions,
which sell out and must constantly be reprinted. Moreover, sales of the English versions abroad
are growing rapidly.5 In 1986 IBH claimed to have sold a total of fifty million copies since the
series began (India Book House 1986). In October 1988 the claim was raised to “over 75 million
copies sold” (406:front cover); by 1993, “over 78 million copies sold” (563:inside front cover).
For the recent Festival of India based in France, sixteen issues were translated into French. A
recent cover (1992) claims that some translations have been made into “38 languages of the
world.” By the 1980’s, the series was bringing out a new comic not once a month but once a
fortnight, with much fanfare and extensive internal advertisement in other Amar Chitra Katha
issues.
Every issue is first produced in English and is then translated into various regional
languages as sales potential seems to warrant. Pai and his staff have claimed (to Hawley) that
the languages regularly represented include Hindi, Marathi, Assamese, Kannada, Bengali,
Malayalam, and Gujarati, with occasional translations into Tamil, Telugu, Panjabi, Urdu, and
Sanskrit. This may be true, in principle. But K. T. Mirchandani told me that English is the
primary language of distribution, with Hindi the only regular and really numerically significant
Indian language. Observation in the North tends to bear him out. Not only individual issues and
annual subscriptions are available, but also various collections of issues, bound into books; most
of these are in English, with Hindi running second. In the late 1980s the emphasis was on pre-
planned “mini-series” groupings; these will be considered at greater length below.
In part because of such innovative marketing techniques, Amar Chitra Katha was
going strong by the mid-1970s. In 1975, notice was taken of it in a UNESCO publication. In
1976, it attracted a very different sort of attention. The issue “Valmiki” (46), published in that
year, repeated the traditional story of the Brahman Valmiki’s early career as a thief, before he
composed his Ramayana. This deeply offended the Valmiki Sabha, a group in the Punjab
seeking to change their caste identity from sweeper to “Balmik”: maintaining that Valmiki was
neither a Brahman nor a thief, they actually attempted to sue Pai for libel. Though the legal case
never got off the ground, Pai was burned in effigy in Jalandhar and Patiala. He showed a great
desire for conciliation, and the controversy eventually died down. But Pai soon removed the
issue on Valmiki from circulation--first the Hindi version, then the English. He waited quite
some time before attempting another issue that raised the question of untouchability; when

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“Chokhamela” (292) came out in 1983 and “Ravidas” (350) in 1986, Pai and his staff took
extreme care not to offend the sensibilities of lower-caste readers.
Since the mid-1970s, and in some cases even before, great caution has been shown in
preparing issues about characters from other minority communities as well. Pai and his staff
point out that whenever an issue involving Sikh characters is drafted, an expert consultant on
beards is employed. To show respect for Sikh feelings, the issue “Guru Nanak” (47), for
example, depicts the holy man with a halo around his head from infancy, a distinction not
accorded to Kabir or even Krishna. The treatment of Muslim characters will be discussed below.
The complex problems of trying to satisfy conflicting demands from different groups will be
studied in detail in John S. Hawley’s discussion (next chapter) of the six comics dealing with the
great figures of the North Indian bhakti tradition: “Guru Nanak” (47), “Kabir” (55), “Tulsidas”
(62), “Soordas” (137), “Guru Ravidas” (350)--and above all “Mirabai” (36).
Many titles in the series display the following pledge: “Amar Chitra Katha are
brought out by people --who care for children; --who screen each word and each picture as they
have a lasting impact on impressionable minds; --for whom Chitra Katha is more a vehicle of
education than a business” (140:32). Pai obviously takes his role as an educator seriously. No
doubt inspired by the success of Amar Chitra Katha, he now also runs a wholesome fortnightly
“all-comics” magazine for young children called Tinkle (apparently started in November 1980,
with monthly “digests” from it now available in bookstalls), and a magazine for older children
called Partha (apparently started in September 1986). Both are frequently advertised in Amar
Chitra Katha issues. Partha in particular is designed “to awaken the winner in you” (369:inside
back cover). It is touted as “the self development
magazine,” “devised and edited by your own Uncle Pai.” Subscribers are promised
a free copy of Pai’s book The PARTHA Way to Success, and long-term subscribers receive a
cassette that accompanies the book (361:33). The book interprets the word “Partha” as an
acronym for the real secrets of success: “Positive thinking; Aim; Restraints; Training; Hard
work; Abiding interest” (Pai 1986:5).6 Amar Chitra Katha issues also advertise the Partha
Institute of Personality Development, in which “responsible parents” are urged to enroll their
twelve- to sixteen-year-old children (333:inside back cover). Amar Chitra Katha is thus part of a
loosely integrated entertainment and self-improvement empire that has been come to span a
number of media: comics, children’s books, audio cassettes, magazines, correspondence
courses, and recently even a videotape.
Pai’s sustained, much-imitated, twenty-five-year-long oeuvre now includes well over
five hundred comic books, with no end in sight. No doubt because this immense body of work
presents itself as a lastingly valuable “vehicle of education,” the series maintains the firm official
position that all of its constantly expanding repertoire of titles are truly amar, “undying.” K. T.
Mirchandani told me that all the (English) titles are periodically reprinted, so that the whole
series is (in principle) kept constantly in print.7 This is also the assumption of catalogues for the
series, which list issues going back to the earliest.
Yet in practice sales do matter. Pai has said that an issue must sustain annual sales
of at least 8,000 to 10,000 copies to be kept in print. One hundred eight regular issues that meet
this criterion are listed in his “Editor’s Choice” catalogue. The catalogue claims that “the Editor
has selected the following 108 as the best ones in the series”--not, it should be noted, the best-
selling--and the number 108, which Hindus consider auspicious, already suggests that something
more elevated than sales figures is involved. (In the 1990s ads often extol “Deluxe Editions”--
with heavier cardboard covers and thicker paper--of “the best 50” titles.) With the three-title

