India is a religious land and almost everything that is associated with India and its people is directly influenced by its religion and mythology. Indian history is one of the oldest in the world and its mythological stories are the roots of the country.
All of these mythological books are quite old and they have been written in very ancient and sophisticated language and hence not everyone has been able to read them because of the difficulty in understanding it easily. Children specially have not been able to relate with such Complex language and its presentation. Therefore there was a constant need to present these mythological works in a child friendly way. When comics came into existence in the early 80s, this need was well catered by them. Amar Chitra Katha was one of the pioneers, which included Indian mythology stories and the stories of other Indian Lords and gods in its book in different series and digest. In this article, we are going to give you a glimpse of some of the most popular Indian mythological literature that has been presented in comics.
Mahabharat
Mahabharat is one of India’s oldest and most popular mythological epics. It has been written by Ved Vyas and its origin is said to have thousands of years ago. It is such a dynamic and vast Epic that each and every character and episode has enough potential to be developed into a series of stories and novels. The world of comics also got attention of this legendary Epic and Amar Chitra Katha was one of the first Publishers who started publishing Mahabharata as well as related stories in the form of comics.
A Few decades back, when internet and cable TV was not into practice, there were not many modes of entertainment and there were not many ways in which such an epic could be publicized. As they were written in difficult classical language there was a need to simplify them and present them in a more interesting way. When Mahabharat came in the form of comics, children were able to identify the characters and they found them more interesting. They actually started reading mythological stories and the characters like Krishna, Karna, Arjun, the Pandavas and Kauravas and many others have enough potential to impress and influence children. Adults too were interested in Mahabharat because of its mythological roots. Geeta which is considered a sacred novel in Hindu religion, is also associated with Mahabharata and has also been published in different formats of comics by Amar Chitra Katha and other Publishers.
Ramayana
Ramayan is yet another most popular and sacred Epic and has a distinct position in Indian Mythology, Ram and Ravan are considered as the very icons of good and bad and the fight between Ram and Ravana is considered as the victory of good over evil. Ramayan too is a very big and sophisticated Epic which was simplified and presented it in a very interesting manner in comics and publishers life Amar Chitra Katha a letter on others were able to do that successfully.
Geeta
Geeta is written in Sanskrit which is a classical Indian language and not many Indians understand it properly. When it was published in the form of comics, it not only served as a mode of spreading a message of wisdom and enlightenment, but it also entertained and made the approach and and more Global. Childrens are not expected to follow the difficult and complex lessons of life that have been deleted in guitar by Lord Krishna. Making it in the form of comics was the first f word to introduce guitar to the children.
The inspiration of Geeta has been taken from Mahabharata when there is a very difficult situation with Arjun who is the leader of Pandavas in the war. The war is going to be fought between Kauravas and Pandavas who are close relatives. When Arjun sees that his own relatives are standing against him and he has to kill them to win the war, you become very hesitant and ask Lord Krishna to eradicate his confusion. The lessons about Karma and doing once deed have been narrated in geeta in form of shloks. These are very sophisticated and need to be simplified and presented in a friendly and mass appealing way. Presenting Geeta in comic format has accomplished this task and Amar Chitra Katha has done it successfully and its success has been followed by other publishers as well.
The lords of Indian mythology
Apart from the epics, some of the mythological gods like Krishna, Shiva Hanuman and others have been adopted successfully in comics. Krishna is one of the most popular launches in Indian Mythology. He is less like a superhero that you see in the West. In the same way Lord Shiva is considered as the beginning of the world as well as the end.
The stories of Krishna and Shiva have been adapted in different formats. These characters are so dynamic and comprehensive that there is ample scope to experiment on each and every story and sub stories plot. Apart from them, Hanuman too has been one of the most popular comic adaptations. Lord Ganesha who is considered as the lord of wisdom too has been popular with children. Most Lords have had a Universal appeal and their works have also been translated into Indian languages as well as in other foreign languages.
So we can see that the reach of Indian Mythology has increased tremendously with the help of comics. Childrens have specially been successfully able to introduce into the world of Indian Mythology including stories of Lords and Kings at the times of India. It is very important for everyone to know its roots and as this world is digital and people are always looking for online bonuses and perks, it is necessary, this trend of taking mythology and comics world in the digital platform is done consistently and sensibly in future too.
So here was a glimpse of association of Indian Mythology with comics. At present, the comic world is not at its best. But the digital word is preparing to give a brand new look to the world of comics.
