Friday, April 30, 2010

# Dharamyug

'Times of India' group have been a renowned name among the oldest major publication houses of India.It has produced a wide variety of magazines and comics suiting to the taste of all age groups such as Indrajal comics and Parag for children,Filmfare and Madhuri for movie buffs,Sarika for younger generation,Femina for women,The Illustrated Weekly of India for English literary loving readership and Dharamyug for Hindi readership.
IWI and Dharamyug both magazines use to deal with current affairs along with fine articles on other popular topics such as sports,cinema,T.V. etc.
In this post i will be talking something about Dharamyug which came in publication in the year 1950 to target the Hindi readership as after independence reading culture and specially Hindi/Urdu reading culture was all set to become the prime time pass of Indian mass in parallel with Hindi cinema.

It was surprising to find that no formal and relevant information about Dharamyug was available anywhere over net,hence in this respect Comic World is the first site to throw at-least some light on this fabulous but extincted magazine of yesteryear. 




























Dharamyug used to be published in A3 size format with a weekly publication status which continued till late 80's before shifting to fortnightly status.
Dharamyug flourished and rose to its peak in the tenure of literary giant Dharamveer Bharati(famous creations "Gunahon Ka Devta","Suraj Ka Satwan Ghoda") who was conferred its editorship in 1960 and continued till 1987 after which he resigned from editorship due to his bad health.Ganesh Mantri,then took over the charge from him for the prestigious post of editor in chief.
It was during Dahramveer Bharati's regime when Dharamyug was counted among top Hindi magazines of India and was often referred as the Hindi 'Illustrated Weekly Of India'.Bharati Ji's strict literary baton carved a class of its own and raised the standard of Dharamyug to a height where it was considered a privilege and matter of great achievement for writers/journalists to get published in Dharamyug.There was no place for shallow or substandard articles/stories in the magazine under the hawk eyes of Bharati Ji.
Apart from literary stories/poems another highlight of Dharamyug was Abid Surti's "Dhabbo Ji' which caught the common man nerve and established his name among the top class cartoonists of India.















Another eye catching attraction of Dharamyug were the wide variety of ads,have a look on some of them.


 





















Have you noted the ad of 'Shankar's Weekly' magazine ad above!Can anyone throw some light on Shankar's Weekly as i never came across with a single copy of it.Anybody having some information about it pl.share.
 Also have a look on these following ads.from 1970's Dharamyug.









































It also use to review the latest released Hindi movies,have a look at the review of 'Johny Mera Naam'(1970) by Harish Tiwari.We all know that the movie was the smash hit of its time,it will be interesting to read this review published at the time of the release of movie.


















Advertisement of forthcoming movies were also use to published in Dharamyug,have a look on few of such ads.


























Articles sharing memories of heroes of bygone era and news from the new hotcake entertainment media of those times,'Doordarshan',also added flavor to the colors of magazine.





















In 70's,cartoons of famous cartoonists 'Pran' were also a regular feature of Dharamyug and were published as corner cartoon.





















An encouraging cross word literary quiz of cash prize of Rs.1500/- was also a one of the major attraction of it.


In late 80's another comic feature was added along with Dhabbu Ji.Have a look.


  

 Few more nostalgic ads....


What about this funny ad. where a man is breaking his fountain pen because of poor flow quality of ink..isn't it quite funny!


Stories which were published in Dharamyug were also used to be of some quality,can you tell who is the illustrator of the following story page.


Have a look at this classic hand painted advertisement of Atlas cycle,just note the concept of the ad.,a woman being photographed by a man along with cycles,hinting that it was some sort of privilege being photographed along with 'Atlas' cylces.



Witness the few covers of Dharamyug right from the year 1970.




Covers from 1990's........



and in last for the readers,who have ever been a part of Aligarh University or have had some attachment with this prestigious institution,presented here is a article written on University by another literary giant who himself have been a part of it,Dr.Rahi Masoom Raza(well known as dialogue writer of famous DD serial 'Mahabharat'),in which he has shared his memories attached with University in his unique and impressive writing style during his studentship as well as his lectureship.




So friends this was a brief 'flashback' of Dharamyug,how was it!If you found it interesting then please share your views,reaction and thoughts about it.Let me know if you want to see such more posts in future about other 'lost' Indian magazines/comics.