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“Bumper Issues,” a more conspicuous sleight of hand is practiced: when one such issue is
allowed to go out of print because of poor sales, another with the same number replaces it, so
that the impression of a continuous series is maintained.
But if sales matter, it is still possible for other considerations to outweigh them. Pai
has often been urged to do an issue on the relatively new and very popular goddess Santoshi
Mata; such an issue would surely sell well, for much of her constituency is drawn from the urban
literate middle-class world to which Pai has the best access. Yet he steadfastly refuses, for he
does not approve of her. He considers the theology of Santoshi Mata retrograde and undesirable:
she punishes her most faithful worshiper cruelly for a flaw in her food offerings (sour food
substituted for sweet)--a flaw for which the devotee could hardly be blamed, since she was
unaware of it. This is not, in Pai’s view, an edifying way for a deity to behave. As he put it, a
“punitive god” such as this would “hurt the sentiments of any intelligent Hindu.” The tension
between financial and educational values is thus a powerful one; it amounts to a constant tug-of-
war between competing goals. This tension was also reflected in the increasing presence of
advertisements in the comic books in the late 1980’s--a presence apparently acceptable to Pai,
though some of his staff had serious reservations about it. (The new Deluxe Editions advertise
only IBH publications.)
Moreover, in the years since the incident with the Valmiki Sabha, Pai has become
increasingly sensitive to the responsibilities imposed by Amar Chitra Katha’s emerging
canonicity. When he reflects on the problem, he is apt to highlight its scholarly aspect, recalling
especially a moment when on a trip to Delhi in 1975 he overheard a disagreement between two
highly placed government officials about a point having to do with the Ramayana. To settle the
argument, they turned to an Amar Chitra Katha comic book. Pai was taken aback, and resolved
thereafter to be as exact in his scholarship as possible. However, this goal often conflicts with
one of Pai’s general maxims, the Sanskrit phrase satyam brūyāt priyam brūyāt mā brūyāt
satyam apriyam, which he quotes with approval. His translation: “You must tell the truth; you
must tell what is pleasant. And that which is unpleasant--just because it is true, you need not say
it.”
Pai and his staff thus create each issue in a field of tensions: sales versus educational
values; scholarly accuracy versus the need to appease particular interest groups; a commitment
to Indian history versus a commitment to national integration. And Pai addresses all these
complexities in the comic-book medium--a medium with its own potent qualities, its own effects,
its own opportunities and constraints. The result is a fascinating phenomenon, the product of a
complex series of choices.

A TAXONOMY OF THE “GLORIOUS HERITAGE OF INDIA”

Amar Chitra Katha prides itself especially on its completeness and scope. Parents
are urged again and again to use the series to acquaint their children with “the cultural heritage
of India.” The series boasts of its power: “Amar Chitra Katha bring to life personages and
events from the musty pages of Indian history” (171:back cover). The claim of universality,
addressed not to children but to parents, is sweeping and explicit: “You want your children to
know all about the culture of India. Amar Chitra Katha takes you on a trip right down to the
roots of your heritage” (188:inside back cover). In December 1987, “Amar Chitra Katha--the
Route to your Roots,” was used on an advertising flyer inserted into at least one issue (395). A
1988 “Editor’s Choice” catalogue offered “the quintessence of Indian culture and folklore.” In
March 1988, the claim became even more ambitious: “Amar Chitra Katha...5000 years of

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India’s mythology, history, legend--the very soul of Indian culture--packed in volumes of 32
colourful pages” (399:inside back cover).
Such claims make it especially interesting to look at the ways in which the series
organizes and presents itself. By now, after over two decades of increasingly successful
publication, Amar Chitra Katha consists of well over 500 titles. Since many of the earlier issues
are constantly being reprinted, the claims of the series to unity and universal scope are dinned
into the reader’s brain. Thirteen thousand pages are surely enough to define a universe. What
does the series include--and, perhaps even more to the point, what does it exclude? How does
Amar Chitra Katha define “the very soul of Indian culture”?
In its catalogues, Amar Chitra Katha analyzes itself into a number of seemingly
arbitrary (and often overlapping) categories--which nevertheless appear to remain stable over
time. The most recent full catalogue that I have been able to obtain (India Book House 1986)
uses the following taxonomy: “Mythology” (90 titles); “Sanskrit Classics” (12 titles); “Regional
Classics” (13 titles); “Teachers and Saints” (27 titles); “Poets and Musicians” (7 titles); “Folk
Tales and Legends” (56 titles); “Buddhist Tales” (24 titles); “Jaina Tales” (6 titles); “Tales from
Ancient Indian History” (14 titles); “Tales from Medieval Indian History” (5 titles); “The
Mughals and their Adversaries” (10 titles); “The Rajputs” (7 titles); “The Marathas” (6 titles);
“The Sikhs” (8 titles); “Heroes who Fought the British” (2 titles); “The Indian Revolutionaries”
(5 titles); “Glimpses of 1857” (4 titles); “Monuments and Battles” (3 titles); “Great Women of
India” (13 titles); “Makers of Modern India” (13 titles); “Scientists and Doctors” (4 titles).8
If the taxonomic divisions are worthy of attention, the issue numbers themselves are
also suggestive. In a series like this, conceived from the beginning in ambitious and idealistic
terms, the lowest-numbered titles must surely lie at the heart of things. The first ten titles are:
“Krishna” (11), “Shakuntala” (12), “The Pandava Princes”9 (13), “Savitri” (14), “Rama” (15),
“Nala Damayanti” (16), “Harishchandra” (17), “The Sons of Rama” (18), “Hanuman” (19), and
“The Mahabharata”10 (20). Some of these titles are apparently now being reissued under new
numbers as well, starting with “Krishna” (501) and “Hanuman” (502) (563:back cover).
But readers need not buy according to catalogue headings or issue number alone, for
the series practices much more concrete forms of self-classification. Amar Chitra Katha titles
are not only sold individually and by annual subscription, but are also grouped by IBH into
larger, more book-like units. One can order a series of deluxe hardbound volumes containing the
whole series bound sequentially in sets of ten. Or one can choose from a group of 40 “Bumper
Issues,” each containing three related titles bound together. Or one can buy any of 10
hardbound, nicely produced “Navaratna Deluxe” volumes, numbered 1-10, each containing nine
related titles.
An especially interesting example of such after-the-fact groupings is Navaratna #2,
“Stories from the Ramayana.”

