|
The northern entrance or gateway of the National Library lies on
Belvedierre Road – a little south of the famous Alipore Zoo. This building was the erstwhile Belvedierre
Bhawan. There is a statuette of a lion atop the main entrance or gateway crossing the
gate. A road of gravels leads one inside. Here are two cannons which were used by the East India Company.
According to popular belief, this building was not built by the British. Azim –
Us-Shaan is believed to have constructed it in 1700 A.D. After the Battle of
Plassey, Vanceytart got charge of this Bhawan. He was an Italian who named this
mammoth building 'Belvedierre'. The word connotes 'the queen of
beauty'. Lady Hastings was also the owner of this house for a short while. He sold it to Major Tulley in 1780, The modern
day 'Tollygunge' in Calcutta bears memoirs of Major
Tulley. However, this building was put to auction after the demise of Major Tulley in 1802. In 1850, the Govt. took charge of this
palatial house. Some believe that Nawab Meer Zaffar had once stayed in Belvedierre
Bhawan.
'The Calcutta Public Library' was built in Calcutta in 1835 for the first time.
Pyarichand Mitra had tenaciously worked behind it. This can easily be regarded as the foundation
of the National Library. 'The Calcutta Public Library' came to be popularly rechristened as
'Imperial Library' in 1902.
Lord Curzon inaugurated this library on 30th January, 1903 for public use. The then library was in the
Metcalfe Hall i.e. at the junction of Hare Street and Strand Road.
In 1923, the Library was shifted to 6, Esplanade East from Metcalfe
Hall. The erstwhile department for 'old papers' still lies in this building. Again in 1953, the Library was reshifted to
Belvedierre
Bhawan. It was then named as 'The National Library' or 'Jatiya
Granthagar'.
C. Raja Gopalachari, the then Governor General of India, rendered this proposal of shifting the library to
Belvedierre
Bhawan. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was the Education Minister of India at that time. He corroborated this proposal. On 1st
February, 1953, its doors were opened for public use.
At present, the National Library is the 2nd largest public library in Asia. Several notable persons have donated their invaluable collections to the Library at different
times. Sadar –
Ud-ddin, the Zaminder of Buhor, Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, Surendra Nath Sen
etc. are some famous donors. These have added to the value and
content of books in this prestigious institution.
The number of reader-members in this library at present is a whopping 18 thousand. The collection comprises about 20,00,000 books and 5,00,000
manuscripts. Its gigantic campus encompasses 130 acres of land.
|