54 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi,
It was fantastic. We would like to see more of Dharmayug. Do share them if you have.
regards,
Vijay Gautam

Bengali Indrajal Comics said...

Thanks for nice posting.
I never know anything about it. Maybe it was not pulished in Bengal.
I really enjoy your presentation.
Thanks again.

Comic World said...

Vijay Welcome buddy.Yes,i do have few more issues of them.Let me know what you wish to see exactly from it.

Comic World said...

BIC: Welcome pal.Dharamyug was a Hindi magazine which for sure would have circulation in Bengal also,its a matter of chance that you never came across it.Interestingly i got my most of issues of Dharamyug from Kolkata only.
Bengali is a rich and heritage language talking about literature,many literary giants were Bengali only.In Bengal there is still reading culture alive and much active than other parts of India.
I like and adore Bengali very much,wish i could read it so that i can enjoy the rich Bengali literature.I am certainly going to give a serious try to learn it.

kuldeepjain said...

behad shandar post jaheer bhai.. i was lost in the memory lane when i was in Raigargh and used to go to library where 'Dharamyug' was available for public reading. need less to say that my first read was 'dhabbu ji'

2 of his strips i still remember..

1. dhabbu ji how mnay languages u know..
dhabbu ji : char
X : kaun kaun si:
Dhabbu ji : Hindi , Devnagri, Matru bhasa , Rastra bhasa

second one was :

Dhabbu ji kya aapke koi ristedar garib hai

Dhabbu ji : mai unhe nahi janta

kya aapke koi ristedar Amir hai

Dhabbu ji : wo mujhe nahi jante

when i am giving you this i am telling that i was a great lover of Dharmyoug which has reading material for every taste and colour and that means for every one.

if i remember Ins Ajad or Ins Eagle was also published in Dharmyug.

do u know that dhabbu ji was published by Dimond comics as comic book as well..

2 or 3 if i remember..

i also remember that i read Dharmyug in which article on Pradeep kumar came..

this very morning this post said that it was read 1485 times but there were only 4 comments..

friends my request pl do drop atlest one line ..
and Jaheer bhai post ke sath comics jarur rakhe.. maja 4 guna ho jata hai..

kuldeepjain said...

my mistake.. it was not 1485 but 42 actually.. i was watching somewhere else..

but my request still holds..

मोहम्मद कासिम said...

hi zaheer bahi

bachpan ki yade jaga di

dhaboo ji main bachpan me padhta tha

ye 95-98 ke aspas amarujala mein bichapta tha.

thanks for good cover also

sim786.blogspot.com

मुनीश ( munish ) said...

मरहबा....ला--जवाब ! कमाल था वो ज़माना !

मुनीश ( munish ) said...

you are doing yeoman's service to the cause of reviving NOSTALGIA

PBC said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
PBC said...

Nice one! It was one the most popular Hindi magazine in 80s, although I subscribed only Kadambini as Hindi magazine.

As I remember, the size of Dharmayug was between A4 & A3 - not exactly A3. Last time saw in 1990 only. Liked to read more for comics strips.

There are 32 scans in this post. :)

Really, liked reviving NOSTALGIA. But pls, sometimes scan 32 pages of comic also after some such posts. After all, it's Comic World. I won your one quiz some months ago, where is my prize? Madhumuscan Comics (not Madhumuskan) is due. :) This series had very few comics, but all are interesting. Only one available at net.

Comic World said...

Kuldeep Jain: Welcome Kuldeep Bhai. Initially i also use to flip the pages of Dharamyug for Dhabbu ji only,it was only few years back when i recognized the real class of Dharamyug when i went through its reading material in detail.
Yeah,Dhabbu ji was really funny,i still read it,and i am also looking for those dhabbu ji comics published by Diamond comics.
I have doubt about Ins.Azad/Eagle being published in Dharamyug as i never seen such a copy,still i will check for it.

Comic World said...

Mohd.Qasim: Welcome Qasim Bhai.

Comic World said...

Munish: Welcome Munish Ji.

Comic World said...

PBC: Welcome Prabhat.Yes,your MM comic is due for posting,will try to present it as next post.

