Gorakhpur: Founder of Gita Press, Jaya Dayal Goyanka had envisaged setting up an not for profit institution of religious books that would become a centre for religious propagation. Goyanka went on to form Gita Press which till date runs as a not for profit organisation and prints the maximum number of religious books in the world.
A whopping 100 crore religious books have been published at Gita Press which was established 100 crore. Despite being a not for profit organisation, the annual turnover of Gita Press is around Rs 200 crore. The institution has not faced any major crisis till date. The origin of Gita Press can be traced to Kolkata where Goyanka came up with the idea of setting up a press for printing the Bhagavad Gita. He established Govind Bhavan Trust in 1921. Goyanka used to deliver speeches at satsangs. Goyanka also used to get the Bhagavad Gita at Kolkata Press whose owner advised him to set up his own press to print error-free copies. Among those who listened to Goyanka were Hanuman Prasad Poddar and Ghanshyam Das Jalan from Gorakhpur. Poddar and Das asked Goyanka to go to Gorakhpur for setting up the press. Goyanka did and Gita Press was established on April 23, 1923 at building which was rented for Rs 10.
Today, Gita Press has modern machinery. At least 1,800 types of books in 15 languages are printed at the press spread over two lakh sq feet area. The press is managed by 500 staff who handle everything from proof reading to printing. The press is run by a trust which has 21 members who do not take even a rupee from the profits. The other ventures of the trust are Gita Textiles and a company which makes ayurvedic medicines.
Gita Press trustee Devi Dayal Agarwal said Goyanka laid the foundation of the institution along with Poddar and Jalan. "Goyanka ji was born in 1885 in Churu, Rajasthan. At the age of 13, he came in contact with Saint Mangalnath of Nath sect. His sacrifice and renunciation left a deep impression on him. After this, at the age of 18, he went to Bankura in West Bengal for business. After a few years, he left the business to his family and started propagating Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta," he said.
Agarwal said Goyanka started giving speeches at satsang at the age of 22. Another trustee Devi Dayal said usually institutions run on donation do not last long. However, Gita Press management was run on Goyanka's vision and never faced losses. Gita Press has its branches in Gorakhpur, Kolkata, Churu and Rishikesh. Its 20 branches across the country. Gita Press has sold books worth around Rs 2 crores in the Mahakumbh.
Agarwal said the Leela picture gallery on the Gita Press premises has paintings of Lord Rama and Krishna, their birth, the Mahabharata and Lanka Vijay. The paintings have been made with colour obtained from flowers. The first President of India Dr Rajendra Prasad had inaugurated the gallery in 1955. The then President of India Dr Ram Nath Kovind had visited the gallery on its centenary in 2022. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited the gallery the same year, lauded the paintings. He said the Bhagavad Gita is published in English, Hindi, Sanskrit, English, Telugu, Bangla, Marathi, Assamese, Tamil, Nepali, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Odia, Punjabi and Urdu at Gita Press.Gita Press manager Lalmani Tiwari said last year, three crore books were printed at the Press. "Gita Press books are also available online," he said.
