Publishing of the Adventist message in this part of the world started with a group of believers with a tremendous sense of mission, having their organization established as the International Tract Society. The early missionaries to this land (the then East India Company) began publishing in May 1898 a monthly magazine by the name ‘Oriental Watchman’ without having their own printing facility. In J
anuary 1903 a certain important meeting of these believers took place to discuss the location of a printing press. Beginning with July 1903 every issue of the Oriental Watchman was then printed in this going concern of the pioneers. Thus by the grace of God, the publishing house was born to carry the gospel message, promote the principles of right living with the Adventist health message. View from the present the ‘Watchman Press’ of 1903 may be a very little small beginning but the pioneers’ resolve to remove intemperance, ignorance and bring the gospel to lift the people was as strong as it has been always. From June 1903 to March 1905 the Press continued to be operated at Calcutta with W W Quantock as its first manager. In March 1905 it was moved to Karmatar to become an Industrial training centre. From 1909 to 1924 it operated in Lucknow as Karmatar lacked necessary transportation links. In 1924 onwards the printing facility is in Poona with its current name, the ‘Oriental Watchman Publishing House.’
Nalwazhi, presently the longest surviving Tamil monthly health magazine, first started in 1912 (was ‘Present Truth,’ renamed Nalwazhi in 1936) and the printing of this magazine was transferred to OWPH in 1928. In 1963 the OWPH was publishing in 18 languages. Today OWPH is able to handle any design in the prepress and as well as co-ordinate translations to any major Asian language.
*1. Details mentioned in the early history of OWPH are sourced from Samuelraj Pakkianathan’s scholarly compilations of facts found in reports by T R Torkelson, the then Editor in Chief (1959—1965) and V Raju, the then General Manager (1959—1982), published in Southern Asia Tidings December 1, 1963 Volume 58 Number 23.
2. Images 1893—1993
