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The Saraswathi Mahal Library started as a Royal Library for the
private pleasure of the Nayak Kings of Thanjavur who ruled 1535 - 1675
AD. The Maratha rulers who captured Thanjavur in 1675 patronised local
culture and further developed the Royal Palace Library until 1855.
It also
supports efforts to publish rare manuscripts from the collection, as
well as ensuring all volumes are preserved on microfilm. The Library has
installed computers in 1998 for the Computerisation of Library
activities. As a first phase, the Library catalogues are being stored in
the Computer for easy information retrieval. It is also proposed to
digitalise the manuscripts of this Library shortly.
Getting There
There are several state and
private buses that ply daily to Thanjavur from Mannargudi, Pattukkottai, Kumbakonam,
Pondicherry, Thiruvarur, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchy.
The journey from Bangalore and Chennai takes about 9 hours and there are
over-night buses.
Thanjavur is also reachable by
train from other Indian cities. 'Thanjavur Junction' is the station to
alight. There are daily trains from / to Chennai, Bangalore and other major
cities.
Nearest airport is
Tiruchirappalli International Airport
(or Trichy International Airport), located 52 km away from Thanjavur. There
are direct flights from Chennai, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, amongst others.
A taxi desk is in the airport lobby. Taxi are available in the airport from Tiruchirapalli to Thanjavur.
Auto rickshaws and tourist cabs
are the best choice in case you want to tour the attractions around Thanjavur.
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