Chitralekha's first issue was published in 1950, under the editorship of Vaju Kotak. The magazine is part of the Chitralekha Group from Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It has given rise to many prominent Gujarati columnists including Kanti Bhatt, Chandrakant Bakshi, Taarak Mehta, and others. After the death of founding editor Vaju Kotak in 1958, Madhuri Kotak took the charge of the magazine along with Harkisan Mehta who edited it till 1998. The Chitralekha Group publishes several other magazines, including Watch World (a niche magazine focused on Watches) and BTW (By The Way - a lifestyle magazine circulated with Chitralekha Gujarati).