BRC Library
Preserving Knowledge, Enriching Research
- 25,000+ Books
- 4,000 Journals
- 1,000 Digitized Manuscripts
Knowledge That Inspires
BRC’s Expansive Library & Archives
10 am – 5 pm
Open six days a week
Central Library
Kolkata
Library Collections
Sundarananda Vidyavinode Collection
BRC is privileged to host over a century old precious library collection about ancient Vedic wisdom in general and Gaudiya Vaishnavism in particular. This collection is referred to as the Sundarananda Vidyavinode Collection named after its owner Shri Sundarananda Vidyavinode, an avid book collector and Sanskrit professor from Dacca who had a library of over 3,000 books.
The central library at Kolkata houses the century-old “Sundarananda Vidyavinoda Collection ” containing books from the personal library of the renowned saint and philosopher Srila Bhaktisiddanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada (1874 – 1936). Sri Sundarananda Vidyavinode, a Sanskrit professor from Dacca was the chief editor and disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada. The collection holds over 2380 books and over 70,000 pages of journals & newspapers from the late 19th and early 20th century mainly in Bengali, Sanskrit, Hindi and English on topics including Hindu theology and philosophy in general and Vaishnavism in particular, Sanskrit grammar and comparative linguistics, Sanskrit poetry and poetics, encyclopedia as well as comparative studies of Eastern and Western logic, poetics, and philosophy. The collection showcases the publishing revolution that began in and around Calcutta which was the capital of British India when the printing press was introduced in the country.
Birnagar Collection
Some of the important work includes:
- Original handwritten songbook of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
- Original handwritten autobiography, "Svalikhita Jivani" of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
- Original handwritten Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya and many other Vaishnava texts
David Haberman Library Collection
Bhaktivedanta Research Center has received the prestigious personal collection of books from Dr. David Haberman. Dr. David Haberman is a professor of religious studies at Indiana University. He received his BA (1976) in religious studies from the University of Colorado and his PhD (1984) in history of religions from the University of Chicago. He taught at the University of Arizona and Williams College before joining the faculty at Indiana University in 1993, where he served as departmental chair for five years.
Dr. David Haberman is also a visiting faculty in Bhaktivedanta Research Center for the PhD program in Philosophy. He taught the course ‘Lived Religion’ to the students of BRC in the year 2019-20. He also supports students of BRC in guiding their PhD studies.
The collection includes more than1000 books. These books are from the various fields of religious studies, Philosophy, Sanskrit, Social Studies etc. This valuable collection of books he very generously donated to BRC for the use of students and faculty.