“STORIES FROM THE RAMAYANA”

Three of the first ten Amar Chitra Katha issues were stories from the Ramayana
tradition. In the course of time the number of such free-standing tales continued to increase,
until the series included: “Rama” (15); “The Sons of Rama” (18); “Hanuman” (19); “The Lord
of Lanka” (67); “Vali” (101); “Dasharatha” (105); “Ancestors of Rama” (122); “Mahiravana”
(207); “Kumbhakarna” (220); “Hanuman to the Rescue” (254); “Ravana Humbled” (305). Nine
of these stories have been amalgamated into “Navaratna No. 2,” called “Stories from the
Ramayana.” Each of the ten Navaratna volumes costs Rs. 45, and is nicely bound in a handsome

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hardcover format: a bright red cover seemingly tied both front and back with a green ribbon and
bow, excellently suggesting the idea of a gift for a favorite child. The cover is further adorned
with miniature reproductions of all the nine colorful covers of the titles bound inside. In short,
the volume has the general air of a real book, and is probably as close as many children will
come to the Ramayana. For some of its readers, this book--an amalgam of Kalidasa, Valmiki,
Tulsidas, Krittivasa, and Bhavabhuti, in proportions fixed by Anant Pai--may actually be the
Ramayana. It has joined the “many Ramayanas” read and told in South Asia (Richman 1991).
The nine stories inside are arranged in proper narrative order. First comes
“Ancestors of Rama” (122). Its introductory note begins, “Tradition has it that Rama was the
ideal king. Gandhiji was only reinforcing it when he named his ideal state ‘Rama-Rajya.’”
Rama’s predecessors were “as valiant and as benign” as Rama himself--but not perfect. “The
heroes of epics have their tragic flaws because epics always tell the whole truth. Like Rama, his
ancestors also had flawed characters despite the glory of their personalities.” But we are given
no insight into Rama’s “flawed character.” Instead, the note goes on to identify the source of the
story as Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsa. The story itself recounts the lives of the three Ikshvaku kings
Dilipa, his son Raghu, and Raghu’s son Aja, father of Dasharatha.
Next comes “Dasharatha” (105), described as “drawn mainly from Valmiki’s famous
epic poem.” It is devoted to Dasharatha’s whole adult life, from the time he incurs the well-
known curse until his death.
The introduction to “Rama” (15) tells the story of the krauncha bird, and emphasizes
unity in diversity: “The Ramayanas of Kamban, Tulsidas or Tunchan, are all, but variations, on
the same theme. This lofty theme, embodies in the characters of Rama and Sita, the highest
ideals of ‘man’ and ‘woman’.” The story is said to be derived from Tulsidas’s medieval eastern
Hindi version, the Ramcaritmanas. Being a very early, stand-alone issue, “Rama” retells the
entire story in compressed form, from the birth of Rama through the death of Ravana, ending
with Rama and Sita enthroned in splendor.
“Vali” (101) is attributed to the Valmiki Ramayana, and describes the combat
between Vali and Sugriva, Rama’s intervention, Vali’s repentance and death.
“Hanuman” (19) is also drawn from Valmiki. Its hero, we are told, “was born a
monkey and yet attained a prominent place among the Hindu Gods, by his sterling character.”
He was “the greatest of the Bhaktas (Devotees) ever known”--never “narrow minded, or
supercilious,” but always “compassionate.” And the note concludes, “Whether Hanuman was a
monkey or not is beside the point for those who can see the noble spirit in this ape-like form.”
Actually, his form is not at all “ape-like,” but almost entirely human; this is a point to which we
will return. The issue itself, no doubt because it is so early in the Amar Chitra Katha cycle, once
again recapitulates the whole story, from Hanuman’s meeting with Rama to the death of Ravana
and Rama’s triumphant enthronement, emphasizing Hanuman’s heroic role in these events.
“The Lord of Lanka” (67) is attributed to Valmiki’s “Uttara kanda.” “Unlike the
Mahabharata,” the introductory note informs us, “the story of Rama has no historical
foundation,” yet it has become “an intrinsic part of Hindu life.” The issue recounts Ravana’s
antecedents and earlier life, then in the final seven pages depicts his encounter, “disguised as a
monk,” with Sita, and the abduction, leading rapidly to his fatal battle with Rama; the story ends
as Vibhishana is crowned king of Lanka.
By contrast, “Kumbhakarna” (220) is retold from the Bengali version of the
Ramayana by Krittivasa, who is described in the introductory note as a “poet of the people” who
used “simple language” and “metaphors that are easily understood.” Kumbhakarna is

Pritchett, page 6
frighteningly gigantic, but he is depicted as potbellied, clumsy, and a bit ludicrous; his whole life
is narrated, right up to his death on the last page--a last page which also reports that Ravana was
killed by Rama, and ends with Vibhishana being crowned.
“Hanuman to the Rescue” (254) is also derived from Krittivasa’s version. It records
Hanuman’s adventures as he fetches Mount Gandhamadana, with its herb that will restore the
wounded Lakshmana to life. It ends as Lakshmana recovers and Hanuman releases the Sun God,
whom he had imprisoned under his arm.
Finally, “The Sons of Rama” (18) is based on Bhavabhuti’s Uttararamacarita. It
starts with the washerman’s taunt to his wife, and ends with Sita’s return to the earth and Rama’s
reconciliation with Lav and Kush.
These nine originally separate comics indeed tell the story of Rama, after a fashion:
they don’t contradict one another, and the narrative does proceed from earlier to later stages. Yet
it’s clear even from this brief summary that the fit is not ideal. It could not be, for it was created
after the fact. “Rama” (15) and “Hanuman” (19) in particular go over much of the same ground,
with many additional repetitions in other volumes as well. The separate identity of the parts
remains paramount. The volume they make up when bound together is only a loose and casual
collection; it does not really become a coherent version of the Ramayana.
In contrast to this after-the-fact approach, Amar Chitra Katha began in the mid-
1980s to develop pre-planned “mini-series” sets. By far the more ambitious of the two published
so far is a mini-series that attempts to render the whole Mahabharata.

“THE MAHABHARATA IN 60 VOLUMES”

It is clear that Amar Chitra Katha has had a strong commitment to the Mahabharata
from the start. Even a partial listing of titles is impressively long: “The Pandava Princes” (13);
“Nala Damayanti” (16); “Mahabharata” (20); “Karna” (26); “Bheeshma” (34); “Abhimanyu”
(35); “Drona” (57); “Ghatotkacha” (61); “Draupadi” (72); “Parikshit” (115); “The Gita” (127);
“Krishna and Jarasandha” (147); “Tales of Yudhisthira” (174); “Tales of Arjuna” (198);
“Gandhari” (209); “Bhima and Hanuman” (214); “Friends and Foes--Animal Tales from the
Mahabharata” (238), etc. Four triple “Bumper Issues” have been created out of such
Mahabharata stories, and one nine-issue “Navaratna Deluxe” (#3) as well.
All these titles are based on particular, independent episodes; even publishing them
all in a single immense volume would not have created a Mahabharata in any real sense. In
March 1985, therefore, a new project began, “in response to a persistent demand from our
readers for a comprehensive account of the epic.” The whole “immortal epic of Vyasa as
narrated by Vaishampayana” was to be told in sixty “volumes.” This ambitious new mini-series
was officially introduced in an advertisement in early 1985: “Amar Chitra Katha brings you
THE MAHABHARATA in 60 Volumes” (Figure 1).11 The ad was quite explicit, promising “60
volumes of 1920 illustrated pages in colour.” These “volumes”--or issues--were to come out at a
rapid pace: “One volume a month beginning from March 1, 1985.” Every second Amar Chitra
Katha issue would thus be from the Mahabharata series; readers were even offered the chance to
subscribe only to the 12 Mahabharata issues a year (Rs. 48) rather than the whole Amar Chitra
Katha set of 24.
These pledges have since been modified. The pace has been a bit slower than an
issue every fortnight; in 1988 Amar Chitra Katha issued only one issue a month, so that
Mahabharata numbers came out only every two months. But the most striking change has been
in the number of issues. The most recent issue I have seen, “Yudhishthira’s Coronation” (408),

