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You can imagine how big will be the collection of books if a bibliophile goes on collecting books for about four decades by utilizing his earnings. But the colossal collection of books that glimmer at the Pustaka Mane of Ankegowda Jnana Pratishthana will make your calculations topsy-turvy and you will be amazed. If you want to experience this wonder visit this Pustaka Mane once.
Pustaka Mane is situated at the hamlet Haralahalli on the Srirangapattana-Pandavapura-Nagamangala road, seven kilometres away from the historical town Srirangapattana. It may be considered to be a new addition to the historical places around Srirangapattana.
Sri Ankegowda, who holds an M.A. degree in Kannada Literature, had worked as a time-keeper at Pandavapura Sugar Mills. His main hobby is collection of books. Scholars, teachers, writers, researchers, critics and others have the hobby of collecting books of their subjects of interest. Such collections are, indeed, valuable and remarkable as individual collections in a specific field. Hundreds of such collections can be identified throughout the country. But Ankegowda’s hobby of collecting books is extraordinarily different. |
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His love for books is unbiased towards all branches of knowledge. Kannada books have primary prominence here and English is secondary; books of all languages, namely, Samskrita, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Urdu, Tulu, Kodava and others are found in Ankegowda’s mammoth library. His main intent is that those who come here in search of any book in print, without any discrimination in taste, should find the book of their choice. The invaluable books, newspapers/magazines and text-books published over a hundred years ago- and which have not been reprinted hence- have been preserved here. From tiny booklets of 8-10 pages to humongous tomes, which when open, spread through the whole table, from books weighing in kilograms and costing pies/paise to priceless books which have a face value of thousands of rupees/dollars/pounds are carefully preserved in this unique library. This is Jnana Pratishthana – Knowledge Foundation – where a humble attempt is made to amass the universal knowledge at a single place. |
To put it simply, this is Pustaka Mane; the abode of Sarasvati, Goddess of knowledge: the palace of tomes.
The greatness of Pustaka Mane lies in the fact that books of all sorts - discarded by libraries, homes and individuals as they were old, useless, torn, already read, for lack of space for storage and for other unwise reasons – are welcome here and conserved affectionately. In this good deed Ankegowda’s wife Smt. Vijayalakshmi is also actively involved and she is truly sahadharmini; his son Sagar too is a partner.
Ankegowda’s hobby of collection of books, started as a small venture in the seventies of the last century, continued relentlessly; when his residence was jam-packed with books well-known industrialist and poet Sri Hari L Khoday constructed a vast building for Pustaka Mane. His gift is well-meaning and always memorable. |
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President |
Secretary |
Trustee |
| Sri Ankegowda, M.A. |
Ankegowda Jnana Pratishthana (R)
Haralahalli, Pandavapura |
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| Smt. Vijayalakshmi Ankegowda |
| Ankegowda Jnana Pratishthana (R) |
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| Sri Sagar |
| Ankegowda Jnana Pratishthana (R) |
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