During your Tours to Gorakhpur, when you visit the Monuments in Gorakhpur, make sure to pay a visit to the Gita Press, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. It is positioned at a distance of 4 kms from the Gorakhpur rail station. Gita Press in Gorakhpur was founded in the year of 1923 by Divine inspiration to spread the teachings of Gita. Gita Press is a part of Gobind Bhawan Karyalaya and is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (which is governed by the West Bengal Societies Act, 1960 at present).
History of Gita Press, Gorakhpur
Gita Press, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh in its present form was inaugurated on April 29th, 1955 by India’s first President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad. However, it started its journey in Gorakhpur on May 1923. In its initial days, Gita Press was housed in a tiny rented room of Urdu Bazar. There were just three tedril machines and a handful of devoted workers. Hanuman Prasad Poddar, better known as Bhaijee, was one of the directors of Calcutta’s Govind Bhavan Karyalaya when the decision to publish Gita from this place was taken. Later, he shifted base to Gorakhnath and devoted his whole life to the development of Gita Press, Gorakhpur.
Description of Gita Press, Gorakhpur
There is an inscription at Gita press’s main gate that reads Satyamvad, Dharamamchar (which means speak what is true and practice dharma). A must see at Gita Press in Gorakhpur is the beautiful sculpture of Lord Krishna on a chariot. In this statue, you would find Krishna giving a sermon to Arjun.
Gita Press is not just a press where books are published. In fact, it was a mission that spiritually inclined late Jayadajaliji Goyanka conceived. It is believed that during his sadhana, he got his inspiration from Lord Krishna to live Gita, to spread its teachings, broadcast nishkama karmayoga and thus motivate people to adopt the same as philosophy of life.
In its initial days, Gita Press in Gorakhpur published its works mostly in Hindi, Sanskrit and English. However at present, it has more than 350 titles that include Telugu (60), Oriya (43), Bengali, Gujarati (59), Tamil (44), Kannada (37), Marathi (27) and Assamese (42). The celebrated monthly magazine Kalyan published from this press boasts of a subscription of 2.35 lakhs per month.
Lila Chitra Mandir positioned in a superb hall on the premises of Gita Press in Gorakhpur is also worth a watch. It displays the pictorial trend of India from time to time. There are about 700 pictures (including paintings) that relates to earthy sojourn as well as pastimes of Lord Krishna and Lord Rama. During the Gita Jayanti week, Lila Chitra Mandir is adorned tastefully.
