The year is 2003. The morning light streams into the living room, lighting up a book placed on a small child’s lap. Mouth slightly agape, she’s lost in the world with Bheema and Hanuman traversing through the Gandhamadana mountains. Declining offers of food and sleep, she closes the book with a happy sigh only after completion, the logo of Uncle Pai’s genius in vision: Amar Chitra Katha.
That little girl was me.
Founded in 1967 by Anant Pai (fondly known as Uncle Pai), these comics were pioneers in helping understand and spread awareness about Indian mythology. A page from the past gets a new chapter with Ashvita Fine Art & Collectibles conducting an online auction of a collection of 24 vintage Amar Chitra Katha paperbacks. “The comics have been around for more than 50 years, a memory for people from multiple generations in India. There’s a big demand for the books as collectables,” says Ashvin Rajagopalan, founder- curator of Ashvita’s.
The collection includes the first special issue of Dasha Avatar: The Ten Incarnations of Vishnu , the first edition books, and rare gems like Thugsen: Marathi Folklore and Hemu: A Forgotten Hero . Most of these books are the earliest publications of the ACK (Amar Chitra Katha) series — Rama (No. 15), Shiva Parvathi (No. 29), Harsha (No. 33), Parashurama (No. 42), Valmiki: The Story of the Author of the Epic ‘Ramayana’ (No. 46), and Sher Shah (No. 56).
They taught Indian children mythology for decades now, with their elegant illustrations and simple language, breaking down the often complex stories into sets of panels. “I feel so much older than my 20 years of existence to know that a comic I grew up with, well into my teens, is now a collector’s item. The recognition that’s being given to the ACKs via this auction is amazing,” says Shivangi Sundaram, a college student.
A household name, Amar Chitra Katha’s legacy lives on, branching out to varied genres including epics, mythology, fables and visionaries.
The auction will take place online from June 6, 8 am to June 7, 6 pm, at www.ashvitas.com/auction/
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