Gita Press

Overview

Gita Press is an Indian publishing house based in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, recognised as one of the world's largest publishers of Hindu religious texts. It is known for producing inexpensive editions of the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramcharitmanas, the Upanishads, the Puranas, and a wide range of devotional literature in Hindi, Sanskrit, English, and several other Indian languages. The press is operated by Gobind Bhawan-Karyalaya, a registered society headquartered in Kolkata.

Key facts

Background

Gita Press was established with the explicit aim of disseminating Sanatan Dharma literature at affordable prices. The institution traces its origin to Jaya Dayal Goyandka, a Marwari businessman and Gita expositor who founded the Gobind Bhawan satsang in Kolkata in 1922. Dissatisfied with the quality and accuracy of contemporary editions of the Bhagavad Gita, he set up a press at Gorakhpur the following year to print a corrected edition. Ghanshyam Das Jalan and, later, Hanuman Prasad Poddar (known as "Bhaiji") played central roles in shaping the editorial direction of the press.

Publications

The press publishes texts in Hindi, Sanskrit, English, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Odia, Kannada, Malayalam, Nepali, Assamese, and other languages. Its catalogue includes:

• Editions of the Bhagavad Gita, including pocket and illustrated versions.
• The Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas, often issued with Hindi commentary.
• The four Vedas, the principal Upanishads, and the Puranas.
• The Mahabharata and the Valmiki Ramayana.
• Works on dharma, ethics, women's conduct (such as the Stri Dharma series), child upbringing, and biographies of saints.
• The monthly magazine Kalyan, launched in 1926 under the editorship of Hanuman Prasad Poddar, and its English counterpart Kalyana-Kalpataru, started in 1934.

Editorial approach

Books are sold close to cost price, and the press does not accept commercial advertisements in Kalyan. The publications are typically printed on inexpensive paper, with simple bindings and standardised typography, allowing wide circulation across pilgrimage centres, temples, and bookstalls in railway stations.

Timeline

• 1922 – Gobind Bhawan founded in Kolkata by Jaya Dayal Goyandka.
• 1923 – Gita Press established at Gorakhpur.
• 1926 – Kalyan begins publication, edited by Hanuman Prasad Poddar.
• 1934 – English magazine Kalyana-Kalpataru launched.
• 1955 – Leela Chitra Mandir, an in-house gallery of religious paintings, opens at the Gorakhpur premises.
• 2021 – Gita Press marks the printing of a very large cumulative number of copies of its publications across nearly a century.

Significance

Gita Press has had a substantial influence on the popular dissemination of Hindu scripture in twentieth-century India. By producing affordable, mass-circulated editions of canonical texts, it has shaped lay familiarity with the Bhagavad Gita and the Ramcharitmanas across generations and regions. Its editions are widely distributed through temples, pilgrimage sites, and family households. Scholars of modern Hinduism have studied the press as an important institution of print culture, conservative religious publishing, and the consolidation of a pan-Indian devotional readership in Hindi.

Recognition

In 2021, the Government of India announced the Gandhi Peace Prize for that year to Gita Press in recognition of its contribution to social, economic, and political transformation through non-violent means.

Related topics

• Gorakhpur
• Bhagavad Gita
• Ramcharitmanas
• Hanuman Prasad Poddar
• Jaya Dayal Goyandka
• Kalyan (magazine)
• Hindu literature
• Gandhi Peace Prize

References

• Wikidata entity Q2722580.
• Akshaya Mukul, Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India, HarperCollins, 2015.
• Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India – announcements relating to the Gandhi Peace Prize.