''Vanitha'' () is an Indian

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

published fortnightly by the ''

Malayala Manorama ''Malayala Manorama'' is a morning newspaper in Malayalam published from Kottayam, Kerala, India by the Malayala Manorama Company Limited. Currently headed by Mammen Mathew; it was first published as a weekly on 22 March 1888, and currently has ...

'' group. It is the largest magazine in India by circulation according to

Audit Bureau of Circulations An Audit Bureau of Circulations is a private organization that provides industry-agreed standards for media brand measurement of print publications and other media outlets in a given country. The International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Circula ...

, with average qualifying sales of 687,915 copies (as of December 2013). It continues to be the largest in circulation in 2017 as well.

History and profile

''Vanitha'' was launched in 1975 as a monthly, but turned into a fortnightly in 1987. The magazine was founded by

Annamma Mathew Annamma Mathew ( ml, അന്നമ്മ മാത്യു, 22 March 1922 – 10 July 2003), also known as Mrs. K. M. Mathew ( ml, മിസ്സിസ് കെ. എം. മാത്യു), was the founder chief editor of '' Vanitha'', the ...

, wife of K.M. Mathew, a woman who has contributed immensely in the fields of social service, cookery, journalism and literature. ''Vanitha'' is published in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

and launched a

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

edition in 1997. Although its name translates to "woman" in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

, it includes news,views and other articles on a variety of topics, and is not strictly a women's magazine. ''Vanitha'' is owned and published by MM Publications Ltd. from

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south- ...

. MM Publications Ltd. is part of Malayala Manorama Group. In addition to being released twice a month, ''Vanitha'' also includes special double issues for

Onam Onam ( ) is an annual Indian harvest festival celebrated predominantly by the Hindus of Kerala. A major annual event for Keralites, it is the official festival of the state and includes a spectrum of cultural events. Onam commemorates Vamana ...

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

and

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

. Between July and December 2000 ''Vanitha'' was the best-selling magazine in India with a circulation of 3,82,027 copies. In 2012, the Malayalam edition of the magazine had a readership of over of 2.27 million, making it the highest read magazine in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

References

{{Malayalam journalism 1975 establishments in Kerala Biweekly magazines published in India Women's magazines published in India Magazines established in 1975 Malayalam-language magazines Malayala Manorama group Mass media in Kerala Women in Kerala Indian news websites

History and profile

See also

References