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is identified within the mini-series as “Mahabharata--40.” And this issue, with characteristic
self-referentiality, advertises “Amar Chitra Katha’s Mahabharata,” which is “[a]cknowledged as
an authentic source,” and which is “the complete Mahabharata in 42 lucid, highly readable
issues” (408,32) (Figure 2). The ad ends with the exhortation, “Read it to enjoy your Sunday
viewing!”; it thus seems possible that the mini-series was hastened to a close to take advantage
of the extremely popular Mahabharata series then (1989) being shown on Indian television.
The first issue of the mini-series, “Veda Vyasa” (329), introduces the Mahabharata
as “shrouded in mystery”: “Can the levels of Painted Grey Ware and Northern Black Polished
Ware, or the names of present-day cities and plains, or the radiocarbon tests of excavated
materials, vouch for its historicity?” Though there is no “conclusive answer,” the core of the
story, the war, “must have had its roots in some real event.” This preface is followed by a
bibliography naming four Mahabharata versions said to have been used for in preparing the
series: a Sanskrit text with Hindi translation by Pt. Ramnarayandutt Shastri Pandey (Geeta
Press, Gorakhpur); a Malayalam verse version by Kunjikuttan Tampuran (S.P.C.S., Kottayam),
Pratap Chandra Roy’s venerable English prose version (Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi),
and the modern Pune critical edition published by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute
(329:inside front cover).
As a part of its efforts to achieve scholarly legitimacy, the mini-series attempts to
preserve the layers of emboxed narration. The first issue begins with Vyasa acquiring Ganesha
as his scribe and starting the dictation; it then soon moves on to Vaishampayana narrating to
Janamejaya. (This latter pair persist throughout the mini-series, appearing from time to time in
panels colored a uniform bright gold to remind us of their privileged status.) At the end of the
last page appears, “And thus ends the first session of our rendering of Vaishampayana’s recital
(during the intervals in the rites of Janamejaya’s sarpa satra) of Vyasa’s immortal itihasa, The
Mahabharata” (329:31). This elaborate closing statement is simplified a bit in later issues, but is
never abandoned.
But how is the young reader to know, for example, what a “sarpa satra” is? In this
case, “sarpa” is defined in a one-word footnote at the bottom of the page as “snake,” and “satra”
as a “12-year-long yagna”--which would leave many readers still bewildered. Page 32 of this
first issue also consists of a “Pronunciation Guide and Glossary,” with names and terms first
given in Devanagari script, and then--in some but by no means all cases--explained. Such last-
page glossaries are provided for the first six Mahabharata issues; after that, they disappear.
Amar Chitra Katha boasts that its mini-series “faithfully follows the original Sanskrit
text even as it is condensed” (359:inside front cover); and while that paradoxical claim cannot be
taken at face value, the resulting diction is certainly--for the most part--lofty and decorous.
Yudhishthira says to Bhishma, “O Grandsire, this ocean of kings is agitated with ire” (361:19).
An ordinary bystander in Hastinapura observes to his friend, “This is the restoration of
Yudhisthira who with unerring justice takes care of us as if we were his kin!” To which his
friend replies, “It is as if Pandu himself has returned from the forest for our general weal!”
(353:20). At one wonderful point Sanjaya tells Dhritarashtra, “Cussedness on the part of you
and your children will be the cause of the destruction of the Kauravas” (383:3).
Although many passages respond to modern didactic concerns, a number of others
emphatically do not. Though Anant Pai is normally acutely sensitive to caste politics, in this
series the Ekalavya story is told with hardly a hint of disapproval at its aggressive casteism:
Drona is described as “aware of the rules of right conduct” when he refuses to take the low-caste
Ekalavya as his pupil; and even though Drona says “cruel words” to Ekalavya, the latter is

Pritchett, page 8
apparently acting properly (“steadfast in the path of truth”) when he obeys them and hacks off
his thumb, while Drona’s action evokes not a further word or hint of narrative criticism (337:17-
22).12 Later Yudhishthira tells Sanjaya that every “varna” (defined in a footnote as “caste”)
“should strictly adhere to its own dharma.” If a man “takes recourse to the dharma of another
caste” without strong need, “his conduct is thoroughly reprehensible” (381:28). Nothing in the
treatment of the episode calls this judgment even slightly into question.
Moreover, the graphically depicted burning of the huge Khandava forest, including
the deliberate burning alive of all the creatures in it (357:9-14), calls forth not a quiver of
humanitarian or environmental uneasiness. As for women, Krishna advises Arjuna at some
length: “In matters of marriage, abduction by a bold Kshatriya is also approved by the learned.
Therefore, Arjuna, carry away my sister by force. Who knows what her choice will be at a
swayamvara?” (355:15). In this mini-series Amar Chitra Katha seems to be claiming exemption
from its usual concerns--including its oft-repeated promise to take seriously its “lasting impact
on impressionable minds”--by digging in behind the carefully reinforced bulwark of textual
fidelity.