Silly Boy. said...

To see this post of yours the feeling in my mind is the same as some fan of Sachin Tendulkar see him scoring a centurty after a long time. I cannot use the same words again and again for appreciating your efforts. Do your posts always offers different materials from other blogs as other blogs generally post comic-pe-comic without any discussion or analysis over it. But Yaar your post is 'something different'. But posts like this, Oh! I cannot ask for more.
Shanker's weekly was a weekly magazine of eminent cartoonists of India (generally political cartoonists) published under the leadership of well-known cartoonist Mr. Shankar(Children Book Trust fame). It was topped in 70s during emergency due to pressure from establishment. It was in Engligh but from ad of Dharamyug it seems that it also ussed to be published in Hindi for some issues.
As far as my knowledge goes Inspector Garud was published in Saptahik Hindustan and not in Dharamyug. In its feg end Dharamyug also used to published 'Adventures of Master Phene'. A script created on the famous character careted by Mr. B.R.Bhagwat a well-known Marathi writer. The illustrations were by none other than Ram Vaikar. The collects strips later also appeared in Tinkle. The script was by B.R. Bhagwat himself.
Need some stuff like this. Still waiting for your Sushma article on the demise of Sanjeev Kumar.

Silly Boy said...

Corrigendum:-
Word topped in the above comment be read as stopped.

writing said...

Wonderful writeup.
I have great memories of Dharmyug,Saptahik HIndustan,Parag, Indrajal comics,the illustrated weekly of India and one more magazine: Raja Bhaiyya.
Unfortunately the Raja Bhaiyya is not found anywhere on internet.

Mr RK Goel, photographer had lots and lots of photographs appear in these magazines. His Dharmyug,Saptahik hindustan, kadambini,nandan, parag covers must be running in hundreds.
I am fortunate enough to be his friend. He has a large collection of these covers.
If you like, i may request him and we all may share those covers.
An interview may also be arranged if you wish so.

deshdeepak

Comic World said...

SB: Thanks for the information about Shankar's Weekly and Saptahik Hindustan,if you have any copy of it(Shankar's Weekly) then it would be nice to see its scans here.
Many thanks for appreciative words too,yeah,rightly said,simple comic posting doesn't excite me,rather meaningful discussions,analysis & information sharing is that for which i look for.
I remember your request for Sanjeev Kumar's Sushma article but that particular Sushma issue is not with me here,rather it is at my home,will be bringing it with me when i next visit home.

Comic World said...

Writing: Thanks and welcome.I have heard a lot about Raja Bhaiyya though never read a single issue of it,will be looking for any of its hard copy.
Also,many thanks for the offer about Mr.R.K.Goel,it would be very nice if we could see some of his work here along with a detailed interview of a person so closely associated with these comics/magazines.
Let me know how to initiate the process.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this elaborate illustration of Dharamyug. I used to read it in my childhood. Remeber to have read the issue covering Amitabh and Jaya Bhaduri´s wedding. Has the magazine stopped now? If yes, since when and why?
anita(anitarattan@hotmail.com)

Comic World said...

Anitarattan: Welcome to Comic World and thanks for appreciation.Well,Dharamyug has been stopped in early 90's due to falling circulation.

Nadeem1414 said...

http://www.stories.pk i have visited to this site and found to get the interested and entertaining story which is very impressive.

Unknown said...

This comic world post is really best in this world....Every one like comics....But you done it excellently....Keep up this good job...



artists

ravee said...

This whole thing is mind blowing...I dont have words to express my thanks gratitude to you for not only taking so much of pain in uploading the pics and articles but also giving me the greatest pleasure of my life - returning me to the best time of my life - my bachpan - adolsence and youth....no amount of thanks is enough for this great job

Comic World said...

RT: Welcome friend,thats is the motive of this blog,i am happy to see that its achieving its goal.

Anonymous said...

i still remember that the sizes of dharamyug,ilustrated weekly of india & sapatahik hindustan were same while other magazines of the same era was small,i still remeber about 30 yrs back ifound out an old edition of ilssutared weekly of india in my mothers LT tarining college, mg road allahabad & was surprised to see an old phantom comic strip of phantom by lee falk & barry-mj

Anonymous said...

dharamveer bharti the editor of dharamyug was from locality called auttersuiyaor kalyanidevi in allahabad,if my memory serves me right and was a name to reckon with in hindi writing before he went to bombay-mj

Comic World said...

