Good books are your best friends. These good books can be easily found in libraries. But are you aware of the public libraries in the City where you can go and read? For all the people who aren’t aware of the public libraries in Udaipur, here a brief listing of 3 of the oldest libraries in Lake City, which have been a learning point to many of the big scholars from Udaipur- Have a look!
#3 Kunzru Library
The Kunzru library is situated inside Seva Mandir, founded by Mr. Mohan Singh Mehta. The library was opened for public on 7 October 1973. It was named after Pandit Hriday Nath Kunzru who was the man who stirred Mohan Singh Mehta to found Seva Mandir.
The library currently holds a good collection of 10,000 books which includes many journals and magazines. Membership is open to the public and over 100 visitors use the library every day. The Kunzru library is one of the oldest libraries in Udaipur which has served a lot of people. The library serves and helps in building intellectuality, self-advancement, and people from all walks of life from students preparing for government exams to elderly people, the Kunzru Library helps everyone.
#2 Jagdish Chowk Library
Dating back to 1955, this library was once a haveli of Asind Rao. Also, it was a court which later on got abandoned. Coins were also checked for purity under the then ruler of the Mewar Kingdom. The library was once built at Badhbhuja Ghati in Udaipur which shifted to Asind Rao’s Haveli post-independence.
According to the current librarian, Mr. Bhagwat Singh ‘Rao’, the library was once known as ‘City Corporation’ which was a hub of books and readers from across the world used to visit it. The Jagdish Chowk Library has 70,000 collections of books, of regional languages as well as foreign books.
The architecture of the place and smell of the books take you to a bygone era. Many college students, avid readers, and historians still sit and find a place of solace in the library. Mr. Rao also added that under his serving tenure of almost 20 years up till now, many doctors, engineers, chartered accountants, including 13 RAS and 3 IPS officers have read the books and studied in the library on a regular basis. The Jagdish Chowk library boasts to be Rajasthan’s biggest public library and also the 1st fully computerized public library. Source- Mr. Bhagwat Singh ‘Rao’ (Librarian at Jagdish Chowk Library)
#1 Saraswati Bhawan Library
Sajjan Niwas Garden or the Gulab Bagh also has a library known as Saraswati Bhawan Library. It was built by Maharana Fateh Singh in 1887 and opened for public in November 1890. The Saraswati Bhawan Library was once known as Victoria Hall Museum and is currently used as a library. It was the first ever museum constructed in Rajasthan.
A statue of Queen Victoria was erected to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in front of the library. The statue was taken off and a new statue of Mahatma Gandhi was erected post-independence.
Almost 32,000 books of various fields like archaeology, Indology and a collection of ancient handwritten Manuscripts are available for scholars, historians, and writers. One can have a registration done and can avail the facilities of the library.
These three public libraries are the oldest of the city and have served various scholar, intellectual readers and students. It is a must visit to these places if you are on a hunt for knowledge.
Also, let us know if you know any other library do let us know 🙂