And finally, I got a chance to visit one of the oldest libraries in India- Mussoorie. Its no less than a temple for book lovers.
P.S: Photography is not allowed inside the library, so I could click only these photo with permission!
Though, only members are allowed in the library but being an author has its own perks. I was invited to the library for a small interactive session and check out its collection and trust me, it was an awesome experience. And yes, clicking pictures inside the library is not allowed so… I just have 2 photos that I clicked from the outside of the library.
Books are man’s best friend and here in Mussoorie Library you will find greatest collection of books.
Mussoorie Library which was established in 1843, is the oldest literary landmark in this hill station which was founded only seventeen years after the town was built. The library has maintained its occurrence at the head of the Mall Road, overseeing the crossing at Gandhi Chowk 172 years. It has huge reading rooms with the various kinds of musty volumes of books from earlier era.
It is one the most prominent landmarks in Mussoorie with an imposing facade of ornate steel columns, gabled roofs and chequered windows, this reliquary of words overlooks Gandhi Chowk. The Library gives its name to one of the two bus stands in Mussoorie, which lie at either end of the town.
When Mussoorie was first settled by the British as the hill station, in the 1830s and ‘40s, the novels and the poems of Sir Walter Scott were the bestsellers. Waverley Convent and Woodstock, two of the oldest schools in Mussoorie, took their names from Scott’s romantic novels. Rokeby Manor, one of Landour’s landmarks, is named after a book length poem written at the end of Scott’s career. The swirling mist and rocky terrain of the lower Himalaya must have reminded many colonials of the rugged highlands of Scotland, eliciting nostalgic names such as Alyn Dale, Kilmarnock, Ellengowan and Wolfsburn.
Australia’s first novelist, John Lang came to India as a lawyer and represented high-profile clients like the Rani of Jhansi. In the 1840s, Lang turned to journalism and founded The Mofussilite, one of the earliest English newspapers in north India. Spending his summers in Mussoorie and winters in Meerut, Lang wrote a series of popular novels, including The Wetherbys, Too Clever by Half and Botany Bay.
Agatha Christie’s the crime novelist of England whose first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was based on a sensational murder that occurred at the Savoy Hotel in 1911. Miss Frances Garnett-Orne, a spinster spiritualist, spent a summer season at the Savoy, conducting séances and gazing into crystal balls, with her clairvoyant companion Miss Eva Mountstephen. A bottle of bicarbonate of soda, prescribed for indigestion, was laced with cyanide. Agatha Christie learned of the murder through reports in the British papers. After she wrote the novel, her publishers in London insisted that the setting be changed from Mussoorie to the English countryside, yet another example of editorial crimes that have gone unpunished.
Ruskin Bond is India’s bestselling author, made his home in Mussoorie since the 1960s. His first novel, Room on the Roof, has remained in print for more than half a century. He often visits the library. He was invited for the session too, but that time International Delhi Book Fair 2015 was going on and he was busy in that so he couldn’t join us.
All in all, if you are planning to visit Mussoorie or you are in Mussoorie then you must check this place out. Its a must visit for book lovers.
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