Ramayana graphic novel available online

Posted on by

Can’t wait for Gotham Studios’ western-styled renditions of Indian epics? The classic graphic novels of comic book company Amar Chitra Katha are available for online purchase and reading, as reported earlier on BoingBoing.

Started in 1967 by editor Anant Pai and publisher G.L. Mirchandani, Amar Chitra Katha created 436 titles on Indian history, folklore, mythology and culture. At its peak, the company sold as many as 500,000 copies a week, and had their work translated into 18 languages, ranging from Hindi to Serbo-Croat.

Pai started the company after watching a children’s game show, where contestants “were well-versed with the lore of Tarzan and the exploits of Greek gods, but could not answer simple questions about the Ramayana.” Asia Society’s web site hosts a scanned version of that tale, which was one of Amar Chitra Katha’s first creations.

BoingBoing: Indian epic Ramayana as comic

5 thoughts on “Ramayana graphic novel available online”

  1. These comics were awsome. Summers spent in Bombay at my Grandmother’s place reading these always brings back good memories.

    I also thought they were more entertaining that the Ramayana and Mahabharat shows that Doordarshan televised. As a kid, those shows dragged on a bit.

  2. I still remember those ‘bound’ collections of ACK comics…those taught me almost everything I know about the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain religions; not to mention Indian history.

    Say, are Indrajaal comics available on the web too. Remember Bahadur the Brave, Bela and the team?

  3. Did anyone read Chandamama? That has to be one of my fondest and most vivid memories of visiting my grandmother. Oh oh! And there was always a story where King Vikram is talking to a snake who is trying to steal a body. The snake tells him some story, and King Vikram has to give the moral of the story.

    “And with that, the snake gave King Vikram the slip.”

    Looking back on it, how bizarre!

  4. Speaking of bizarre — how strange is it that Parashurama meets Rama? They’re both avatars of Vishnu, #6 and #7 respectively.

  5. But hasn’t one of them already become mortal, Ennis?

    My personal fave was the Mirabai comic. Take that, Breaking the Waves.