However, early in his career, he gave up engineering and joined work as a journalist for The Times of India. He fell in love with literature at a young age and devoted much of his time to learning several Indian languages.Īfter completing his schooling, Pai was interested in pursuing journalism but on the insistence of his elder brother, he joined the University of Bombay for a degree in chemical engineering. 17, 1929, in Karkala in Karnataka) Anant Pai was orphaned when he was just two-years-old and grew up with relatives first in Mangalore and later in Mumbai. On his birth anniversary, we bring you the fascinating story of how this master storyteller created India’s most-loved comic series.īorn on Sept. Such was the love that young readers had for Anant Pai that they affectionately nicknamed him “Uncle Pai”. Bridging the distance between convoluted Sanskrit texts and the Enid Blyton’s found in school libraries, this iconic book series taught several generations of Indian children about the country’s rich heritage of folk tales and mythology.
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AMAR CHITRA KATHA SERIES SERIES
Upset, he set out to change this by starting a comic-book series that would tell stories from Indian epics through beautifully illustrated, child-friendly narratives.The comic book series was Amar Chitra Katha and the young journalist was Anant Pai, the avuncular writer and illustrator who would go on to become widely recognised as the “father of Indian comics”.įor an Indian child born before the year 2000, Amar Chitra Katha and its engrossing world of stories were synonymous with growing up.
AMAR CHITRA KATHA SERIES TV
In 1967, while watching a TV quiz show on the state-run Doordarshan network, a young journalist realised that while the Indian children on the show could easily answer questions about Greek mythology, they couldn’t answer a simple question about an important character in Ramayana, one of India’s greatest epics. You can disagree with it, but be aware of it.” – Anant Pai Amar Chitra Katha also issues a collection of individual comics as a set of "3 in one" or "5 in one".“Unless you have continuity with the past, you can’t easily adjust with the present. Īs of May 2014 Amar Chitra Katha have released 465 titles (454 individual issues and 11 special issues).
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Few other special issues issued as part of the new series such as Tulsidas Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagawat Purana and Mahatma Gandhi are not numbered but are considered as part of the official title list of Amar Chitra Katha. Three extra-long special issues were also published and numbered from 10001 onwards – Valmiki's Ramayana, Dasha Avatar and Jesus Christ. Similarly, although most of the old series have reappeared in the new series, certain issues such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Louis Pasteur etc. However some issues such as Kalpana Chawla, JRD Tata etc. New series issues typically appear in a deluxe format and are usually reprints of titles in old series.
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The old series runs from #11 to #436 and the new series starts from #501.
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Titles which were published in only one of the series have been indicated with a "NA" against the series in which they did not appear. The table below shows the numbering as part of the old series as well as that of the new series. This is a list of titles in the Indian Amar Chitra Katha comic book series.