Conceived as the mouthpiece of India's freedom movement, Mathrubhumi ePaper is one of the front-runners among the Malayalam newspapers. The first copy of Mathrubhumi was published on 18th of March 1923 -- the day before the first anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's arrest for the first time by the British police. Led by K.P.Kesava Menon, the prominent freedom fighter, as Editor and K. MadhavanNair as Managing Director, Mathrubhumi was envisaged for spreading the message of the great National Movement. In the beginning, the paper was published a week and had just one edition from Kozhikode (Calicut). A newspaper born out of relentless passion of freedom fighters, Mathrubhumi went on to become an inalienable part of Kerala's social fabric.
Now with sixteen editions- ten in Kerala , ones in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangaluru, Chennai, Dubai and Doha- it has an impressive circulation of over 1.5 million copies. The history of Mathrubhumi is synonymous with the history of the state's freedom movement, and that of Indian National Congress. Before Mathrubhumi Newspaper came into being, there were four Malayalam News Papers ('Kerala Patrika', 'Kozhikodan Manorama' , 'Kerala Sanchari ' and 'Mithavadi ') and three English News Papers ('Champion', 'West Coast Reformer 'and 'Spectator'), which were being published from Kozhikode. But none of these papers favoured the freedom movement spearheaded by the Congress. Instead, they supported the British Rule.
K.P Kesava Menon, who was then Secretary of Kerala State Congress Committee, realized the urgent need for a pro-freedom movement publication from the Malabar region. And he, along with his confidants like K.Madhavan Nair, Kuroor Neelakandan Nampoothirippad, K. Kesavan Nair and P. Achuthan, resolved to register The Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Company Limited with an authorized capital of Rs.1, 00,000/- in 20,000 shares of Rs.5/- each. However, the Company was able to collect an amount of Rs.15, 000/- only. And the registration took place on 15th of February 1922.
K. Madhavan Nair became the first Managing Director of the Company. But, months later, he resigned from the position due to reasons very personal, replaced by K.P Kesava Menon. On 13th of November 1922, the Company acquired the Empress Victoria Press owned by Kuruppathu Kesava Menon. The first edition of the paper carried a strong message of support for the National Movement and a pledge to unify the un-organized Malayalees. The editorial had an intense patriotic tone; stressing on the need for real freedom from disparity, divisions and distortions. Moreover, it expressed a willingness to stand with the commoners during their trials and tribulations in life. Built on strong journalistic ethics and high aesthetic outlook, Mathrubhumi soon excelled all other newspapers of that time; and in the process rewriting the history of Malayalam newspapers.