Anon: Yes,Illustrated Weekly was first to introduce to Phantom strips in India,which started in early 50's and continued till late 80's.
Dharamveer Bharati was a literary giant himself before he was became the editor of renowned Hindi magazine Dharamyug in early 60's.

Santhalika said...

Gazab hai bhai!!!

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know where one can get old issues of Dharamyug? I was a contributor from London England in the 60s and 70s

Comic World said...

Anon: Well,its quite tough to find early issues of Dharamyug though i have quite a few of 60's and 70's.Let me know if you are searching for a particular issue.

Shushma Datt said...

I wrote articles from London, England for Dharamyog. I had met Jimi Hendrix in 1969 and had written an article on his album which depicted Trimurti in Jimi's image. I am looking for that particular issue. I wrote under the name of Sushma Datta. Thank you for your quick response .

Comic World said...

Sushma Dutta: Fine,i will be browsing the issues with me and will let you know if i came across your desired issue.

इशमेलावाला said...

Dharmyug was a magazine for everyone. It had serious analysis of current affairs, litrary discussions, talks, and other materials, comics, chutkule, and short stories for children, and what not. It was a full healthy reading package for a whole joint family. My papa waited eagerly for the new issue, and not less was me either. Really thanks for presenting those sought after pages of the great magazine with its rich contents that makes one not just nostalgic, but important information of that time as well.

इशमेलावाला said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
जितेन्द्र माथुर said...

मुझे यह कहने में कोई हिचक नहीं है हसन भाई कि आपका यह आलेख बेहद विस्तृत और दिलचस्प है । आप आम तौर पर हिन्दी में लिखते हैं मगर इसे आपने अंग्रेजी में लिखा है । पुरानी यादों पर जम गई सारी धूल झाड़ दी आपके इस लेख ने । धर्मयुग को अगर एक युग-प्रवर्तक पत्रिका कहा जाए तो कोई अतिशयोक्ति नहीं होगी । इस पत्रिका ने देश की धड़कन को समझा और उसे देश के नियंताओं तक पहुँचाने में अपनी ओर से कोई कोर-कसर नहीं छोड़ी । ढब्बूजी मेरे भी प्रिय कार्टून थे और मैं धर्मयुग का नया अंक आते ही ढब्बूजी को पढ़कर याद कर लेता था ताकि अपने प्राथमिक विद्यालय में हर शनिवार को होने वाली बाल-सभा में उसे सुना सकूं ।

आपने एक आवरण पृष्ठ विश्वनाथ प्रताप सिंह का डाला है । यह एक खुली चिट्ठी थी उनके नाम जो कि उनके उन शैदाइयों की ओर से थी जिनका उनसे मोहभंग हुआ और जिनकी भावनाओं को उनके कार्यकलापों से ठेस पहुँची । मुझे यह आवरण कथा बखूबी आज तक याद है ।

साल का आख़िरी अंक हमेशा कुछ ख़ास होता था और उसमें किसी एक क्षेत्र से संबन्धित बेहतरीन सामग्री हुआ करती थी । एक बार हॉकी पर भी विशेषांक निकला था जबकि क्रिकेट पर तो ढेरों विशेषांक निकाले जाते थे जो कि जानकारी और मनोरंजन से भरपूर होते थे ।

धर्मयुग और साप्ताहिक हिंदुस्तान जैसी पत्रिकाओं का बंद होना हिन्दी के साहित्य और पाठक समुदाय के लिए भारी क्षति रही जिसकी पूर्ति कभी नहीं हो पाई । हाल ही में मैंने अपने यहाँ के पुस्तकालय से एक छोटा-सा उपन्यास - 'जादुई खड़िया' (लेखक - मनहर चौहान)लेकर पढ़ा जो कि बरसों पहले मैंने धर्मयुग में धारावाही रूप से पढ़ा था तो पुरानी यादें बरबस ही ताज़ा हो आईं । बाकी कसर आपका यह लेख पढ़कर निकल गई ।

बहुत-बहुत साधुवाद आपको इस लेख के लिए । आप ऐसे सृजनात्मक और सार्थक कार्य में सदा लगे रहें ।

शुभकामनाएं ।

जितेन्द्र माथुर

Comic World said...

