''Dharmyug'' was 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 ...

pictorial weekly published by The Times of India Group from year 1949 till 1993.

History

The magazine was originally published by a Dalmia press in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

from 1949, just after

independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...

, however it incorporated an earlier pictorial magazine ''Nav Yug'' that began in 1932. Later on when the Dalmia group divested its stake from Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. in 1948, ''Dharmayug'' remained with the Times of India group. One of its chief editors was Pandit Satyakam Vidyalankar, The magazine became popular and widely read when, in 1960, noted writer-playwright

Dharmveer Bharti Dharamvir Bharati (25 December 1926 – 4 September 1997) was a renowned Hindi poet, author, playwright and a social thinker of India. He was the chief editor of the popular Hindi weekly magazine '' Dharmayug'', from 1960 till 1987.The Illustr ...

noted for his play, '' Andha Yug'' (1953), was appointed as its Chief Editor. The noted Hindi poet and author served as the

chief editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

for the magazine from 1960 to 1987.The Illustrated weekly of India: Volume 108, Issues 39-50, 1987. Dharmveer Bharti was a dedicated and widely admired editor, although was sometimes considered to have been authoritative by fellow journalists. After Bharti's retirement, Ganesh Mantri, a Hindi journalist, was appointed Editor, Vishwanath Sachdev took over from Ganesh Mantri, before the Times of India decided to close down the magazine in 1997.

Contents and significance

The magazine covered all disciplines, including literature, art, fashion, culture, fiction, science and comics. (although the name may imply Dharm = faith/duty, yug = age) Serialised stories of many Hindi popular writer and poets were published in the magazine. '' Dhabbuji'', a cartoon character created by

Abid Surti Abid Surti or Aabid Surti (born 5 May 1935) is a painter, author, cartoonist, journalist, environmentalist, playwright and screenwriter from India. He was given a National Award by the government of India in 1993 for writing a series of short s ...

, was also a regular feature., besides works of cartoonist, Kaak were regularly featured. ''Dharmyug'' was considered to be the most respected publication of its time. Many distinguished authors got their break into the field when they published in ''Dharmyug''. Dharmyug also provided a beginning to painters like J.P. Singhal, who published his first painting in ''Dharmayug'' in 1954.कला मेरे लिये कुरुक्षेत्र ही थी, वरिष्ठ कलाकार जे.पी. सिंघल से प्रभुजोशी की बातचीत, Abhivyakti, १९ जुलाई २०१०
/ref> It was a sad end to the saga of a Hindi magazine that once sold more than four

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For e ...

copies a week and gave a platform to many new Hindi writers and poets, like

Mrinal Pande Mrinal Pande (born 26 February 1946) is an Indian television personality, journalist and author, and until 2009 chief editor of Hindi daily ''Hindustan''. Early life and education Pande was born in Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh, 26 February 1946. ...

and

Rajesh Joshi Rajesh Joshi (born 18 July 1946) is a Hindi writer, poet, journalist and a playwright, who was the recipient of 2002 Sahitya Akademi Award in Hindi for his anthology of poems - 'Do Panktiyon Ke Beech' (Between Two Lines), given by Sahitya Akade ...

. The magazine was the first to serialize that tremendous milestone of Hindi and Indian theater ''Aadhe Adhure'' by Mohan Rakesh, as well as the first to publish stories of

Shivani ''Gaura Pant'' (17 October 1923 – 21 March 2003), better known as Shivani, was a Hindi writer of the 20th century and a pioneer in writing Indian women-centric fiction. She was awarded the Padma Shri for her contribution to Hindi literature ...

References

{{Reflist, 30em 1949 establishments in India Defunct literary magazines Defunct magazines published in India Hindi-language magazines Literary magazines published in India Magazines disestablished in 1993 Magazines established in 1949 Publications of The Times Group

History

Contents and significance

See also

References