India's Only Sanskrit Daily Newspaper Is Dying, And No One Cares
Sudharma, the world's only Sanskrit daily is months away from its 46th anniversary - if it can last that long. ?The single sheet daily which has a circulation of 4,000 and covers news, politics, yoga, vedas and culture.?
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Kalale Nadadur Varadaraja Iyengar, a Sanskrit scholar, started the paper on July 15, 1970, to spread the language of the gods. K V Sampath Kumar, its editor and son of Varadaraja Iyengar, says that it has been a struggle to keep the newspaper going.
"The circulation is shrinking day by day as there is no support or encouragement from the government. It's a pity that the powers-that-be do not realize the historic role of Sanskrit, which is now globally recognized as a scientific and phonetically sound language," says Kumar.
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Iyengar's friends called it a "misadventure best stayed away from", even as Iyengar went on to convince the then information minister I K Gujral to start Sanskrit news bulletins .
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Disillusioned he may be, but not disheartened.
While it has a daily circulation of 4,000 it's e-paper has over one lakh readers, mainly from Israel, Germany and England. Most of the subscribers are institutions, academia and religious bodies. Even though India has 13 Sanskrit universities and Karnataka has 18 Sanskrit colleges, donations are sparse.?
