Balamangalam


Balamangalam was a Malayalam comic magazine published between 1980 and 2012. It was also published in Kannada with the title Balamangala.

History and profile

Balamangalam was first published in 1980. The publisher was Mangalam Publications Private Limited. The fortnightly magazine featured, along with the comic strips, children's stories, rhymes and puzzles. Its target audience was children. The headquarters of the fortnightly was in Kottayam.
In October 2012, Mangalam Publications, the owners of Balamangalam announced that they would stop publication due to poor sales. The news created an outcry on social media websites and prompted the publishers to clarify that "the closure is just temporary and Balamangalam may return soon." Still, the magazine remained closed.

Main stories

Balamangala was the Kannada language edition of Balamangalam, and circulated in Karnataka, India.
Along with comic strips, the magazine featured children's stories, rhymes, puzzles and crosswords, including the fictional characters Dinga, Shaktimaddu, Kaadina Kitta, Keraga, Pingala, Karingaada, Tuttu, Chenchu, Tiko, Chomu, Thangu Maama, Onti Salaga, and Chippu Delu.
Harsha, a 15-year-old boy's first short story, "Mola Matthu Nari" was published in the magazine.

Publisher

Balamangala Kannada was published by Mangalam Publication Pvt. Ltd. located in Kottayam, Kerala.

Dinkoism

Based on the magazine's fictional character, Dinga, a parody religion and a social movement called Dinkoism emerged and evolved on social networks organized by independent welfare groups in Kerala, India.