Temples
Agamas prescribe that temples should have libraries of important texts. This was observed in practice.
parakAla-yati in kAnchI
Postakaṅgaḷum idukku vēṇḍum upakaraṇaṅgaḷum—By postakaṅgaḷ (pustaka), manuscript bundles are apparently meant. The upakaraṇas are the accessories and paraphernalia required for running a library—such as probably racks for the accommodation of the manuscript bundles, spare sets of cadjan leaves for copying work, and stylus and other scribal apparatus.
… Another point of interest in this epigraph is the reference to a collection of manuscripts (or a library) which was kept in the maṭha. It is well-known that in the medieval centuries, religious institutions of all denominations flourished in South India. They were left in charge of the heads of these maṭhas called Maṭhādhipatis, Mudaliyārs or Jiyars. Then there were also the Ghaṭikāsthānas.
Maintenance of these institutions are recorded in several inscriptions; it is reasonable to infer that when these maṭhas, ghaṭikās and pāṭhaśālās were functioning properly, they must have been maintaining well-stocked libraries.
A record of the Western Chāḷukya king Trailōkyamalla-Āhavamalla dated in Śaka 980 (=A.D. 1058) from Nāgai[^325_2] mentions a gift of land for the maintenance of six Curators called Sarasvatī-Bhaṇḍārigas. Another interesting reference to a Sarasvatī-bhaṇḍāra or library is found in a fragmentary epigraph[^325_3] from Śrīraṅgam.
The Paushkara-Saṁhitā[^325_4] gives rules for the formation of a library in a temple. The Śrīraṅgam library was mentioned in a 14th year inscription[^325_5] (A.D. 1269). A pustaka-bhaṇḍāra at Śṛiṅgēri is mentioned in two epigraphs[^325_6] from the early Vijayanagara period (Śaka 1328 and 1354).
Source: TW
annamAchArya & tirupati
These (annamAchArya and co) Sankirtanas totaling to about 32,000 in number, along with other works, became inscribed in copper plates and were stored in a stone-built cell called ‘Sankirtana Bhandaram’ (i.e., the storehouse of Sankirtanas), located right adjacent to the shrine of Acharya Rāmānuja, in the Tirumamani Mantapam within the Vimana Pradakshina of the Tirumala temple. This storehouse exists till today. It is indeed a place where reverence has to be paid because this was the place of safe concealment of the copper plates bearing the Sankirtanas for nearly four centuries, until they were removed in the mid 1900’s for the purpose of publication. - advitIyaH
sarasvatI-bhaNDAra-s of TN
In Tamil Nadu, libraries attached to temples were known as sarasvatI-bhaNDAras. For instance, an inscription of Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan at Chidambaram temple describes the functioning of such a library at that temple along with officials associated with it. (Example via TS kRShNan.)
Another inscription of 1369 CE records that Kampana Udayar of the Vijayanagara dynasty established a Saraswathi Bhandaram in the Kanchi Varadharaja Perumal temple, ensuring its upkeep.
Likewise, a Nayak-period inscription from Srirangam mentions a Saraswathi Bhandaram and details a donation of one lakh (100,000 kasu) for the installation of the images of Sarasvati, Hayagriva, and Veda Vyasa in the temple library, with regular offerings dedicated to these deities.
Fossil fuel age
- Mithila Kunj, Vrindavan is building a temple with tiles having all shlokas of srimad bhAgavatam engraved
- 80 Yrs Old Laxmi Narayan Temple, Engraved With Geeta Shlokas On Temple Walls At Jharsuguda : TW
- Also, srI krishna janmabhumi recently (near 2025) got srimad bhAgavatam engraved in gold plates. Already had copper ones