“THE EPIC OF MODERN INDIA”

Another mini-series was even more recently introduced (January 1986) than the
Mahabharata one, and with at least as much fanfare: “Amar Chitra Katha Presents the Epic of
New India: The March to Freedom in 6 Volumes” (348:32) (Figure 3). The titles of the six
issues were announced in advance, as a planned group: “The Birth of the Indian National
Congress” (348); “A Nation Awakes” (356); “The Saga of Indian Revolutionaries” (360); “The
Call for Swaraj” (364); “The Salt Satyagraha” (368); “The Tryst with Destiny” (372). Lacking
any traditional source, this March to Freedom mini-series is much more arbitrarily defined than
the Mahabharata one.
The first issue of the mini-series, “The Birth of the Indian National Congress” (348),
introduces itself as bringing to life the “epic story of our freedom struggle,” an epic that “cuts
across barriers of caste, community, region, language, haves and have-nots.” Epics are
“eternal,” and we must preserve this new one as well as the old ones: “We must know what our
parents, grandparents and their grandparents suffered under the British rule. We must know why
they fought and what they fought for” (348:inside front cover).
The scholarly ambitions of this mini-series are even more conspicuous than those of
the Mahabharata one. The bibliography provided for the first issue alone consists of seven
academically-oriented volumes; six are by Indians, and the seventh is Joseph Schwartzberg’s
Historical Atlas of South Asia. The bibliography for the second issue, “A Nation Awakes”
(356), consists of eleven scholarly volumes, ten by Indians; for the third issue, “The Saga of
Indian Revolutionaries” (360), nine volumes, all by Indians, are cited. The scholarly emphasis
continues within the stories themselves. The ratio of narrative prose and static panels to vivid
pictures and action panels, which is high in the Mahabharata mini-series, is even higher here.
Excerpts from proclamations, letters, speeches, newspaper articles, and other such historical
source materials frequently appear.
Even more strikingly, whole pages of documentary-style abstract prose are
sometimes inserted into the midst of the stories. In the first issue, we find four prose pages in a
row: a centerfold called “India Under the British Yoke” is subdivided into “The Wealth Drain,”
“Torture to Exact Land Revenue,” and “Famine Deaths”; it is immediately followed by “Lest we
forget,” a compendium of anti-British remarks by eight Englishmen who were “much ahead of

Pritchett, page 9
their time” (348:16-19). A few pages later we encounter a full-page map and chronology called
“1857, The Great Revolt” (348:23). The second issue in the mini-series offers three concluding
pages of prose: a two-page spread on “The Swadeshi Enterprise,” followed by the one-page
“Vivekananda taught Self-Esteem” (356:30-32).
The narrative voice in this mini-series has also changed: it now speaks at great
length, and chiefly in the first person plural. This nationalist narrative is consistent, passionately
defended, and based on a clear sense of economic as well as political grievance. Such a
nationalism is present not only in this mini-series, but less explicitly in many other Amar Chitra
Katha titles as well. It is a nationalism that generates a force field with two crucial poles: the
rejection of the negative “them,” and the close mutual bonding of the positive “us.” This is a
point worth examining at some length.
Understandably, the British are “them,” and are depicted as negatively as possible.
The cartoon drawing in these issues is often caricatural, with the British arrogant and ugly, the
ordinary Indians abject and stereotypically oppressed-looking, the anti-British Indians resolute in
battle and saintly on the gallows. Indians who are part of the colonial administrative system are
hardly even acknowledged; if they are briefly depicted, they are unattractive--unless they are
doing something with anti-British implications. This narrowed perspective naturally leads,
despite all the trappings of historicity, to inadequate understandings of the past.
To take one important example, 1857 is portrayed as a completely united national
struggle: “Our farmers, traders, professionals, rajas, nawabs all, all joined the struggle against
the British” (348:24). But if anything like “all, all” the Indians had ever united in this way, the
British would simply have been pushed into the sea. In fact, in 1857 Indians were divided:
some actively supported the rebels, some actively supported the British, and a great many simply
lay low and waited for things to settle down again. Because the Amar Chitra Katha version does
not acknowledge this situation, it ends up making the British sound like supermen, with vague
but irresistible powers: “Though the British suffered heavy losses in the beginning, they were
able to regroup, deploy forces and regain lost positions” (348:24). Later on, The March to
Freedom gives brief but very favorable treatment to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who “fought
valiantly” with the Japanese-backed Azad Hind Fauj. “However, the Allies emerged victorious
in the war” (360:29-30), the narrator says, without comment.
If “they,” the British, are so clearly outside the pale, “we” must obviously be all
inside it together. “We” emphatically includes the Scheduled Castes, to whom Amar Chitra
Katha devotes several titles--”Babasahib Ambedkar” (188), “Guru Ravidas” (350), “Narayana
Guru” (403), etc.--and whose interests are generally defended in other titles when the
opportunity offers. “We” also includes all the religious groups of modern India, so that Hindus
and (above all) Muslims must be shown acting in mutual loyalty and solidarity. At the very
least, they should not be shown as hostile to one another. Given the checkered course of modern
Indian history, this result is not always easy to achieve.
Yet The March to Freedom makes quite a thoroughgoing job of it. The participation
of both Hindus and Muslims in the rebellion of 1857 is made very clear (348:24). The cover
design of “A Nation Awakes” shows a poor Hindu girl happily tying a rākhī on the wrist of a
poor Muslim man. The role of Muslims in opening national schools is mentioned (356:11),
communal harmony among ordinary Bengalis is repeatedly emphasized (356:1-2, 23-24), riots
are attributed to economic rather than religious causes (356:24) and to British divide-and-rule
tactics (354:3, 24-25). The heroic revolutionary Ashfaqulla is asked by the police superintendent
Tasadruk [sic] Khan, “Why should Muslims fight for Hindu India?” He replies, “Khan Saheb, I

Pritchett, page 10
am quite sure Hindu India will be much better than British India.” To make sure we have taken
the point correctly, the narrator hastens to reassure us, “Of course Ashfaqulla, Bismil and others
were fighting for all our countrymen” (360:23).

