Niankhunta

Niankhunta, a humor-satire magazine in Odia, was established and edited by Godabarish Mahapatra (1-10-1998 to 25-11-1965) and first appeared on March 12, 1938 from Brahmapur. It aimed to force public opinion on the administration and to expose/resist corruption and unethical practices in politics. Many had offered involvement in this work but had stayed away not being able to handle the heat. Thus Godabarish has struggled through the hard work alone for 27 years braving many hardships. He has created literature of a special flavour for the magazine and has used the magazine as a medium for developing the same. Almost all Godabarish’s writings has found its place in Niankhunta first.

Niankhunta started its life as a weekly with only a few pages printed at the Sarada Press and was priced at one paise only. All work – from collecting the news, writing, editing, printing to writing the subscribers’ addresses, putting stamps and to taking the copies to the post office – was done by Godabarish practically single handedly. Selling copies door to door was also done by him. The ire of the dishonest and paper shortage during the second world war forced Niankhunta to stop publication for about 2 years. Publication started again in 1942 from Cuttack. By then it was well established and accepted through out Odisha.

Niankhunta started its life as a weekly with only a few pages printed at the Sarada Press and was priced at one paise only. All work – from collecting the news, writing, editing, printing to writing the subscribers’ addresses, putting stamps and to taking the copies to the post office – was done by Godabarish practically single handedly. Selling copies door to door was also done by him. The ire of the dishonest and paper shortage during the second world war forced Niankhunta to stop publication for about 2 years. Publication started again in 1942 from Cuttack. By then it was well established and accepted through out Odisha.

Following the passing away of Godabarish Mahapatra in 1965 Niakhunta was kept alive by his son-in-law Kishor Chandra Misra and son Bhabani Shankar Mahapatra. But its influence declined and it ceased publication after a few years.

(Based on Sambad Sahitya Kosha)

Niankhunta Index

Digital copies of the available issues of Niankhunta are listed in the table below along with the corresponding download links. Unfortunately, there are many missing issues. The pdf files can be opened/downloaded by clicking on the volume/issue fields. The files have been divided into parts of less than 15mb. Still downloading these may take some time depending on the internet connection speed.

Most of the issues of the magazine have been provided by Bhabani Shankar Mahapatra (biodata), son of Godabarish and joint-editor of Niankhunta at one time.

Brief information on Godabarish Mahapatra can be found here (Odia, English). Some books on him and most of his writings can be found under books on this website.