Gita Press gets Gandhi Peace Prize: How publishing house made Hinduism accessible to the masses

Gita Press has been awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize. The publishing house has been conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 in recognition of its “outstanding contribution towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violent and other Gandhian methods.” But what is Gita Press? How did it make Hinduism accessible to the masses? Let’s take a closer look: Origins Gita Press is a non-profit publishing house which sells religious Hindu books at a low cost**.** According to Economic Times, Gita Press was established in 1923 by Ghanshyam Das Goenka and Hanuman Prasad Poddar at Kolkata. Its first issue, published in August 1926, saw eminent personalities such as Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore contribute, according to The Print. Goenka and Poddar – who later edited the Gita Press publication Kalyan – sought the assistance of businessman Jayadayal Goyandka to shift it to Gorakhpur after the publication did not garner enough attention in Bengal.

Gita Press moved to Gorakhpur in 1927.

“He (Goyandka) believed that it (the Gita) was a message of god and he should set up the press,” Lalmani Tiwari, Gita Press’s current manager, told Indian Express. “He discussed it with the participants of satangs. Ghanshyamdas Jalan of Gorakhpur was a regular participant in the satsangs. He offered that if a press is established in Gorakhpur, he will take care of it. Then it was decided to look for a space in Gorakhpur for the press.” Jalan remained a trustee of Gita Press till his death in 1993, according to Economic Times. Making Hinduism accessible to masses According to The Print, the Gita Press made Hinduism accessible to the masses by offering books such as the Ramayana, Hanuman Chalisa, and Shiv Chalisa at affordable rates as well as story books for children.

The publishing house has put out texts in 15 languages and sold over 92 crore books.

According to The Print, Gita Press was greatly helped by India’s reading culture that centred around the railways. Indians picked up books from its stalls at railway stations – 41 still remain in spots such as Guwahati and Delhi – for their long trips. “We started with the Bhagavad Gita. Presently, we are publishing 1,800 titles of books in 15 languages. On average, we are supplying 60,000 books daily. But still, we are not able to meet the demand,” Tiwari told Indian Express. According to Indian Express, Gita Press’ flagship publication Kalyan alone has sold over 16.74 crore copies. While Gita Press says it is unaffiliated to any political party,  author Akshaya Mukul in his book Gita Press and the making of Hindu India noted, “It was a crucial cog in the wheel of Hindu nationalism that struck up alliances with everyone: mendicants, liberals, politicians, philanthropists, scholars, sectarian organizations like the RSS, Hindu Mahasabha, Jana Sangh and VHP, and conservative elements within the Congress.” Mukul quoted scholar Paul Arney as calling the publishing house the “leading purveyor of print Hinduism in the twentieth century”. Mukul says Arney cited “a special issue of Hindu Chetna, a VHP publication, which came out in 1992 in honour of Poddar”. “The issue carried a 1964 interview of Poddar by Shivram Shankar Apte, earlier with the RSS and later loaned to the VHP. Poddar, who was among the founders of the VHP, told Apte that it was Gita Press that ‘sowed the tolerant ideals that have now blossomed into the plant of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad,’ ” Mukul wrote, as per Indian Express. Mind-boggling numbers Gita Press claims to have published in excess of 41 crore books. These include 16.21 crore copies of the Bhagwat Gita, 11.73 crore books on Tulsidas, 2.68 crore on Purana-Upanishads and 11.09 crore books for children. According to Economic Times, its website has a selection of more than 3,000 books.

Its sales in 2022 are thought to have crossed Rs 100 crore while in 2021 sales were at Rs 78 crore.

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According to The Times of India, the non-profit reported an annual sales turnover of Rs 69 crore in 2019, 66 crore in 2018, 47 crore in 2017 and 39 crore in 2016. Gita Press credits its low prices to purchasing raw materials straight from the source, as per Economic Times. It says it does not add any extra cost for the consumer, accepts no donations, nor does it advertise its publications. ‘Great honour’ Gita Press on Monday said it was a matter of great honour to be conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize, but the publisher would not accept the cash component of the award keeping with its tradition of not receiving any kind of donations. The trustee board of the press met late on Sunday after the award was announced and decided not to receive the cash component of Rs 1 crore. The publisher thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Culture Ministry for conferring the prestigious award on it. On Monday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Gita Press has been doing a wonderful job of selflessly taking several holy books to the masses. “If India’s glorious ancient Sanatan culture and base texts can be read easily today, the Gita Press has an incomparable contribution in this. For more than 100 years, the Gita Press has been doing a wonderful job of selflessly taking many holy books from Ramcharit Manas to Shrimad Bhagwad Gita to the masses,” Shah tweeted. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.