“US” VERSUS “THEM”: TOWARD NATIONAL INTEGRATION

Not only in The March to Freedom, but in other related titles as well, all communal
conflict has been airbrushed out of history. Bankim Chandra Chatterji’s famous Bengali novel
Anand math is full of anti-Muslim sentiment. One hero delivers the solemn warning, “Unless we
drive these tipsy long-beards away, a Hindu can no longer hope to save his religion.” The
revolutionaries look forward with longing to the day when they will be able “to break the
mosque to raise the temple of Radha-Madhava in its place” (Chatterji 1929:35, 146). Yet this
novel is featured quite early in the Amar Chitra Katha series. In the Amar Chitra Katha “Ananda
Math” (86), the heroic Bengali Hindu freedom fighters do battle with evil British officers--who
indeed command highly stylized but Muslim-looking troops. In the first, full-page panel the
narrator denounces British oppression, then adds, “The Muslim king, who ruled, was a puppet in
British hands” (86:1). This glancing, exculpatory aside is the only reference to Muslims in the
whole issue. No doubt this is the most tactful way to treat Anand math--if it is necessary to treat
it at all. The Amar Chitra Katha introduction praises the novel for promoting the nationalist
movement in Bengal, and of course for generating the famous song “Vande mataram” (86:inside
front cover).
Even more conspicuously retouched is an issue on the life of Vinayak Damodar
Savarkar, the patriarch of the Hindu Mahasabha, famous for his concept of “hindutva” as the
basis of Indian nationality. According to Savarkar, “in Hindusthan the Hindus are a nation,”
while other groups are “communities” relegated to a marginal status (Purohit 1965:140). Here,
one would think, is a personality who cannot fail to be divisive. But the Amar Chitra Katha
version of his life, while it is called “Veer Savarkar” (309), is carefully subtitled “In the
Andamans.” As the introductory note explains, it depicts the lives of the exiled revolutionaries
imprisoned in the Andaman Islands--the hardships and sacrifices they endured for their country.
Savarkar is shown involved with his comrades in bomb-making and speech-making, then is
arrested on page 9. He attempts to escape, and is recaptured on page 11. By page 15 he is en
route to the Andamans. Pages 16 and 17 are devoted to an illustrated factual insert called “Kala
Pani (Andaman and Nicobar Islands),” page 18 to a commercial for Amar Chitra Katha, pages 19
to 32 to his sufferings and heroic resistance in prison. The very last panel informs us that he was
set free in 1937 and “took an active part in the struggle for freedom” (309:32). No doubt this is
the most tactful way to treat V. D. Savarkar--if it is necessary to treat him at all. Since other, less
communally-tainted nationalist leaders are available for the series to depict, why make a point of
depicting a communal one--and then trying to airbrush him into blandness?
But the Amar Chitra Katha vision of the freedom struggle, and indeed of modern
Indian history in general, is in fact far more invidiously selective than the above examples
suggest. In the 1986 catalogue “The Indian Revolutionaries” command excellent coverage, with
five issues: “Bagha Jatin” (156), “Bhagat Singh” (234), “Chandra Shekhar Azad” (142), “Rash
Behari Bose” (262), as well as “Veer Savarkar” (309). Netaji himself is not of their number, but
figures in the “Makers of Modern India” series. According to Amar Chitra Katha, the “Makers
of Modern India” are the persons enshrined in the following issues: “Babasaheb Ambedkar”
(188), “C. R. Das” (344), “Dayananda” (120), “Jayaprakash Narayan” (206), “Lokamanya Tilak”
(219), “Lal Bahadur Shastri” (271), “Rabindranath Tagore” (136), “Senapati Bapat” (303),

Pritchett, page 11
“Subhas Chandra Bose” (77), “Subramania Bharati” (286), “Thanedar Hasan Askari” (286),
“Vidyasagar” (108), and “Vivekananda” (146).
Netaji thus had his own issue as long ago as #77, followed by other important
militants and revolutionaries; V. D. Savarkar has his own issue; the industrialist G. D. Birla
(382) now has his own issue--how totally inconceivable it is that Mahatma Gandhi has not had
an issue! A delay of well over twenty years is, in Gandhi’s case, inexplicable. Nor does either
Motilal or Jawaharlal Nehru have an issue, nor Sardar Patel, nor Rajagopalachari, nor Krishna
Menon, nor so many others who were irrefutably among the principal makers of modern India--
while the list contains a couple of names that would hardly appear on anyone’s roster of major
modern figures.
Compared to these central and altogether glaring omissions, other omissions appear
almost unsurprising. There are as yet no women on the “Makers of Modern India” list--no
Sarojini Naidu (surely the obvious first choice), no Kasturba Gandhi, no Kamala Nehru, no
Durgabai Deshmukh, no Anasuyabehn Sarabhai, no Vijayalakshmi Pandit. Moreover, even
outside the “Makers of Modern India” category, there are no educated, urban, twentieth-century
women in the Amar Chitra Katha series at all--no women who have lived in the kind of world for
which Pai is preparing his young readers. In fact “Scientists and Doctors” seems to be the only
post-Independence category of honored activity, the only one actually open to readers of Amar
Chitra Katha. There are four people in it: three male Hindus, and Albert Einstein.
On the “Makers of Modern India” list there are no Muslims to speak of either--no
Dr. Zakir Husain, no Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, no Hakim Ajmal Khan, no Asif Ali, no Khan
Abdul Ghaffar Khan. There is only “Thanedar Hasan Askari” (286), an issue devoted to an
idiosyncratic, apolitical police inspector in Uttar Pradesh in the 1930s. This is the whole of what
the introduction to the issue has to say about him:
Sayyad Hasan Askari was born in an affluent and renowned family of
Uttar Pradesh.
After a brilliant record at the Police Training College, he became an
instructor at the same institute.
Fourteen years later he was transferred to Kanpur as a police officer.
Askari distinguished himself as a man of principle. This Amar Chitra
Katha brings you a few episodes in the life of this extraordinary policeman
(286:inside front cover).
Thanedar Hasan Askari catches dacoits (the cover shows him leaping out at them from a
palanquin in which he has been posing as a woman), and embarrasses his British superiors with
his independence of mind. Once, to make an obscure point, he rides a horse into a courtroom.
Later, he successfully practices homeopathy. He is loved by the people. Being too honest to
curry favor, he retires as a lowly thanedar. Apart from his name, there is nothing Muslim about
him.
The staff of Amar Chitra Katha claim that they are worried about Muslim
“iconophobia,” and have thus refrained from dealing with the Prophet and other Muslim
religious figures. But this anxiety, though plausible in some contexts, cannot apply to modern
and secular personalities. Yet Muslim readers are offered issues devoted only to a few early
figures: they have “Shershah” (56) and “Sultana Razia” (110); they have the Mughals, who are
portrayed on the whole rather favorably; and they have virtually no one since. There are no Sikh
“Makers of Modern India” either. But the Sikhs get, in proportion to their numbers, far better
coverage for their major historical and religious figures than the Muslims do. In fact Amar

Pritchett, page 12
Chitra Katha’s uniquely explicit ads for its coverage of “Sikh history and legend” name a dozen
titles, one of which is a Bumper Issue called “The Three Gurus” (96:inside back cover) (Figure
4). Interestingly, such communally focused advertising treatment is accorded only to the Sikhs--
not to the Hindus, certainly not to the Muslims, nor to any other religious group.

