Malayala Manorama facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Malayala Manorama

Front page of the newspaper
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet
Owner(s)	Malayala Manorama Company Ltd
Founder(s)	Kandathil Varghese Mappillai
Founded	1888; 137 years ago (1888)
Language	Malayalam
Ceased publication	1938; 87 years ago (1938)
Relaunched	1947; 78 years ago (1947)
Headquarters	Kottayam, Kerala, India
Circulation	1,816,081 Daily (as of Jan - Dec 2023)
Readership	8.47 million (IRS 2019)
ISSN	0972-0022
OCLC number	802436310

Malayala Manorama is a popular morning newspaper from Kerala, India. It's written in the Malayalam language. The newspaper started as a weekly on March 14, 1888. Today, it is read by over 8 million people. It prints more than 1.9 million copies every day.

This makes it one of the most widely read newspapers in the world. In fact, in 2016, it was the 14th most circulated newspaper globally. It is also the second-oldest Malayalam newspaper still being published in Kerala. Malayala Manorama also has an online version for readers.

The Story of Malayala Manorama

How it All Began in Kottayam

The Malayala Manorama Company is a private business. It is owned by the Kandathil family. This family started the company in Kottayam, Kerala, on March 14, 1888.

The company began with 100 shares, each costing ₹100. With the first money they collected, they bought a special printing press from London. A local craftsman helped make Malayalam letters for this machine.

Kandathil Varghese Mappillai became the first editor of Manorama. He had experience working for another Malayalam newspaper. The ruler of Travancore, Moolam Thirunal, even approved the newspaper's logo. It was similar to the Travancore Coat of Arms.

The first newspaper issue came out on March 22, 1890. It was a four-page weekly paper, published every Saturday. Over time, it became more frequent. It became a twice-a-week paper in 1901. Then, it was published three times a week in 1918. Finally, it became a daily newspaper on July 2, 1928.

After Varghese Mappillai passed away in 1904, his nephew, K. C. Mammen Mappillai, took over as editor. In 1938, the government of Travancore stopped Malayala Manorama from publishing. This happened because they said the newspaper was printing news against the government official, the Diwan. Mammen Mappillai was even put in jail.

Malayala Manorama started publishing again in 1947. This was after India became independent and the Diwan's power ended. When Mammen Mappillai died, his oldest son, K. M. Cheriyan, became the editor in 1954. At that time, Malayala Manorama was printed only in Kottayam. It had a circulation of about 28,666 copies.

By the late 1950s, Manorama grew steadily. It soon became more popular than Mathrubhumi, which was the leading Malayalam newspaper then.

Growing Across Kerala in the 1960s

There was a big competition between Malayala Manorama (from Kottayam) and Mathrubhumi (from Kozhikode). This competition helped newspapers in India grow.

In 1962, Mathrubhumi opened a second printing center in Kochi. This helped Mathrubhumi's circulation reach 170,000 copies by 1964. This was 19,000 more than Malayala Manorama.

Because Mathrubhumi's circulation was rising, Manorama had to expand too. They also needed to use new technology. This competition led to a strong effort to get more readers. It also pushed for faster equipment and more advertising from big companies.

Manorama opened its printing center in Kozhikode in 1966. They used an older press from their Kottayam office. But before that, in 1965, they had already installed a modern offset press in Kottayam. They also set up a teleprinter line to New Delhi.

By 1970, Malayala Manorama was the top daily newspaper in Kerala. Its circulation grew from about 30,000 to 300,000 copies. This growth happened because they expanded across the Malabar Coast.

Changes in the 1980s

K. M. Mathew became the editor in 1973. He started many improvements, similar to what another newspaper did in Bengal. He brought in experts to help with management, technology, and editing. He also held regular training sessions for Manorama journalists and staff.

The company changed its organization in 1980. K. M. Mathew said they realized they had to become "fully professional" or risk falling behind. Mathew sent his best journalists and managers to training schools around the world. He brought back the best ideas for journalism and newspaper making. This gave Malayala Manorama a modern look and feel.

In 1979, a new printing center opened in Kochi. In 1987, the Thiruvananthapuram edition was also launched. By 1998, Malayala Manorama's circulation reached 1 million copies. In the mid-2000s, the newspaper started printing in the Middle East. This was to reach the many Malayali people living there.

Mathew is known for introducing the idea of "local editions." This meant having more local news and making the paper easy to read with professional page designs. This change influenced the entire newspaper industry in Kerala. By 2007, Manorama became the only non-English and non-Hindi daily newspaper in India to print over 1.5 million copies.

K. M. Mathew's son, Mammen Mathew, took over as editor in 2010. Many people praised K. M. Mathew for his commitment to modernizing and professionalizing Indian language journalism. He became a role model for the newspaper industry.

In 2013, Malayala Manorama had a circulation of 2.1 million readers. This was according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

The 1990s and Digital Growth

Malayala Manorama launched its official Malayalam news website, Manorama Online, in 1995. Three years later, in 1998, they launched their English news website, Onmanorama.

Editors of Malayala Manorama

• Kandathil Varghese Mappillai (1890 - 1904)
• K. C. Mammen Mappillai (1904 - 1938, 1947 - 1954)
• K. M. Cherian (1954 - 1973)
• K. M. Mathew (1973 - 2010)
• Mammen Mathew (2010–present)

Where Malayala Manorama is Printed

Malayala Manorama office and Press in Kollam city

Malayala Manorama has many printing centers. These help them reach readers quickly. They are located in:

• Kottayam
• Kozhikode
• Thiruvananthapuram
• Kochi
• Thrissur
• Kannur
• Kollam
• Palakkad
• Malappuram
• Pathanamthitta
• Alappuzha
• Mangalore
• Bangalore
• Chennai
• Mumbai
• Delhi
• Dubai
• Manama
• Doha

Other Publications and Media by Manorama

Office of Malayala Manorama at Pathanamthitta, Kerala

The Malayala Manorama Company publishes many other magazines and runs different media channels. Here are some of them:

See also

In Spanish: Malayala Manorama para niños

• Manorama News
• Onmanorama
• Mazhavil Manorama
• Radio Mango
• Kerala Kaumudi
• Mathrubhumi
• Madhyamam
• Asianet News
• List of newspapers in India by circulation