शुक्रिया जीतेन्द्र भाई । जी वैसे तो मैं हिंदी में ही लिखता हूँ लेकिन ब्लॉग के आरंभिक कुछ सालों तक मैं अंग्रेज़ी में ही लिखा करता था । 'धर्मयुग' के बारे में आपने जो कुछ कहा सब सत्य है और यह देख कर बेहद दुःख होता है कि इस किस्म की पत्रिकाओं के पढ़ने वाले कम होते गए जिसके चलते इस पत्रिका को बंद करना पड़ा जबकि ढेरों ऊल जलूल और वाहियात किस्म की पत्रिकाएँ धड़ल्ले से चल रही है । शायद यही सच है कि तकनीकी विकास तो हो रहा है लेकिन बौद्धिक विकास में उसी रफ़्तार से कमी आ रही है

Unknown said...

Somehow, a name struck me "Abid Surti" and lead to another name "Dhaboo ji"; but, while searching for Abid Surti, I couldn't find anything relatred to Dhaboo ji. I re-googled, and landed on this blog. Just one word "Awesome". I repeat "Awesome". My mom had subscribed to Dharamyug in early 80s (I was in 2nd/3rd Std then and while waking up every Sunday, 1st thing for me was to read "Dhaboo ji". Your article made me stop and go back 30 years down the memory lane. Thanks from the core of my heart to make me remember that we grew up reading such great literary pieces. Thanks, Sandeep Nangrani (nangrani@gmail.com).

Comic World said...

You are welcome Unknown.

Unknown said...

Dear Sir, Let me express my gratitude for publishing this post about Dharamyug. My father had subscribed to it and we used to receive its every edition until it went out of circulation. You have brought back memories of an era 20-25 Years ago. I was just telling my 10 years old son about Cartoon Kona Dabbuji and googled the same which landed me on this site. I agree with the comments a lot of junk gets published and read now a days but our heritage holding content quality stuff is trashed. I would have wished the publishing major Times of India Group could have continued to carry such quality publication...

Unknown said...

Dear Sir, By chance i got into memories of Dharmayug, while searching something on Dharma. I still remember the days of 1970-72 (I passed my high school then), I was a regular reader of Dharmayug. I still remember the features on 1971 war and the evolution of Bangladesh etc. Dabbuji was my favourite, and the one thing I ever cherished was the Kahani.

Still I miss the Dharmayug

Lalit carpentry joinery construction said...

धर्म युग मेरे बचपन में फीजी में भी उपलब्ध था, लेकिन बाद में बंद हो गया. बेहद ज्ञानवर्धक पत्रिका थी. ललित महाराज, फीजी.

Unknown said...

"धर्मयुग" भी मेरी प्रिय पत्रिका रही १९७० से लेकर १९९६ तक, जब इसका प्रकाशन बंद हो गया. मेरे पास "धर्मयुग' के ढेरों अंक हैं, जो मैने संभाल कर रखे हैं. मैने "धर्मयुग" १९७१ में पड़ना शुरू किया था. मेरे पास १९७० से अंक थे, १९७० से १९७३ तक सभी अंक मेरे पास नहीं है, मैने १९७४ से "धर्मयुग", नियमित रूप से खरीदना शुरू किया था.
इस साल मैने "धर्मयुग" के कई पुराने अंक खरीदे हैं -- वर्ष १९५२ से लेकर १९६९ तक के. अभी भी कई अंक मेरे पास नहीं हैं और मेरी खोज जारी है.
"धर्मयुग" के अलावा मेरे संग्रह में "साप्ताहिक हिन्दुस्तान", "सारिका"; "माधुरी"; "रविवार"; "इलस्ट्रेटेड वीकली"; "इंद्रजाल कॉमिक्स" के साथ ही और भी ढेरों पत्रिकाएँ हैं -- पुरानी और नयी.
मेरा संग्रह आप लोग मेरे फ़ेसबुक अकाउंट पर मेरे फोटो आलबम्स के रूप में देख सकते हैं.

krishna1975 said...