THE VISION: TOWARD COSMIC INTEGRATION

Compared to other popular pamphlet genres like the traditional kissā (Pritchett
1985), Amar Chitra Katha is a remarkable feat of centralized control and consistency, over vast
reaches of time and space. It has little in common with kissā and related genres. It is addressed
to a different public: to Westernized children, rather than to traditional adults. It uses a different
medium: comic book format rather than plain unillustrated prose. It is far more highly
organized, since it is deliberately designed by one editor, rather than haphazardly brought out by
a large number of publishers. It has a different purpose: to educate and influence, rather than to
delight and entertain. Invented, developed, and controlled by one editor, Amar Chitra Katha has
ultimately a single vision behind it--a vision of the cosmos, of the human place in it, of India as a
certain kind of nation.
Religiously speaking, the chosen deity of Amar Chitra Katha is unquestionably
Krishna--particularly, it seems to me, in his cosmos-embodying form. National integration can
thus become a special case of what might be called cosmic integration. The very first issue in
the series was “Krishna” (11).” The issue has been reprinted so often that it now has a flashy
new cover (a “butter thief” one, like the original), and a (retrospectively added) introduction that
begins with a flat statement: “Krishna is the most endearing and ennobling character in Indian
mythology.” All of the first twelve issues of the Mahabharata mini-series open with
illustrations of the Bhagavad Gita setting, with Arjuna kneeling before Krishna on the
battlefield. Elsewhere in this mini-series too, the glorification of Krishna is emphasized (361:11-
20), including his revenge on Shishupala (361:27-32).
A prominent feature of this glorification is the depiction of Krishna in his cosmic
purus.a-like form (361:17), with animals adhering to his legs, men and gods located higher on
his gigantic body; this image is repeated on the front cover of the issue, and elsewhere at crucial
points in the mini-series.13 Most suggestively, in the early “The Geeta” (127), the awesome
epiphany of Krishna as kālānala, the fire of time, with beings rushing into his gaping jaws and
sticking between his teeth, is passed over entirely in favor of still another benevolent cosmic
Krishna, a full-page rendering suffused with radiant beams of light (127:27) (Figure 5). This
latter is, as far as I know, the only illustration anywhere in the whole Amar Chitra Katha series
that breaks out of its frame: the crest of Krishna’s headdress sweeps right on upward beyond the
ruled border at the top of the page.
If the cosmos is assimilated into Krishna, all other living creatures are more or less
assimilated into the human species. Hanuman, as we have seen, theoretically has an “ape-like”
form, yet not only he but the other chief monkeys as well are, visually speaking, human beings
with statuesque limbs, tall fair Caucasian-flesh-colored hairless bodies, slightly convex faces,
and tails that stick out at unobtrusive angles from the waistbands of their dhotis (101:12);
sometimes the tails themselves are omitted (101:25). Female monkeys look even more human,
for they seem to wear their tails under their skirts (101:7-8). A particularly interesting example
occurs in “Tales of Arjuna” (198), when Arjuna meets in the forest a small, brown, unclothed,
furry, monkey-like monkey, who challenges him to a test of bridge-building skill. Later on,
however, the monkey assumes a large and tall size, clothing, gold jewelry, hair on his head, and

Pritchett, page 13
an upright stance, to reveal himself as Hanuman (198:1-8). Looking like a real monkey turned
out to be Hanuman’s disguise--and a very effective one.
It is not only monkeys who are basically human, but the demonic Rakshasas as well:
they tend to be large, stout, crude-looking, hairy, ugly humans, often potbellied, sometimes with
small fangs, who wear fur loincloths (345:3). The Rakshasis are similar, except that they
frequently transmute themselves into beautiful and entirely human-looking women. Even nature
gods like “Ocean” are humanoid: Ocean turns out to have, protruding from the waves, the head
of a white-haired gentlemen with a curly moustache (101:1) (Figure 6). Ravana, by contrast,
with his ten heads so firmly established in tradition, presents a special case--he is no gift to the
cartoonist, and it turns out to be extremely difficult to portray him satisfactorily in action
(254:15), or even asleep (19:11) (Figure 7).
When it comes to the Nagas, it seems visually that all the important ones are
completely human, while some of the minor ones, such as those who attack Bhima, are
completely snake-like small snakes (335:19-21). Yet the human ones (the only ones who speak)
speak as snakes. “He woke up when we bit him,” says a nice-looking, ornamented, fully human
Naga about the attack on Bhima (335:21) (Figure 8). When the Nagas realize that the Pandavas
are their blood relatives, they treat Bhima with generous hospitality and give him a lavish boon
(335:22-23). A footnote observes: “According to many scholars the Nagas were a race of
people with whom the Aryans freely mixed” (335:19). A glossary entry in the same
‘Mahabharata’ issue will surely complete the confusion of any young reader: “Literally the
serpents--Also refers to the race of snake-worshippers or a race which has the snake for its
totem. Perhaps the ancestors of the modern inhabitants of India’s north-eastern state Nagaland”
(335:32). Later Arjuna is seduced by the Naga princess Ulupi, who is portrayed as a beautiful,
lovable, fully human girl, and who gives him a boon after their enjoyable night together (355:2-
4). But then in the very next issue a whole clan of Nagas are among the inhabitants deliberately
burned alive in the Khandava Forest by Agni--with the active, unquestioning, even enthusiastic
help of Krishna and Arjuna (357:15). The rationalistic “humanization” practiced by Amar Chitra
Katha on all other species thus creates new problems of its own.
Moreover, the human species itself is assimilated as much as possible into a uniform,
fair-skinned, blank-faced physical type. With very few exceptions, men have a generic
classically-proportioned male body, and women a generic full-breasted slim-waisted female one;
they have the same regular features and extremely fair skin color. They all live in almost
identical palaces and dress themselves in the same limited range of “classic” styles. They tend to
speak the same lofty “Sanskritic” language. In issues set in the modern world, these pressures
are sometimes resisted; but they are still often operative, especially for the depiction of heroes
and heroines.

