Champak

About Champak

Champak is a popular fortnightly magazine for children published by the Delhi Press Group since 1969. Published twice a month in English and seven other Indian languages, it has been one of the favourite magazines of Indian children for more than five decades, offering stories, comics, puzzles and activities that blend entertainment with moral education. Founded by Vishwanath of Delhi Press, Champak competed in its early years with Chandamama, Parag and Nandan, and from 1980 with Tinkle, yet it has remained a beloved fixture of Indian childhood.

The magazine's cast of comic characters, including Cheeku the mouse, Meeku the rabbit and Jumbo the elephant, is familiar to generations of readers. Beyond the magazine itself, Champak has expanded into school editions, story books and children's contests, and in 2025 it made national headlines when Delhi Press sued the Board of Control for Cricket in India over the naming of an IPL robotic dog, a measure of the brand equity the little magazine has accumulated over half a century.

Origins and Founding

Champak was founded in 1969 by Vishwanath, the founder of Delhi Press, one of India's largest magazine publishing houses. Delhi Press had been established in 1939 and was already known for its stable of low-priced mass-market magazines; Champak extended that philosophy to children's publishing, offering quality stories and illustrations at a price ordinary Indian families could afford.

The magazine arrived at a time when children's periodicals were few. Its early competitors included Chandamama, one of the best-selling children's magazines of the era, Parag from the Times of India group and Nandan from the Hindustan Times group. Champak carved out its own identity with a mix of illustrated stories, comics and interactive features, and quickly built a loyal readership among schoolchildren across the country.

Content and Regular Features

Each fortnightly issue of Champak packs in a variety of stories, comics, puzzles, quizzes and activities designed to be both entertaining and educational. The stories are built around themes such as friendship, courage, honesty, kindness, curiosity and creativity, illustrated with colourful, lively drawings that capture young imaginations. Almost every story carries a moral lesson, helping children develop good values and character without ever feeling preachy.

The magazine's puzzles challenge young minds and build vocabulary, spelling, reasoning and problem-solving skills: crosswords, word searches, Sudoku, riddles and brain teasers are all regular features. Activity pages, colouring sections and "do it yourself" features encourage hands-on creativity, making each issue something children return to again and again rather than reading once and discarding.

Beloved Characters

Champak's comics feature a lovable ensemble of recurring characters who have become household names. Cheeku the mouse, Meeku the rabbit and Jumbo the elephant head a cast that also includes Billu and Bhiku the cats and the mischievous Damru, whose comic page is for many young readers the first thing they turn to. The comics are humorous and witty, often ending with a twist, and they gently teach children about nature, science, culture and everyday life.

Unlike superhero comics, Champak's characters are ordinary creatures in recognisably Indian settings, dealing with relatable situations, outwitting bullies, helping friends, learning from mistakes. This rootedness is a large part of their enduring appeal: generations of Indian children have seen themselves in Cheeku's cleverness, Meeku's kindness and Jumbo's gentle strength.

Languages and Editions

Champak is published in English and seven other Indian languages: Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu, giving it a truly pan-Indian footprint. This multilingual strategy, unusual for its time, allowed the magazine to reach children in every corner of the country and made it one of the few truly national children's brands.

The magazine's website, champak.in, extends the brand online with stories, activities and subscription services. Champak has also launched a monthly school magazine called Champak Plus, designed for classroom and school-library use, and a Champak story book series, a set of three volumes collecting 72 handpicked stories for children aged 7 to 12, spanning humour, adventure, determination, science, kindness and mystery.

Contests and Reader Engagement

Champak has long cultivated an active relationship with its readers through competitions. Since 2008 it has conducted story-writing contests for children under the age of 12, with the final round held in New Delhi and entries judged by respected authors. Its annual writing and painting competition, the Champak Creative Child Contest, draws thousands of entries from young readers across India.

These contests do more than fill pages: they turn readers into contributors, giving children their first taste of being published authors and artists. Many Indian writers and illustrators trace their creative beginnings to a Champak contest entry, and the magazine's letters and contributions pages remain among its most cherished sections.

The Multimedia Edition

Adapting to changing times, Champak introduced a multimedia edition that came with a free CD or DVD containing games, activities and interactive graphics designed to help children learn through play. The disc complemented the print magazine with digital puzzles, animated stories and educational games, bridging the gap between traditional reading and screen-based entertainment.

The multimedia initiative reflected Delhi Press's recognition that young readers were growing up in a digital world. Rather than competing with screens, Champak sought to use them, extending its educational mission into interactive formats while keeping the print magazine at the heart of the brand.

The BCCI Trademark Dispute

In 2025, Champak found itself at the centre of an unlikely national news story when Delhi Press took the Board of Control for Cricket in India to the Delhi High Court. Earlier that year, the BCCI had introduced a robotic dog as part of its technology-driven fan engagement for the Indian Premier League, and a fan poll had chosen the name "Champak" for it over alternatives such as "Chulbul" and "Jaffa".

Delhi Press argued that the use of the name amounted to unauthorised exploitation of its trademark and brand equity, built over five decades, particularly since the robotic dog was aimed at the same young audience as the magazine. The publisher sought an injunction against the BCCI's use of the name, damages for alleged dilution and infringement, and directions to rebrand the dog. The case, pitting a legacy children's publication against Indian cricket's powerhouse, drew wide attention to the value of the Champak brand.

Rivalry and the Children's Magazine Market

Throughout its history, Champak has competed with the biggest names in Indian children's publishing. In its early decades the rivals were Chandamama, Parag and Nandan; in 1980, Amar Chitra Katha launched Tinkle, which would become Champak's most enduring competitor. Later, Chandamama itself changed hands, while new entrants came and went.

Through all these shifts, Champak's formula, affordable pricing, multilingual editions, moral storytelling and reader participation, kept it resilient. While rivals rose and fell with changing ownership and fashions, Champak remained what it had always been: the dependable fortnightly that arrived with stories, comics and puzzles, a constant in millions of Indian childhoods.

Cultural Legacy

For more than fifty years, Champak has been woven into the fabric of Indian childhood. Its stories have been read aloud by parents and grandparents, its puzzles solved on long train journeys, its characters quoted in school playgrounds. The magazine fostered reading habits, creativity, imagination and moral reasoning in generations of young Indians, many of whom now buy it for their own children.

In an age of tablets and streaming video, Champak's continued survival is itself a statement: that well-told stories, charming characters and the simple pleasure of turning pages still matter. As one of India's most recognisable children's brands, with a trademark valuable enough to defend in the High Court, Champak stands as a testament to the enduring power of children's print media done with care, consistency and love.