Malayala Manorama is a popular Malayalam daily with a very strong readership in
KeralaKerala , is a state located in southwestern India. The state was created in 1956 on linguistc basis, bringing together those places where Malayalam formed the principal language...
,
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
. The Manorama group, which manages the newspaper, also runs the Manorama Yearbook, largest circulated yearbook in the region.
Malayala Manorama, which first appeared on 14 March 1890, as a weekly, currently has a readership of over 16 million, with a circulation base of over 1,8 million copies.
Malayala Manorama is a popular Malayalam daily with a very strong readership in
KeralaKerala , is a state located in southwestern India. The state was created in 1956 on linguistc basis, bringing together those places where Malayalam formed the principal language...
,
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
. The Manorama group, which manages the newspaper, also runs the Manorama Yearbook, largest circulated yearbook in the region.
Malayala Manorama, which first appeared on 14 March 1890, as a weekly, currently has a readership of over 16 million, with a circulation base of over 1,8 million copies. Manorama is acclaimed of its highly attractive page layouts. The Malayalam word "manorama" roughly translates to "entertainer". The Week (India), an Indian weekly is also brought out by the Manorama Group.
Manorama YearbookThe Manorama Yearbook is a "general knowledge update" published annually from South India by the Kottayam-based Malayala Manorama newspaper group....
is yet another popular yearly publication by the
KottayamKottayam is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. It is located in central Kerala and is also the administrative capital of Kottayam district. Kottayam has an estimated population of 60,725, according to the 2001 census. The town is an important trading center of spices and commercial crops,...
-based Manorama group.
History
A joint stock publishing company, destined to acquire the status of the first joint stock publishing company of Republic of India, was incorporated by in 1888 by Kandathil Varghese Mappillai at
KottayamKottayam is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. It is located in central Kerala and is also the administrative capital of Kottayam district. Kottayam has an estimated population of 60,725, according to the 2001 census. The town is an important trading center of spices and commercial crops,...
, then a small town in the Kingdom of
TravancoreTravancore was a princely state from the Indian subcontinent, with its capital at Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. It comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, the Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of Tamil Nadu. Its ruler was accorded a 19-gun salute during the...
, currently, a part of Kerala state, India. The first issue of Malayala Manorama
was published on 22 March 1890 from the press owned by Malankara Metropolitan H.G. Joseph Mar Dionysius of the Orthodox Church. The name Malayala Manorama was chosen by the poet, Raghavan Nambiar, Villuvarvattathu from Tiruvalla. Kerala Varma granted the symbol which is a part of the Travancore kingdom symbol. In a period of two years, from the date of incorporation until the publication commenced, the company witnessed several challenges. It also publishes an information oriented monthly called Tell Me Why.
Editions
- Kottayam
- Thiruvananthapuram
- Kozhikode
- Kochi
- Thrissur
- Kannur
- Kollam
- Palakkad
- Malappuram
- Pathanamthitta
- Bangalore
- Mangalore
- Chennai
- Mumbai
- Delhi
- Dubai
- Bahrain
The newspaper is criticised for its number of advertisement spaces. The newspaper is known for giving more importance to advertisements and less importance to news. The manorama group are also open promoters of capitalist policies and shows strong opposition to socialism.
Controversies
Malayala Manorama
published reports and editorials against the atrocities of Diwan C.P Ramaswami Iyer. This attracted wrath of the Diwan. He initiated actions against the paper }. The paper was forced to cease publication and the editor, K. C. Mammen MappillaiK. C. Mammen Mappillai became editor of Malayala Manorama after Kandathil Varghese Mappillai died. Besides being a noted journalist, he was a freedom-fighter. He was a member of the Sree Moolam Popular Assembly. He founded the Travancore National Bank which later merged with Quilon Bank to become...
, was sent to prison in 1938. The doors of Malayala Manorama remained closed even when India was celebrating its independence in August 1947.They also own MRF.
Some of the news editorials became very controversial when Manorama wrote about 'Blue truth' an editorial describing bluetooth as a technology causing sexual abuses in Kerala. This was vehemently opposed by freelance bloggers and technicians across the country as most of the statements were factually wrong and misleading. Similar to the editorial Manorama started another editorial about 'Email-spams' calling 'E-mayil attam' which again created controversies due to the unscientific and fallacious reports about the technology.
Timeline
- 1888 Malayala Manorama founded
- 1890 First issue of Malayala Manorama was published on 14 March
- 1892 Publication of Bhashaposhini commenced
- 1901 Malayala Manorama becomes bi-weekly
- 1904 Kandathil Varghese Mappillai, the key figure passes away on 6 July
- 1915 Malayala Manorama commences publication of daily World War I supplements
- 1918 Malayala Manorama becomes triweekly on 2 July
- 1928 Malayala Manorama becomes a daily from 2 July
- 1929 On 29 May, Akhila Kerala Balajana Sakhyam formed
- 1930 Malayala Manorama’s first Annual Number appears
- 1937 Commencement of Malayalam Manorama Weekly from 8 August
- 1938 Travancore state proscribes Malayala Manorama on 10 September
- An issue appears on 14 September from the state of Cochin- from the Kunnamkulam press of the Orthodox church.
- 1939 K. C. Mammen Mappillai
K. C. Mammen Mappillai became editor of Malayala Manorama after Kandathil Varghese Mappillai died. Besides being a noted journalist, he was a freedom-fighter. He was a member of the Sree Moolam Popular Assembly. He founded the Travancore National Bank which later merged with Quilon Bank to become...
was convicted and imprisoned on trumpeted charges of corruption and fraud
- 1941 Mammen Mappilla released after being absolved of all false cases
- 1947 From 29 November, Malayala Manorama re-commences regular publication
- 1950 Installation of the first rotary press
- 2007 Becomes the only regional language daily in India to cross 15 lakh copies.
Journalists
Prominent journalists who have worked with the Manorama daily or other Manorama publications include Vaikkom Chandrasekharan Nair, E. V. Krishna Pillai, E.V. Sreedharan, T. V. R. Shenoy, K. Gopalakrishnan, Babu Chengannoor, K. R. Chummar, Moorkoth Kunjappa, K. M.Tharakan, T. K. G. Nair, K. G Nedungadi, VKB (V. K. Bhargavan Nair)
Others include Thomas Jacob and Joy Sasthampadickal who are currently working
See also
- Mrs. K.M. Mathew
Annamma Mathew was the founder Chief Editor of Vanitha, the largest selling women's magazine in India and wife of K. M. Mathew, Chief Editor of Malayala Manorama. She died after a brief illness at a private nursing home in Kottayam, Kerala in India.She was a noted author of culinary literature and...
- Radio Mango
- Manorama News
- Palathulli (water conservation campaign)
The Palathulli program is a water conservation campaign run by the Malayala Manorama newspaper in Kerala, India, for raising awareness on the importance of water conservation and rainwater harvesting....
- List of newspapers in India by circulation
- List of newspapers in the world by circulation
External links