''Vanitha'' () is an Indian
magazine 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, 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, 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 wa ...
[ and launched a ]Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...
edition in 1997. Although its name translates to "woman" in Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...
, 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, ]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 the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
.
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 ...
.
See also
* 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 ...
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