Puja special magazines still in high demand in Steel City

Rourkela: Long after the puja season, people in the Steel City are looking for special puja editions of numerous vernacular magazines in different stalls.

This year, about 94 puja-special magazines containing fiction and non-fiction works of popular writers with attractive covers had hit the bookstores here. These magazines hold special charm for lovers of Odia literature, who are still on the lookout to grab copies left unsold at book shops.

Golakh Bihari Sahoo, a book-seller of Koel Nagar Market, said, “This year, he had sold as many as 500 Puja special magazines at different prices  ranging between Rs. 10 to Rs. 150. Puja-special editions have become popular in Odisha for the last several years now.”

Even the writers prefer to get their best creations published during this time of the year as they get more readers for their works. Even the book like ‘Bartika’ written by Dr. Nabakishore Mishra from Jajpur with 1488 pages is now available on the stalls. These magazines with more information and low price attract a lot of readers, added Sahoo.

Kishore Das, the owner of Sibashakti book stall in sector-2, said that he has sold around 700 books, including magazines. Magazines like Tirataranga, Bartika, Padhapadhi, Samaroha, Kadambini, Naballipi and film magazines like Banichitra, Chalachitra Jagata, etc. are sold more.

According to poet Ashok Chandra Mohapatra, puja special magazines are rich with poetry and literary writings. Mahendra Mishra, a voracious reader and collector of various magazines, says puja special magazines, which are full of features, stories, travelogues, etc. are considered collectors’ copies.

Bupen Mohapatra, writer and editor of ‘Nagara’ published from Rourkela, says, “During festive season, publication of more number of literary magazines goes up because of advertisers wishing to release their ads.”

"Nearly 30,000 pages of literature being released in one month during puja is a great thing for Odia literature. But what is important is how much variety, in terms of content, these magazines are offering," opined writer and columnist Debendra Mohanty.

Among the popular puja special magazines are ‘Chirantani’, 'Jhankara', 'Pourusha', 'Amrutayana', 'Paschima', 'Sachitra Bijaya', 'Gokarnika', 'Nabarabi', 'Ananya', 'Kadambini', 'Samaroha', 'Sailaja', 'Bedabyasa', 'Akhyansha', 'Sabitri', 'Kalinga Prabha', 'Sudhanya', 'Nababita', 'Bartika', 'Prabaha', ‘Janasudha’, ‘Pakhighara’, ‘Galpa’, ‘Madhulita’, ‘Nabarabi’, ‘Sobhana’, ‘Digbalaya’, ‘Ghasa Phula’, ‘Istahara’  'Arpita', 'Akhyara', 'Biswamukti', and 'Sulgna’.