Mahima Library Nahan
|| Mahima Library Nahan||History of Mahima Library Nahan||
The Mahima Library is the biggest library in the district of Sirmaur. This library owes its origin to the munificence of a Maharani. It was established in 1930 and stands as a memorial to her daughter—Mahima Kumari. The inauguration of this library, during the reign of Maharaja Amar Prakash, was one of the many reforms introduced by him. It contains numerous standard books of reference for almost all the former states. Sanskrit and Hindi works are its special features. The manuscript section of the library is especially interesting as it contains old works like Mahabharata (Van Paru, Adi-Paru and Sabha Paru), Atam Puran, Madan Pal Niganthu, Ekadash Skandh Bhagwat, Shighr Bodh, Hanuman Natak, Dharam Samvad, Sneh-Lila, Durga Stuti, Devi Pushpanjli, Shri Santnam, Ganga Devi Stuti, Ram Stuti, Bhagwat Bhakti Ratnawali, Anand Lahri and Tark Sangrah. Most of the manuscripts are more than one hundred years old and one of them namely, Ekadash Skandh Bhagwat was completed in as early as 1595. It is a translation of the original Sanskrit work in Hindi verses by Chatun Das, a disciple of Bawa Sant Das, probably a Vaiswara Vairagi. During the princely rulers’ regime, the library continued to be financed by the then state government. With the merger of the state, the library was taken over by the Himachal Pradesh Government and subsequently, in 1958, it came under the management of the Education Department. The library building stands near the district office, in the Nahan town and has a charming view. A large number of periodicals and journals, both Indian and foreign are subscribed to and almost all the popular dailies of Northern India find place on the tables of the reading room. It has a Gita Section with its various translations in all languages.