AMAR CHITRA KATHA: AN EVOLVING TRADITION

Many of the changes in the series over the last twenty-five years are minor and
unsurprising. A number involve an increase in publishing sophistication. Pages used to have
nothing on them except picture panels. By now, however, they are equipped not only with page
numbers, but also with headers naming alternately the title and the series. Moreover, the inside
front cover now offers the date of publication and full bibliographic information. Spellings of
proper names are now somewhat more scholarly, though not perfectly so. Footnotes also now
occur from time to time, usually defining problematical words or citing related stories.
One trend to which I have called attention, that of publishing Amar Chitra Katha

Pritchett, page 14
issues in book form, bids fair to increase. The “Editor’s Choice” catalogue, published in 1988,
contains only bound volumes. This trend, like Amar Chitra Katha itself, is a considerable
innovation. In traditional genres, many separate, related pamphlets may occasionally be bound
and sold as a unit. For example, in the case of the North Indian folk epic Alha khand the
individual episodes--which usually center on a battle and/or a wedding--are most often sold
separately; sometimes a few giant fat books are made by binding many of the pamphlets together
to create some (never definitive) approximation of the whole cycle. But this is an uncommon
practice, confined in any case to the assembling of various segments of pre-existing long cycles.
It is due chiefly to the demands of buyers who want large amounts of material in portable form.
In the case of Amar Chitra Katha, collecting the comics into book form makes sense
for the sellers. By now, since well over 500 titles are (at least theoretically) in print, not even the
most zealous bookseller has the space to display them properly. If they are gathered into
hardbound books, they can be displayed much more conveniently, standing upright on shelves,
with their binding revealing their titles. Yet entirely independent stories don’t always harmonize
well; it may not be possible to put them together into units attractive enough to induce customers
to pay the higher prices involved. One result, naturally, is the pre-planned mini-series. This
means that Amar Chitra Katha is gradually tending to produce, in effect, book-sized narratives of
varying format (containing comics, prose, maps, advertisements, and even bibliographies) in
serialized installments, rather than the 32-page free-standing comic books of tradition. It is not
for nothing that both the originally planned length of the Mahabharata mini-series (60 issues)
and its actual length (42 issues) divide perfectly into six-issue volumes--as of course does the
six-issue March to Freedom mini-series.
Amar Chitra Katha promises parents to “screen each word and each picture as they
have a lasting impact on impressionable minds,” to be “more a vehicle of education than a
business.” As the series has progressed, it has become obvious that this “vehicle of education”
offers much better transport to some of its readers than to others. Readers who happen to be of
the wrong gender, the wrong religion, or the wrong politics will find themselves only scantily
represented in what is ultimately a vision of the future as well as the past. Amar Chitra should
be paid the compliment of being held to its own oft-professed high standards: it can and should
do better.
Despite such reservations and criticisms, however, there is much to commend in
Amar Chitra Katha. All things considered, the influence of the series is undoubtedly
constructive. Amar Chitra Katha readers may indeed be led to hate the British, who are no
longer there to object; but they’ll also be led to hate untouchability, and to feel outrage at the
plight of the poor, and to admire the gallant deeds of at least some women and at least some non-
Hindus. And they will never, in any issue that I’ve seen, be led to feel hostility toward one
another. They’ll have a positive sense of India as a multicultural nation in which they can all
work together.

Pritchett, page 15
Pritchett, page 16
N O T E S

1
Anant Pai, interview by John S. Hawley, Bombay, January 9, 1989. All quotations, direct
or indirect, attributed to Pai are drawn from this interview. Jack Hawley’s work has contributed
greatly to this paper, and I very much appreciate his assistance. In addition, I want to thank the
editors, Alan Babb and Sue Wadley, for the careful, thoughtful work they have done in helping
this paper to attain its present form. Sue Wadley has also provided more recent material from
the 1990’s, to supplement my own work done in the late 1980’s.
2
Anant Pai, interview by Hawley.
3
See for example the inside back cover of issue “Harischandra” (17). Parenthesized
numbers after titles will refer throughout the discussion to the issue’s ordinal number within the
series, a number assigned and used for reference by the series itself. Where relevant, the issue
number will be followed by a colon and the appropriate page number(s) within the issue.
4
At least, they were so advertised inside the front cover of “Rama” (15).
5
K. T. Mirchandani, head of the IBH branch in Delhi, interview by F.W.P., August 20,
1986.
6
The word is also more conventionally explained as referring to the Pandavas, sons of
Pritha (Pai 1986:29).
7
K. T. Mirchandani, interview by F.W.P., August 20, 1986.
8
Only 327 titles are included in this taxonomic list, making it a bit out of date even for
1986; but the titles published since the catalogue came out are generally advertised within the
same categories. As late as mid-1989, this catalogue was still the one sent out by the U.S.
distributor.
9
Their lives are described from childhood till the triumphant conclusion of Yudhishthira’s
rājasūya yajña.
10
Originally advertised as “The Battle of Kurukshetra” (17:inside back cover).
11
This advertisement appears on the back cover of the reprinted version of “Vali” (101)
included in the Bumper Issue “Stories from the Ramanaya” (#2).
12
The Ekalavya story, carefully stripped of its macabre conclusion, is actually used as an
example in The PARTHA Way to Success: the statue of Drona, it seems, “helped Ekalavya to
think positively”--which “does demonstrate the power of positive thinking” (Pai 1986:21).
13
For example, when Sanjaya describes Krishna’s grandeur (383:25), and when Krishna
seeks to overawe Duryodhana into seeking peace (385:17).

Pritchett, page 17
FIGURES

FIGURE ONE: At the beginning of the Mahabharata mini-series, early 1985 (101:back cover,
as included in Bumper Issue #2).
FIGURE TWO: At the end of the Mahabharata mini-series, December 1, 1988 (408:32).
FIGURE THREE: “The Epic of New India,” January 1, 1986 (348:32).
FIGURE FOUR: “Sikh History and Legend,” March 1982 (96:inside back cover, reprint
edition).
FIGURE FIVE: The cosmic Krishna breaking out of his full-page frame (127:27).
FIGURE SIX: Humanoid monkeys, humanoid Dundubhi, humanoid Ocean (101:1).
FIGURE SEVEN: Ravana awake (254:15) and asleep (19:11).
FIGURE EIGHT: Nagas: fully snake or fully human (335:21).

Pritchett, page 18
LIST OF REFERENCES

Chatterji, Bankim Chandra. 1929. Nares Chandra Sen-Gupta, trans., The Abbey of Bliss. Nares
Chandra Sen-Gupta, trans. Calcutta: Cherry Press. 1929), pp. 35, 146.
Gangadhar, V. 1988. “Anant Pai and his Amar Chitra Kathas,” Reader’s Digest [of India],
August.
India Book House. 1986. Catalogue: Amar Chitra Katha. Bombay: India Book House. Pages
unnumbered.
Pai, Anant. 1986. The PARTHA Way to Success. Bombay: India Book House.
Pritchett, Frances W. 1985. Marvelous Encounters: Folk Romance in Urdu and Hindi. New
Delhi: Manohar Publications; and Riverdale, Md.: The Riverdale Company.
Purohit, B. R. 1965. Hindu Revivalism and Indian Nationalism. Sagar, M.P.: Sathi Prakashan.
Richman, Paula, ed. Many Rāmāyan.as: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.

Pritchett, page 19