Dear Naresh ji, I am searching a old "dharavahik storey" published either in saptahik hundustan or dharmyug,I had read old time I think between 1975 to 1982 (if I am not wrong).I just want to check from you collection that who was author of story. I don't remember exactly but this story revolves around a haveli situated in a town/village.There was master of this haveli called malik.Lot of servants were engaged in that haveli and each servant (poor innocent villager have some stories with there life,taange wala etc)there is a old woman also.The last thread I remember "Malik" was died in night due to heart attack......
I am nostalgia about this story and want to know details about.If you can recall this and share details: name of author etc. I will thankful to you.Also please share your contact no so that we can be friends because I find we have similar interests: Myself Krishna kumar ph: 999 00 95489, email: cancer_kk@yahoo.com (I have sent you a friend request on face book)

Arya said...

Hi,

Great post, brings back old memories.

Does anyone remember a one-page comic series published in the early 1980s in Dharmyug which had the character of "Doctor Agnihotri" which I am guessing was renamed in Hindi? Can anyone please tell me the original name of the comic. if anyone has Dharmyug from that time I will be grateful for the information.

Thanks,
Abhinav

Unknown said...

सर, हिन्दी साहित्य का चस्का मुझे धर्मयुग से लग।, मैं ने इसे बचपन से पढ़ना शुरू किया और किशोरावस्था तक पढ़ता रहा, जब इस पत्रिका का अवसान हुआ तो लगा कि कोई अपना चला गया, इसमें छपने वाली कहानियां बहुत अच्छी होती थीं, मैं ने कुछ कहानियों के पन्ने फाड़ कर रख लिए थे, लेकिन वह खो गए। श्री कन्हैया लाल नंदन के समय की पराग भी अद्वितीय थी। हम सभी भाग्यशाली हैं कि हमने धर्मयुग और पराग को पढ़ा है।

Katyayan Kanyakubj Gaurang Brahmavarti Mishra said...

very nice blog. I was searching for dharmayug but i got your blog. i dont know why they dont have online database of old issues? there were very good issues, particularly i liked articles on Rajasthan, theatre, dance. there were on Courtesans Tawaif, lot of information of films, Crafts, paintings, History too. it was a complete magazine covering every aspect. cartoons etc all, even literature-stories by Shivani ji etc

Paullumi said...

I m researching Lucknow Gharana kathak.Umesh Mathur had written a series in Dharamyug titled Kathak ki katha.If anyone has this issue, please let me know.Need it urgently.also how do we access the archive.

Unknown said...

Wow. Great going through all the posts about dharamyug . The master post is so well drafted and such an interesting read.
Guys, if you can help me on this. On one one other dharamyug issues, I believe in the early sixties had a centre spread picture of 2 school girls playing trumpets ( with the caption "utho jawano utho, bigul de raha hai awaaz) . One of those girl was my mother. Mom's no more and we have been really wanting to have that picture. Is there anywhere I can get access to the copies of these issues published around 1960 -63. Please help me

S M said...

Hi,
My father was a regular reader of Dharamyug Patrika back in the 70s. I'm in search of a full copy of a shayari published in approximately 1974/1975.
Shayari ka naam nahi pata, par uski shuruvat thi:
'Ab tak jo tum pehchan na payi, kya tum uss din jaan sakogi.'
We don't have any copies of this magazine, it would be a massive help if you could help us find it. My father had memorized 90% of it, but the last few lines of the poem he doesn't remember, he doesn't know the author, or the name of the poem, but it is one of his all time favorites.
Kind Regards,
Surbhi

shanky the Ideaman said...

जी हां यादे ताज़ा हो गयी, पाप के आफिस की लाइब्रेरी से धर्मयुग और साप्ताहिक हिंदुस्तान का बेसब्री से ििइंतज़ार रहता था। पड़ने की आदत वही दे पड़ी।
अब तो बच्किचोन का साहित्य भी नहीं है बड़ों का भी नहीं।

Vikky said...

For old dharmyug hard copy aur any other comics magazine novel like manoj raj tulsi diamond champak nandan balhansh chandamama or any comics collection once contact me whatsapp 7870475981

Vikky said...
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