wlhen read from left to right it is the Ramayana." . and when read from right to left it becomes the story of Krishna Mahabharata. Unique work found only in the sarasathy mahal library.
Thanjavur has been renowned as a great center of Art, Culture and Literature for more than ten centuries. Successive generations of the Cholas, Nayaks and Maratha rulers have contributed and enriched the cultural greatness. Thanjavur is well known throughout the world for its Brahadeeswar Temple, magnificent Palace and the Sarasvati Mahal Library. The Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoji's Sarasvati Mahal Library is one among the few medieval libraries exist in the world. It is an unbounded repository of culture and inexhaustible treasure house of knowledge built up by the successive dynasties of Nayaks and Marathas of Thanjavur. It contains very rare and valuable collection of manuscripts, books, maps and paintings on all aspects of Arts, Culture and Literature. The encyclopedia of Britannica in its survey of Libraries of World mentions this as "the most remarkable Library in India".
A majority of the manuscripts in the library numbering thirty nine thousand are in Sanskrit. These manuscripts are written in Grantham, Devanagari, Nandinagari, Tikalari and Telugu scripts. Some of the outstanding Sanskrit works, unique to this library deserve a special mention. Amongst these, some of the most valuable ones are rare lexicons, the grammar of a rare dialect called Bhandira Bhasha, a play written by King Krishnadevaraya title Jambavatiparinaya, poetess Ramabhdramba’s biographical poem on her patron King Raghunatha Nayak, a work on temple architecture and Viswakarmiyavastu Sastra on construction of houses respectively may also be found here. Two texts in this section which show the scholar’s mastery of the language and grammar are Shabdartha Chintamani and the Kathatrayi of Chidamabarakavi. In Shabdartha Chintamani, the poet uses several rare techniques of writing. Reading the stanza from left to right, we find ourselves reading Ramayana and reading the same stanza from right to left, we come across the story of Krishna. His other work Kathatrai narrates stories from Ramayana and Bhagavatam. This library has a large number of manuscripts on music and dance, ayurveda medicine architecture and manuscripts on Kshetramahatmiyas, the puranic accounts of the sanctity and legends attached to great shines and sacred villages and towns found in the Cauvery delta.
Thanjavur has been renowned as a great center of Art, Culture and Literature for more than ten centuries. Successive generations of the Cholas, Nayaks and Maratha rulers have contributed and enriched the cultural greatness. Thanjavur is well known throughout the world for its Brahadeeswar Temple, magnificent Palace and the Sarasvati Mahal Library. The Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoji's Sarasvati Mahal Library is one among the few medieval libraries exist in the world. It is an unbounded repository of culture and inexhaustible treasure house of knowledge built up by the successive dynasties of Nayaks and Marathas of Thanjavur. It contains very rare and valuable collection of manuscripts, books, maps and paintings on all aspects of Arts, Culture and Literature. The encyclopedia of Britannica in its survey of Libraries of World mentions this as "the most remarkable Library in India".
A majority of the manuscripts in the library numbering thirty nine thousand are in Sanskrit. These manuscripts are written in Grantham, Devanagari, Nandinagari, Tikalari and Telugu scripts. Some of the outstanding Sanskrit works, unique to this library deserve a special mention. Amongst these, some of the most valuable ones are rare lexicons, the grammar of a rare dialect called Bhandira Bhasha, a play written by King Krishnadevaraya title Jambavatiparinaya, poetess Ramabhdramba’s biographical poem on her patron King Raghunatha Nayak, a work on temple architecture and Viswakarmiyavastu Sastra on construction of houses respectively may also be found here. Two texts in this section which show the scholar’s mastery of the language and grammar are Shabdartha Chintamani and the Kathatrayi of Chidamabarakavi. In Shabdartha Chintamani, the poet uses several rare techniques of writing. Reading the stanza from left to right, we find ourselves reading Ramayana and reading the same stanza from right to left, we come across the story of Krishna. His other work Kathatrai narrates stories from Ramayana and Bhagavatam. This library has a large number of manuscripts on music and dance, ayurveda medicine architecture and manuscripts on Kshetramahatmiyas, the puranic accounts of the sanctity and legends attached to great shines and sacred villages and towns found in the Cauvery delta.
Along with manuscripts, the library also has rare printed books.The Book collection of this Library started by the King Serfoji II. He himself collected nearly 4500 books in English, French, Latin, Italian etc., from foreign countries. Later books were added to this Library since 1918 A.D., Now, the Reference Books section has more than 65,000 books in English, Tamil, Sanskrit, Marathi, Hindi, Telugu and other Indian languages.
Raja Serfoji enriched this library by collecting not only manuscripts but also Books, Illustrated Manuscripts, Drawings, Atlases and Maps, Lithographic engravings, etc., Because of his multi-focal attraction he collected a large number of books in European languages. Now this Library has 3830 English books, 421 French books, 108 German books 35 Danish books and few books in Dutch, Greek, Latin languages. Serfoji has autographed all the books in his collection. These books mostly printed in London, Edinburgh, Paris and the year printing spanned from 1696 to 1830. These books dealt with all disciplines.
It has the richest collection on European languages and literatures, Medical Sciences, Chemistry, Astronomy Geography, Explorations and Voyages, English Almanacs, Periodicals, Encyclopaedias etc., This collection has some rare and first editions of highly valued books.
1 comment:
Great library indeed! Thanks for sharing.
Post a Comment