By Madhava Smullen on 26 Sep 2009
On September 12, Penguin Books India launched Where’s Hanuman—a pictorial adventure book in the tradition of the famous Where’s Wally—at a packed house in Starmark, Kolkata’s biggest bookstore.

Produced by ISKCON’s Torchlight Publishing, Where’s Hanuman gives children a captivating and fun way to begin learning the story of the Ramayana, one of India’s most treasured classics.

Describing the book to a fascinated audience of children and their parents, Torchlight’s Advaita Candra Dasa told them, “Within the thirty-two pages of this beautifully illustrated book, you will step into the midst of the Ramayana’s most exciting scenes—from Sita’s Wedding, to Demons in the Forest, to Attacking Lanka, to the final triumphant ride of the monkeys on the magical airplane Pushpaka.”

Advaita Candra assured his audience that children of all ages, as well as adults, would be engaged for hours as they tried to find Hanuman and the other characters cleverly hidden in each scene.

Penguin picked up the Indian subcontinent rights earlier this year and are giving the book a major push nationally. “We feel it will be one of our biggest books this year, and are proud to put it out under our Puffin imprint,” said Penguin’s Varun Choudary. “We are looking forward to seeing similarly successful launch events in other major cities over the next few weeks.”

Children at the Kolkata launch, however, were treated to a special surprise, as Hanuman himself made a spectacular appearance. Played by ISKCON Mayapur devotee Damodar Dasa, and wearing a costume designed by Ramadevi of the Mayapur deity department, he created a lot of excitement as he greeted children and strolled through Kolkata’s South City Mall.

For more information, visit www.whereshanuman.com or contact Advaita Candra dasa at alistertaylor@cs.com