The Heritage Library - The Heritage Library

Reacting with many visitors, students, researchers and theatre persons visiting Sansthan over the years, it has become evident that theatre-studies need to be located in the larger context of the heritage/history of multiple disciplines of Literature, Religion, Philosophy, Anthropology, History, Sociology, Culture, the Arts, both visual and performing, Archeology, Architecture, Astrology, Geopolitics, Geography, Astronomy and the Natural Sciences.

Sansthan is now extending its library by adding a ‘Heritage Wing’ built with the assistance of Dr. Barun Mukherjee’s (ex MP, Rajya Sabha), MP Lad Fund on the newly constructed fourth floor of Natya Bhavan, to be called as the ‘Heritage Library’.

For a perspective in the scope and possibilities of the new Heritage Library, Sansthan had organized its first Heritage Round Table on 21st, 22nd and 23rd March, 2014 with experts on respective subjects to prepare a blue print to follow. The deliberations have thrown up proposals and plans for further expansion and more brain storming sessions are to follow.

Work to begin in the library has begun with about 500 titles being purchased and categories being made as per modern day library system. Books on various subjects, paintings, artifacts, coins etc are being donated to the Heritage Library by individuals from their private collections. Sansthan aims at building a Heritage Library which will be one of its kinds in the country and a meeting place for scholars, writers and art practitioners.

Sansthan during this brief period has been able to collect some rare and important books like the ‘Sacred Books of the East’ (48 volumes) edited by Max Muller, series of Sahitya Sadhak Charitmala, Mahabharata series by Haridas Siddhantabagish (in 44 Volumes), Sripad Damodar Sathvalekar’s ‘Rig Veda Ka Suddh Vashya’ (3 volumes), Hindi Sahitya Ka Brihat Itihas (14 volumes), Rabindra Chitrabali (paintings of Rabindranath Tagore, 4 volumes), S.W. Faillon’s ‘A New Hindustani-English Dictionary’ (1879), the last printed editions of Encyclopedia Britannica etc.

The Library was inaugurated on 4th March, 2015 by the noted scholar and writer Dr. Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri, Sri Sankha Ghosh, Prof. Pabitra Sarkar, Sir Manoj Mitra, Dr. Pratibha Agrawal and others. Dr. Bhaduri later delivered a talk on the Vedas.