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
Relaunched	1947; 78 years ago (1947)
Headquarters	Kottayam, Kerala, India
Circulation	1,908,612 Daily (as of June 2022)
Readership	8.47 million (IRS 2019)
ISSN	0972-0022
OCLC number	802436310

Malayala Manorama is a popular morning newspaper published in Malayalam language. It comes out from Kottayam, Kerala, India. The Malayala Manorama Company Limited publishes this newspaper.

The newspaper was first printed as a weekly on March 22, 1888. Today, it is led by Mammen Mathew. Over 1.9 million copies are printed daily. More than 8 million people read it regularly. It is the second oldest Malayalam newspaper still being published in Kerala. The oldest is Deepika, also from Kottayam. Malayala Manorama also has an online version.

In 2016, the World Association of Newspapers said it was the 14th most circulated newspaper in the world. The Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in 2022 that it is the second largest newspaper in India by circulation. It is the biggest newspaper in Kerala.

History of Malayala Manorama

How it Started in Kottayam

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

The company bought a printing press from London. A local craftsman named Konthi Achari made Malayalam letters for the press. Varghese Mappillai became the editor of Manorama. He had worked as an editor for another newspaper before. The Maharajah of Travancore, Moolam Thirunal, even approved the newspaper's logo. It looked a bit like the Travancore Coat of Arms.

The first newspaper was printed on March 22, 1890. It was a four-page weekly newspaper, published every Saturday. Over time, it became a bi-weekly (twice a week) in 1901. Then it became a tri-weekly (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 became the new editor. In 1938, the government of Travancore state stopped Malayala Manorama from publishing. They said it was printing news against the Diwan (a high official). Mammen Mappillai was even sent to 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-Chief in 1954. At that time, Malayala Manorama was only printed in Kottayam. It had a circulation of about 28,666 copies. By the late 1950s, Manorama grew steadily. It soon had more readers than Mathrubhumi, which was the leading Malayalam newspaper back then.

Growing Across Kerala (1960s)

Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi were competing to get more readers. This competition helped newspapers in India grow.

Here's how the number of copies printed changed for both newspapers: (from India's Newspaper Revolution (2000) by Robin Jeffrey, Western Influence on Malayalam Language and Literature (1972) by K. M. George and Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) 2013)

In 1962, Mathrubhumi opened a second printing center in Kochi. This helped Mathrubumi print 170,000 copies by 1964. This was 19,000 more than Malayala Manorama. So, Manorama also needed to grow and use new technology. The competition made them both work harder for readers. They also wanted faster equipment and ads from big companies.

Manorama opened its printing center in Kozhikode in 1966. They used an old press from their Kottayam office. But before that, in 1965, they got 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.

Changes in the 1980s

K. M. Mathew became the editor in 1973. He started many improvements. He brought in experts to help with management, technology, and news. He also held training sessions for journalists and other staff. The company changed how it was organized in 1980. K. M. Mathew said they realized they had to become "fully professional" or "risk decline."

Mathew sent his best journalists and managers to training schools worldwide. He brought in the best ways to produce newspapers. This made Malayala Manorama look modern and fresh. In 1979, a new printing center opened in Kochi. In 1987, the Thiruvananthapuram edition was also launched. By 1998, Malayala Manorama was printing 1 million copies.

In the mid-2000s, the newspaper started printing in the Middle East. This was for the many Malayali people living there. K. M. Mathew helped introduce the idea of "editionalizing" newspapers. This meant having more local news and making pages easy to read. This change affected the whole newspaper industry in Kerala. By 2007, Manorama was the only non-English and non-Hindi newspaper in India to print over 1.5 million copies.

K. M. Mathew's son, Mammen Mathew, took over as editor in 2010. The Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in 2013 that Malayala Manorama printed 2.1 million copies.

The 1990s and Digital Growth

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

Chief Editors

• 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)

Printing Centers

Malayala Manorama office and Press in Kollam city

Malayala Manorama has many printing centers. These help them print and deliver newspapers quickly to different places.

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

Other Publications and Media

Office of Malayala Manorama at Pathanamthitta, Kerala

The Malayala Manorama Company publishes many other magazines and runs different media channels.

See Also

In Spanish: Malayala Manorama para niños

• Manorama News
• Onmanorama
• Mazhavil Manorama
• Radio Mango 91.9
• Kerala Kaumudi
• Mathrubhumi
• Madhyamam
• Asianet News
• List of newspapers in India by circulation