The Sayaji Rao Gaekwad Library, also known as the Central Library, is the main library of

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916. The university incorporated the Central Hindu College, ...

(BHU) in

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Established in 1917, it is listed in the Survey of Manuscripts in India. The present building of the library was built in 1941 on pattern of

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, at the suggestion of Pandit

Madan Mohan Malaviya Madan Mohan Malaviya (25 December 1861 — 12 November 1946; ) was an Indian scholar, educational reformer and activist notable for his role in the Indian independence movement. He was president of the Indian National Congress three times and ...

, the founder of university, after his return from the

Round Table Conference The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–1932 were a series of peace conferences, organized by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India. These started in November 1930 and ended in De ...

, London in 1931, with a donation from the

Sayajirao Gaekwad III Sayajirao Gaekwad III (born as Shrimant Gopalrao Gaekwad; 11 March 1863 – 6 February 1939) was the Maharaja of Baroda State from 1875 to 1939, and is remembered for reforming much of his state during his rule. He belonged to the royal G ...

Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

Baroda State Baroda State was a kingdom within the Maratha Confederacy and later a princely state in present-day Gujarat. It was ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty from its formation in 1721 until its accession to the newly formed Dominion of India. With th ...

from 1875 to 1939, known for establishing libraries throughout his state. It is also a designated 'Manuscript Conservation Centre' (MCC) under the

National Mission for Manuscripts National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

established in 2003.

History

The Banaras Hindu University Library system was established from a collection donated by Prof. P.K. Telang in the memory of his father Justice

Kashinath Trimbak Telang Kashinath Trimbak Telang (20 August 1850 – 1 September 1893), better known as K. T. Telang, was an Indian indologist, politician, and judge at the Bombay High Court. Early life and education Telang was born in a Gaud Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) ...

in 1917. The collection was housed in the Telang Hall of the

Central Hindu College Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and fou ...

, Kamachha. In 1921, the library was moved to the Central Hall of the Arts College (now Faculty of Arts) and then in 1941 to its present building. The library was established with the donation from

Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III Sayajirao Gaekwad III (born as Shrimant Gopalrao Gaekwad; 11 March 1863 – 6 February 1939) was the Maharaja of Baroda State from 1875 to 1939, and is remembered for reforming much of his state during his rule. He belonged to the royal ...

of Baroda, on the pattern of the library

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on the suggestion of Pandit

, the founder of university. The library had a collection of around 60,000 volumes in 1931, through donations from various sources. The trend of donation of personal and family collection to the library continued as late as the 1940s with the result that it has unique pieces of rarities of books and journals dating back to 18th century; this includes donations of personal and family collections from Lala Sri Ram of Delhi,

Jamnalal Bajaj Jamnalal Kaniram Bajaj (4 November 1889 – 11 February 1942) was an Indian businessman and politician. He founded the Bajaj Group of companies in the 1920s, and the group now has 24 companies, including six that are listed on the bourses. H ...

of Wardha, Roormal Goenka, Batuk Nath Sharma,

Tagore family The Tagore family ( ) has been one of the leading families of Kolkata, West Bengal, India, and is regarded as one of the key influencers during the Bengali Renaissance. The family has produced several people who have contributed substantially ...

collection,

Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a prin ...

Family collection. The

Banaras Hindu University Library System Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

consists of Central Library at apex and 3 Institute Libraries, 8 Faculty Libraries, 25 Departmental Libraries, with a total collection of over 13

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

volumes to serve the students, faculty members, researchers, technical staff of fourteen faculties consisting of 126 subject departments of the university. Around 2009, optical fibre networking was done at the library, and in May 2009, 32,913 books were made available in e-form, along with 2,107 journals accessed through internet. The work of digitization of manuscripts at the Central Library has been completed by May 2010, and they were also made available online thereafter. Later in the year in October, a two-day national seminar was held at the library on 'Right to Information (RTI) and Libraries'. In October 2010, the library in association with the National Manuscripts Mission, New Delhi, held a national workshop on manuscript conservation at the library.

Collections

The manuscript collection contains many ancient texts.

References

External links

*
Electronic Databases & Online Journals at the Library

Sayaji Rao Gaekwad Library Central Library
at '' wikimapia'' {{Authority control Banaras Hindu University 1917 establishments in India Archives in India Academic libraries in India Libraries in Uttar Pradesh Libraries established in 1917