The first issue of Anandamela appeared in March 1975.[1]Satyajit Ray designed the cover of first issue. The magazine is published on a fortnightly basis.[2] It has been edited by several eminent personalities at different times including the poet Nirendranath Chakravarty,[3]Ashok Kumar Sarkar, and Debasish Bandopadhyay. The present editor is Caeser Bagchi . Anandamela is one of the oldest surviving Bengali children's magazines and is published twice a month, on the fifth (previously second) and twentieth days.
Many authors started writing for children through Anandamela; for example, author Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay was noticed as a children's author after writing Manojder Adbhut Baari, which was published in Anandamela as a serial novel. On 19 June 2004, Anandamela split up into two different magazines, the original Anandamela (for children age 8 – 14), and Unish Kuri, (for teens and young adults age 15 – 25).
Art and artists were always an important part of Anandamela, thus giving birth to some memorable artistic talents. Among the large number of artists who illustrated the pages and covers of Anandamela are:
In October, the Bengali festive month, Anandamela comes in a special size of nearly 400 pages, the hallmark of which is Sunil Gangopadhyay's new novel of the thriller series Kakababu, along with a full-length Feluda comic based on the story of Oscar-winning director Satyajit Ray, illustrated by Abhijit Chattopadhyay. This special number features five to six full length complete novels, several short stories, features, and three complete comic strips, some of which run up to 60 pages.
Although the fortnightly regular issues of Anandamela started much later, the Puja Number started in 1971. Its price was Rs. 2.00 and it did not contain any cartoons. Sunil Gangopadhyay and Satyajit Ray are the only writers whose writings are present in every Puja Number of Anandamela from the beginning of the magazine.
Anandamela has been criticised in the past for their over-dependence on foreign comics. After Paulami Sengupta took charge as the editor, original comics based on Bengali literature were introduced, and all foreign comics were pulled, including The Adventures of Tintin, which was the hallmark and flagship brand of Anandamela.
