Thanjavur Saraswati Mahal Library: India’s ‘most remarkable library’ turns 100 years old

 

·         It is housed within the campus of Thanjavur Palace and had started as a royal library for the Nayak Kings of Thanjavur

·         It has a rare collection of palm leaf manuscript in various regional languages of India

  It came under the possession of the state of Tamil Nadu in the year 1918

       In the year 1998, the library installed computers to computerise library activities

The library preserves all the manuscripts in the form of microfilms

Most renowned among the Maratha kings was Serfoji II who had been a highly respected and eminent scholar. In fact, this Maratha King is known to be the founder of the Thanjavur library that has an enviable collection of the Maharaja’s personal collection of books and manuscripts.

For the same reason, more than three thousand Marathi manuscripts dating back from 17th to 18th centuries are available at the Thanjavur library. Most of these are written on fine paper. It is also said that the library has medical records and patient case studies of some of its finest Ayurveda scholars.

Saraswati Mahal Library No. of Books

As per Thanjavur’s tourism portal, the Saraswati Mahal library has more than 39,000 manuscripts in Sanskrit, Telugu and over 3500000 Tamil manuscripts spanning titles in medicine, literature and music, besides over 3000 Marathi manuscripts. Works on Maharasthra’s saints belonging to the Dattatreya and Sri Ramadasi mutts are also present. In addition, there are manuscripts in Persian and Urdu, mostly pertaining to the 19th century.

For travelers and history buffs, your next trip to Thanjavur palace should definitely accommodate a visit to Thanjavur Maharaj Serfoji’s Saraswati Mahal Library. You may feel slightly underwhelmed by the fact that there are no larger-than-life signboards to promote the hundred year old library. However, don’t let it dampen your curiosity or interest to explore the place.