Between the lines

With over 100 years of publishing books on Indology and related subjects, Motilal Banarsidass treads a different path to promote Indian thought and culture

Legacy comes calling to prefix the name that has played an undefeatable inning of 105 years on the publisher's pitch. Motilal Banarsidass, the only publishing house in Pune that promotes books on Indology, as its mainstream product, also occupies a coveted position on the all India list of publishing houses that focus on this genre of books.

Instated in 1903 in Lahore by Late Motilal Banarsidass Jain, the publishing house today expands to seven cities in India and has distributors in Australia, Germany, UK and the USA. It presently has the fifth generation of the Jain family as its board of directors.

Miles away from the mainstream novels and bestsellers by contemporary authors, this publishing house has treaded a different path by promoting books on Indology which includes religious philosophies, Ayurveda, healing therapies, yoga, comparative studies of philosophy and science, books on ancient Indian art and architecture as well as works on the study of ancient Indian coins. "Shri Motilal Banarsidass started this publishing house with the aim of promoting works, which richly reflect the Indian legacy," highlights Saleel Wagh, manager , Pune Branch

Sustaining a good 105 years would not have been possible for Banarsidass, without improvisations and diversifications. " Initially we used to deal only with books in Hindu religion, literature and philosophy but later on we expanded our stock to books on Yoga and alternative medicines like Ayurveda," says the Branch Manager.

A rich collection of books includes English and Hindi translation of Ramcharitramanas, versions of Kalhana's Rajatarangini, Brihad Jataka, books on Reiki and Tibetan, Pali, and Sanskrit dictionaries among other treasured works.

Interestingly the books promoted by Motilal Banarsidass have created their niche amongst youth. "Now-a-days the youth have started showing a keen interest in the books on Philosophy. In fact in Pune there are some young research scholars who also demand the Puranas. Also books on Vedic Mathematics have many takers," says Wagh.

Motilal Banarsidass also promotes new writers. "Out of around 100 books that we publish every year, almost 50 per cent includes works of new comers. With more than 2000 authors presently associated with Banarsidass, the publishing house plans to explore more works on Comparitive studies of science and philosophy.

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