Uttarpara Library and Raja Peary Mohan College

Uttarpara Jaykrishna Public Library is a district library and is the first of its kind in Asia. Located in Uttarpara, a small town on the banks of the Hoogly river, this library was established by Raja Jaykrishna Mukherjee from his personal collectibles and was opened to the public in 1859. As early as 1853, Jaykrishna's plan for public library became well known. For this project the Samvad Bhaskar showered praises on him. It was the most notable of his contributions in the field of education.

He selected the finest spot on the banksof the Hugli river as the site for the library. Built in the form of Indo-European architechture, the two storeyed building bears columns, pedimental arch, marbeled floor and pillared varendah. The lower hall and the spacious rooms on either side were used as stack rooms. The reading room on the ground floor opened to the grand staircase which led to the upper storey. The upper hall served as a lecture theatre and the two adjacent suites were meant for distinguished men. Meetings of the Uttarpara Association were held here and attended by stalwarts of the society. Besides being a treasure house of books, the library served as an enriched cultural hub, being frequented by both Bengali and Europeans having immense contributions in the field of art, literature and rennaissance.  In 1873, Michael Madhusudan Dutt and his family, came and stayed here for one and half months before his death.

At present, the library has been declared a Group ‘A’ Library by the West Bengal State Government. 

The president of India Pratibha Patil, participated in the 150th year celebration of the library and donated rupees 10 lakh towards the preservation of books in the library

Raja Jaykrishna Mukherjee was a Bengali zamidar and an eminent social reformer, educationist, and philanthropist who strived hard to empower students with competence, creativity and socioeconomic development. He also established the Raja Peary Mohan College on Grand Trunk Road. He breathed his last in 1888. The Uttarpara municipality was established under his active involvement after the outbreak of the cholera pandemic in 1851. Being an affluent landholder and a member of the Landholders Society (founded by Prince Dwarkanath Tagore), Jaykrishna Mukherjee donated Rs. 10,000 towards the establishment of the Bethune College and Rs. 5000 towards the Calcutta University Library. He was the first signatory of Vidyasagar’s memorial for legalizing widow marriage and a member of the Indian National Congress. His speech proposing Dadabhai Naoroji as president of the Second Indian National Congress (held in Calcutta in 1886) was much acclaimed. Mr. A. O. Hume described Jaykrishna as "the Nestor of the Bengal conservatives".

The Library Today

He bought books from the fund of the charitable Devottara trust formed by his father. By 1865, the library had 12000 books in English and 2500 books in Bengali and Sanskrit. Currently the library has 45000 old and rare books (most of them from the 17th to the 19th century); 65000 new books (both Bengali and English); 2500 old periodicals; 20000 new (and bound) periodicals; and 450 manuscripts. As Sir William Hunter had said, it is "a unique storehouse of local literature alike in English and vernacular tongues." The present collection includes-

  1. Rare volumes of periodicals in both Bengali and English include: Dig Darshan, Sangbad Rasaraj, Somprakash, Tatvabodhini, Calcutta Monthly Journal, and Bengal Chronicle to name just a few.
  2. Publications by Rammohan, William Carey, Rev. James Long, Marshman, Ward, Halhade etc.
  3. The Holy Bible in Sanskrit, Dictionary of Chemistry, Sanskrit Grammar in Devnagri and Roman Letters by Max Muller
  4. Reports at Westminster London (1658), Parliamentary Reports (1649), Charters of the East India Company, East India Pamphlets (1812), Reports on Public Instruction (1839), etc.
  5. Other old documents include "Wellington’s dispatches, State Secret Papers, British Review, American Quarterly Review, Edinbourough Review, Travelogues, Dictionaries, Memoirs, Topographical and Geographical Accounts, Annecdotes, Almanacs, Law Reports, Gazetteers etc.
  6. About 200 Sanskrit palm-leaf, plantain-leaf, and handmade paper manuscripts collected from Benaras, Kashmir, and the monasteries of Tibet.
  7. Rammohan Roy’s Gaudiya Vyakaran, Mrittyunjoy Vidyalankar’s Rajabali, Madhusudhan’s Hectorbadh Kavya, Baidyanath Acharya’s Agyan Timir Nahak, Nrisinghadeb Ghosal’s Visvagyan O Brahmagyan, Brajendralal Vidyalankar’s Udvidvidya, Kalipada Mukhoadhyay’s Rasasindhu Premavilas, Pramanthanath Sharma’s Nabababu Bilas, Upendralal Mitra’s Bastu Parichay, and Gadhadhar Bhattacharya’s Shathik Muktibad.
    File Picture

    Rare collection

    Raja Jaykrishna Mukherjee

Entering the Municipality
Raja Peary Mohan College was established in 1881 by late Raja Joy Krishna Mukherjee in the name of his son, a leading social reformer and educationist of colonial Bengal, when it was under the British rule.

Raja Peary Mohan College

Entrance of the College
Statue at the college premises
Study room dedicated to Raja Jaykrishna Mukherjee
Portraits at the college 


Picture Courtesy: Dr. Sritama Mukherjee

Reference:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttarpara_Public_Library
2. https://www.website.rpmcollege.edu.in/
3. A Bengal Zamindar, Jaykrishna Mukherjee of Uttarpara and his times (1808-1888) by Nilmani Mukherjee

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