If you are a history lover and living in Patna, you must not miss out the Patna University exhibition that starts today.
From letters written by the First President of India to handwritten manuscript of 'Laila-Majnu', from antique coins of the Mughal era and gazettes of the British period to several rare scripts will be on display at Patna University’s Central Library for visitors.
The exhibition, which is a part of the university’s centenary year celebration, will be inaugurated by Bihar Governor-cum-Chancellor of Universities Satya Pal Malik. “This is the first occasion when the rare manuscripts will be put on display for the public. People can walk through the history of the last few centuries,” said a senior official of the Patna University.
Among the displays include a 17th century illustrated manuscript of “Laila-Majnu”, handwritten in Persian by Mullara Abdur Rahman Ghani, documents on the history of Magadh and Bihar as well as versions of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata dating back to the 13th century, Malti Madhawan and Saroj Kalika (14th century), Rishala Sifat Jaruriya and Tolinama (15th century), Jahangirnama and Vrihat Jatak (16th century), Kavya Kamdhenu by Mop Dev (17th century) and Shukla Yajurveda (18th century).
The letters of Dr Rajendra Prasad, the First President of India, date between 1950 and 1951, and are responses and greetings to the principals and students of the colleges of Patna University (PU). There are manuscripts written on “Bhjojpatra”, leather, copper leaves and palm leaves etc, besides some rare coins dating between 12th and 15th centuries.
The PU official said that while several of these manuscripts were present in the central library, some of them have been collected from different departments and paintings made by students of College of Arts and Crafts will also be put on display. The students and general public can visit the exhibition between 9am and 7pm till December 15.
