Tunturu

About Tunturu

Tunturu (Kannada: ತುಂತುರು) is a Kannada bi-monthly children's magazine published in Karnataka, India, with its headquarters in Manipal. Launched in January 2000 by Manipal Media Network Ltd. (MMNL) — the publishers of the Kannada daily Udayavani and the film monthly Roopatara — Tunturu was conceived as the children's magazine of the Manipal group's magazine family. Its chief editor is U. B. Rajalakshmi, with staff writers including T. G. Shetty and Cheluvayya, and Sandhya Pai — also managing editor of Roopatara — has served as its managing editor. The magazine has been out of print for four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving its current publication status uncertain.

Launch and Early Years

Tunturu was launched in January 2000 by Manipal Media Network Ltd., completing the group's magazine portfolio. MMNL had built its magazine stable over three decades: the literary monthly Thushara in 1973, the film monthly Roopatara in 1977 and the family weekly Taranga in 1983. Tunturu filled the remaining gap — a dedicated magazine for children. The timing was significant: by 2000, MMNL was consolidating its position as a pan-Karnataka print group, and a children's magazine gave it a title for every segment of the Kannada household — daily news (Udayavani), weekly family reading (Taranga), monthly literary reading (Tushara), film journalism (Roopatara) and now children's content (Tunturu).

The Publisher: Manipal Media Network Ltd.

Tunturu is published by Manipal Media Network Ltd. (MMNL), headquartered in Manipal, Karnataka, and part of the wider Manipal group founded on the vision of Dr. T. M. A. Pai and his brother T. Upendra Pai. MMNL's journey began when the first Kannada newspaper of coastal Karnataka, Udayavani, began operations in January 1970. Over the following decades the group's reach grew exponentially, with multiple editions of the daily and the successive launches of its magazines. All of the group's magazines are described as market leaders or enjoying leading positions in their respective categories in Kannada publications. The group is known for neat printing quality and extensive local coverage, and Udayavani has won many national awards for its printing — a standard its magazines were expected to match.

Editorial Leadership

The chief editor of Tunturu is U. B. Rajalakshmi, with staff writers T. G. Shetty and Cheluvayya contributing to the magazine's content. Sandhya Pai has been the managing editor of the magazine for several years, in addition to her role as managing editor of the group's film monthly Roopatara. This shared editorial leadership across the MMNL magazines reflects the group's integrated editorial culture, in which the magazines benefit from common production, design and distribution resources. A children's magazine demands a particular editorial sensibility — simple, engaging language, strong visuals and content that is both entertaining and educational — and Tunturu's editorial team shaped the magazine around stories, comics-style features, puzzles and activity content suited to young Kannada readers.

Content and Format

As a bi-monthly children's magazine, Tunturu published stories, illustrated features, puzzles, quizzes and activity pages for young readers in the Kannada language. The magazine was available in both print (paperback) and online formats, with MMNL's digital infrastructure — including the pioneering udayavani.com portal launched in 1997 — supporting e-paper and digital editions of the group's magazines. The bi-monthly frequency distinguished it from the weekly Taranga and the monthlies Thushara and Roopatara, giving children's content a fortnightly rhythm suited to young readers' attention. Its content competed in the Kannada children's-magazine space alongside titles such as Balamangala (a defunct Kannada fortnightly children's magazine) and Chutuka (a Kannada monthly children's magazine).

Sister Publications

Tunturu belongs to MMNL's five-title family: Roopatara, the Kannada monthly film magazine launched in April 1977; Taranga, the Kannada weekly family-interest magazine launched in 1983 that built its own circulation system and, in earlier ABC reports, averaged sales of nearly 1.58 lakh copies a week with content focused on health, serials, women's pages and children's sections; Tushara, the Kannada monthly literary magazine launched in 1973; and Udayavani, the flagship Kannada daily with print editions at Manipal, Bengaluru, Mumbai and other centres and a combined circulation once exceeding 3,00,000 copies. Within this family, Tunturu was the title aimed squarely at the youngest readers of the Kannada household.

The COVID-19 Interruption

Tunturu has been out of print for four years due to COVID-19, according to published records of the magazine. The pandemic disrupted print distribution, advertising and subscription revenues across the Indian magazine industry in 2020–2021, and children's magazines — which depend heavily on school and newsstand distribution — were among the hardest hit. Whether Tunturu will resume publication remains unclear from publicly available sources; the magazine is therefore best described as currently suspended or on hiatus rather than formally closed. This mirrors the fate of several other Indian children's periodicals that paused print during the pandemic years.

Place in Kannada Children's Publishing

Tunturu's launch in 2000 came at a time when Kannada children's publishing was in transition. The long-running Balamangala fortnightly, once a beloved children's title, eventually became defunct; Tunturu entered as a modern, group-backed alternative with professional design, colour printing and the distribution muscle of MMNL. For two decades it served young Kannada readers with reading material in their mother tongue at a time when children's reading was increasingly dominated by English-language content and, later, by screens. Its two-decade run — from January 2000 until the pandemic interruption — represents one of the longer continuous publishing histories among dedicated Kannada children's magazines of its era.

Digital Presence

MMNL was a pioneer among Kannada publishers in digital distribution: it launched udayavani.com in 1997, the first Kannada news portal, followed by pay sites for Roopatara and Taranga, and the group also operates an event-management arm, Manipal Ace Event Management Pvt. Ltd., and a television software subsidiary, Manipal Entertainment Network Ltd. Tunturu was available in online format alongside its print edition, and the group's e-paper infrastructure carried its magazines to digital readers. The MMNL official website remains the institutional home of the group's magazine portfolio.

Editorial Approach for Young Readers

A children's magazine demands a distinct editorial craft, and Tunturu's team under chief editor U. B. Rajalakshmi shaped the magazine around the reading habits of young Kannada speakers: short, engaging stories rather than long serials; strong illustration and colour; puzzles and activities that reward participation; and language kept simple without being condescending. The bi-monthly rhythm — arriving every two weeks — suited schoolchildren's routines better than a monthly, giving them fresh reading material on a regular cycle. Staff writers T. G. Shetty and Cheluvayya contributed to this mix, while managing editor Sandhya Pai brought experience from the group's other magazines. The magazine's availability in both print and online formats also reflected MMNL's early recognition that young readers were beginning to encounter content on screens as well as on paper.

Key Facts at a Glance

Name: Tunturu (ತುಂತುರು) | Language: Kannada | Category: Children's magazine | Frequency: Bi-monthly | Founded: January 2000 | Founder/Publisher: Manipal Media Network Ltd. (MMNL) | Headquarters: Manipal, Karnataka, India | Chief Editor: U. B. Rajalakshmi | Staff writers: T. G. Shetty, Cheluvayya | Managing Editor: Sandhya Pai | Format: Print (paperback) and online | Status: Out of print for four years due to COVID-19 | Sister publications: Roopatara, Taranga, Tushara, Udayavani | Official website: udayavani.com (publisher portal)

Legacy

Even in its current suspended state, Tunturu represents an important chapter in Kannada children's publishing: a professionally produced, group-backed children's magazine that gave young readers in Karnataka two decades of mother-tongue reading material. Its story also illustrates the vulnerability of print children's magazines to external shocks — the pandemic that silenced its presses also reshaped children's media consumption toward digital and video formats. Whether Tunturu returns to print or finds new life in digital form, its run from 2000 stands as a significant contribution to Kannada children's literature and to the Manipal Media Network's five-decade publishing legacy.