Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India by Akshaya Mukul, Noida: HarperCollins, 2015, pp. 540.

This is a remarkable study of the development and importance of Gita Press in Gorakhpur. Anyone looking for books on Indian train platforms would have seen Gita Press book stalls, and investigation would have revealed highly subsidized books, mostly Hindu scriptures, in Hindi, English and other languages.

It was Marwari businessmen behind the explosive growth of Gita Press, supported by the whole network of organizations associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). But the Gita Press group maintained a more strict approach to caste, never wavering on the validity and importance of the fourfold varna scheme.

The central figure is Hanuman Prasad Poddar (1892-1971), founding editor of Gita Press’ Kalyan journal which he edited from 1926 until his death in 1971. Akshaya Mukul was given free access to Poddar’s papers in Gorakhpur and his careful reading of that voluminous archive lies behind this book, giving a rare inside look at one of the early important leaders of the developing Hindutva movement.

Poddar’s first journalistic encounter was in his teenage years with Brahmabandhab Upadhyay in Kolkata. His involvement with Gita Press was based on a relationship with the founder, Jaydayal Goyandka (1885-1965). Mukul’s subtitle for a section on Goyandka is “a shadowy presence” (91) as very little has been written about Goyandka, especially compared to Poddar. Gita Press was registered in 1923 in Kolkata, but shifted to Gorakhpur in 1926.  It was Kalyan that put Gita Press on the map, with distribution of 3 thousand copies a month after only the first year, up to 27,500 after nine years. Today it is around two hundred thousand with another hundred thousand for the accompanying English journal, Kalyana-Kalpataru.

Part of the success of Kalyan was due to its commitment to getting materials from a wide range of authors. The relationships Poddar developed with people like Gandhi, the great industrialist G.D. Birla and RSS leaders among many others are analysed. A fascinating aspect of the study is related to reforming traditional Hindu practices, and creating new “traditions” (note this case: “while women were allowed to chant Hare Ram during menstruation, they were asked not to use tulsi (sacred basil) beads to keep count. Instead, they could use wooden beads” (127)).

This is essential reading for anyone interested in the rise of Hindutva. It contains many insights into modern India and modern Hinduism. One criticism is that a book of this quality and importance should have an index.