With over 7866 hand-written manuscripts and more than 225 traditional style maps, the Pothikhana archives of the MSMS II Museum are regarded as one of the best in India.
A majority of manuscripts are hand-written copies of older religious texts like the Vedas, Puranas, and Bhagwat Gita, and on subjects like philosophy, dramatics, astronomy, astrology, poetry, medicine, grammar, mathematical tables and calculations, and history and biography. A smaller number are original texts on similar topics. The works are mainly in Sanskrit, Rajasthani, Hindi, Persian and Urdu, written out, variously, on hand-made paper, palm-leaves and even sanchipat bark, several accompanied by hand-painted illustrations. Some of these old manuscripts were a part of the royal collections of different rulers of Jaipur, and bear the special seal or khas mohar of various Maharajas.
The maps in the Pothikhana are mainly hand-drawn and illustrated sheets of varying sizes. These traditional examples of cartography cover places of pilgrimage, local geographical features, and mythical as well as real city-scapes.
We also have over 15,000 books and journals housed in the open-shelf general collection of the Museum’s Library Reading-Room. Both the Archive and Library and open to scholars and researchers by prior appointment.
With over 7866 hand-written manuscripts and more than 225 traditional style maps, the Pothikhana archives of the MSMS II Museum are regarded as one of the best in India. A majority of manuscripts are hand-written copies of older religious texts like the Vedas, Puranas, and Bhagwat Gita, and on subjects like philosophy, dramatics, astronomy, astrology, poetry, medicine, grammar, mathematical tables and calculations, and history and biography. A smaller number are original texts on similar...
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