Painting the past

The building has always been a landmark in this area,locally known as the Baradari. While the look is all set to change on the exterior,inside,the heritage library continues to have the same décor as during the pre-independence era,when it was one of the preferred meeting places of the freedom fighters. Built in 1905 by Lala Gokal Chand Nahar,Mahavir Bhawan opened a library on its premises on October 5,1924. A marble staircase leads one to the library,which is open from 8 am to 8 pm all seven days of the week. The yellow pages of visitors’ book have signatures of the who’s who of the nationalist movement. Anthropologist Verrier Elwin visited the place in December 1931,Jawaharlal Nehru in May 1936,Mahadev Desai in March 1936,besides others like Kasturba Gandhi and Rajendra Prasad.

Amit Bhardwaj,who has been a librarian here for more than 29 years,says there are more than 53,000 books on almost all subjects,and the library subscribes to 70 magazines and 25 daily newspapers for its 3,500 permanent members. The Shri S S Jain Mahavir Bhawan Baradari Trust that manages the building and the library also gives textbooks on loan to needy students of class V to XII free of cost.

If there’s one thing that the library boasts of,as Fateh Chand Jain of the Trust says,it is around 100 sketches of freedom fighters that are displayed on the walls. Here,one can see a very young Jatin Das along with a thitysomething Rajendra Prasad. From well known to now forgotten heroes–each one has been framed with care. “Time was when the Congress used to borrow these sketches from us for its conventions. We have recently restored these with the help of the IGNCA,” says Fateh Chand.

The library is currently restoring hundreds of Jain manuscripts in its possession. “Some of these are more than 400 years old. These manuscripts are of great use for the Jain saints who stay here during the chaturmasa,” says Vinay Kumar Nahata,the general secretary of the Trust. This Sunday,the main hall with a high dome is all geared up to receive VIPs who will attend a book launch here. “Just wait for a couple of months,we will not only have dignitaries but also tourists who will stop by to see the renovated Baradari,” says Nahata.

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