The historical storage of ancient knowledge, Saraswati Mahal, the library disappeared in a state of alarming neglect, says the petitioner in front of the Madurai bench in Madras. | Photo Credit: M. Moorthy
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court ordered the Center and the State Government to the State Government on a lawsuit on the public interest, which sought the direction of the Sarasvati Mahal library classification in Thanjavu as a model library under the national mission in libraries.
The divisional bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and AD Maria Clej ordered the authorities in question when heard of the petition filed by B. Prabhakaran of Chennai. He said the 500 -year -old library has a huge historical, socio -cultural and academic significance.
The petitioner said the library, also known as Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoje Sarasvati Mahal Library, was one of the oldest surviving libraries in Asia founded in the 16th century during the reign of Nayak Thanjavur. He was enriched by the rulers of Marathy, especially King Serfi II, who was an important scholar and polyglot, he said.
However, the library, the historical repository of ancient knowledge, disappeared in a state of alarming neglect. Despite its rich heritage, the functioning of the library was seriously influenced by the lack of employees, he said.
He said that the library disappears under serious administrative neglect, acute shortage of employees, unimpleted digitization programs and lack of efforts to maintain the government, leading to the loss of valuable books and magazines. Effective steps have not been taken to ensure protection or proper management of invaluable library records.
The Sarasvati Mahal library falls well within the competence of the national mission for libraries, which was founded under the Ministry of Culture. The Ministry of Culture performs administrative supervision of several premiere libraries, he said.
The petitioner stated that in this respect he made the authorities concerned. However, officials have not yet taken measures. He was looking for direction to the center and state government to classify the library as a model library as part of the National Library Mission mission and take steps to digitize, maintain and implement development schemes managed by the Ministry of Culture by sanctioning the necessary grants to renew and upgrade measures. The court postponed the hearing for two weeks.
Published – July 24, 2025 21:20
