write short notes on saraswati Mahal granthalay
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The Library also has a collection of around 3076 Marathi manuscripts which date back to the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Also, there are 22 Persian and Urdu manuscripts of the 19th century within the collection. One can also find medical records of Ayurveda scholars in the library.
The library started as a Royal Library for the Nayak Kings of Tanjore who ruled during 1535 - 1675 AD. In 1675, the Maratha rulers captured Thanjavur and they further developed the Royal Palace Library. After 1918, the Saraswathi Mahal Library became a possession of the state of Tamil Nadu. The name of the library has now been changed to “The Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoji's Saraswati Mahal Library” in order to pay homage to the last ruler of the Maratha Empire.
Answer:
Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoji's Sarasvati Mahal is located in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. It is one of the oldest libraries in Asia. The Saraswati Library is situated within the campus of the Thanjavur Palace. Visitors can have a glimpse of preserved books and can sit and read in the library premises. The library is open to the public.
The Glorious PastThe Glorious Past:
The Saraswathi Mahal library started as a Royal Library for the Nayak Kings of Thanjavur who ruled 1535 - 1675 AD. The Maratha rulers who captured Thanjavur in 1675 patronised local culture and developed the Royal Palace Library until 1855. Most notable among the Maratha in (1798–1832), who was an eminent scholar in many branches of learning and the arts. In his early age Serfoji studied under the influence of German Reverent Schwartz, and learned many languages including English, French, Italian and Latin. He enthusiastically took special interest in the enrichment of the Library, employing many Pandits to collect, buy and copy a vast number of works from all renowned Centres of Sanskrit learning in Northern India and other far-flung areas. Since 1918 the Saraswathi Mahal Library has been a possession of the state of Tamil Nadu. The official name of the Library is in honour of the great royal Maratha patron.
The Glorious PastThe Library has on display a rare collection of Palm leaf manuscripts and paper written in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Marathi English and a few other languages indigenous to India. The collection comprises well over 60,000 volumes. The library supports efforts to publish rare manuscripts from the collection, as well as ensuring all volumes are preserved on microfilm. The Library has computerized the Library activities.
The CollectionThe Collection
The bulk of the manuscripts (39,300) are in Sanskrit, written in scripts such as Grantha, Devanagari, Nandinagari, Telugu and Tamil comprising titles in literature, music and medicine. The Library has a collection of 3076 Marathi manuscripts from the South Indian Maharastrain of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The Marathi manuscripts are mostly on paper but a few were written in Telugu script on palm-leaf. There are 846 Telugu manuscripts in the holdings, mostly on palm leaf, 22 Persian and Urdu manuscripts mostly of 19th century in the collection. The library also holds medical records of Ayurveda scholars, including patient case studies and interviews in the manuscripts classified under the Dhanvantari section. Apart from these manuscripts there are 1342 bundles of Maratha Raj records available at the Library. The Raj records were written in the Modi script (fast script for Devanagari) of the Marathi language.