Himachal Pradesh : The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives Dharmshala - 4

Guys, this library is one of the most important institutions in the world dedicated to preserve and disseminate Tibetan culture. It serves as a repository for Tibetan artifacts and manuscripts, as well as centre for language and cultural education. The library holds more than eighty thousand manuscripts, books and documents. It also holds hundreds of thangkas, statues, six thousand photographs and other artifacts.

As a centre for the study of Tibetan culture, the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives is firmly devoted to a threefold vision of preservation, protection and promotion. The Library looks forward into the next century, confident of its role to preserve, and educate others about, a culture threatened with destruction. More than 25 years after its founding, the need for such an institution as the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives has continued to grow.

The primary objective of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives is to provide a comprehensive cultural resource centre and to promote an environment fostering research and an exchange of knowledge between scholars and students. This is of the utmost importance in a contemporary world shaped by political and spiritual confusion. In trying to fulfil its objectives the Library's priorities include:

1. Acquiring and conserving Tibetan books and manuscripts, artefacts and works of art.

2. Providing access to books, manuscripts and reference works (in Tibetan and foreign languages) in study areas within the Library.

3. Compiling bibliographies and documen-tation of library holdings and related literature available worldwide.

4. Providing copies and prints of library holdings, and acting as a reference centre for such source materials.

5. Publishing books and manuscripts under the Library imprint.

6. Supporting research and study of the Tibetan language, classical and modern, and the traditional arts and crafts.

The Tibetan Library has been in operation since Ist November 1971. It has opened its doors to numerous scholars from many countries. It has launched educational programmes in language, philosophy, culture and the traditional arts. It has encouraged computer projects, and other initiatives aiming to preserve Tibetan thought and culture. The Library sponsors international seminars. It engages in book exchange programmes with other libraries and distributes its own publications, in Tibetan and English, throughout the world. Library holdings increase every year.

Centre for Tibetan Studies continue to climb. The Library is home to one of only two Tibetan Oral History projects in the world. Its dynamic thangka painting and woodcarving programmes are indica-tive of the fact that cultural preservation includes the arts as well as letters. LTWA works in close collaboration with the Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies (deemed a university) in Sarnath and the Department of Religion and Culture of the Central Tibetan Administration. With each year of operation increasing numbers of visitors, researchers and students are drawn to this institution which is able to provide them with an educational and cultural experience available nowhere else in the world.

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03. Art Gallery Jammu :Dogra Art Gallery - 3