CHENNAI, INDIA, May 19, 2017 (Deccan Chronicle): One of the largest libraries in South Asia, the Anna Centenary Library (ACL) in Kotturpuram will now house 72,000 palm-leaf and paper manuscripts as the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library and Research Centre (GOML) has been moved into the world class facility with all its rare collections this week. Ending the six-year-long wait, the 148-year-old treasure house relocated itself from Madras University to the seventh floor of the library.
The rare and original palm-leaf and paper manuscripts at the library are 300-500 years old. The palm-leaf manuscripts include those of the Tamil classics Tirukkural, Manimegalai and Tolkappiam. The library also has 25,000 reference books in various subjects. This library was established in 1869 mainly to house India’s first Surveyor General Mackenzie’s collection. The palm-leaf and paper manuscripts are available in Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Urdu, Arabic, Persian and Sinhalese. They offer an insight into subjects as varied as literature, Vedas, Agama Shastra, architecture and mathematics, astronomy and Siddha.