Significance of Gandhi’s visit to Marwari Public Library in

November 1917

Gandhi Ji’s visit to Marwari Library on 27.11.1917 with message

The Marwari Public Library at Chandni Chowk is like an oasis in the midst of a business hub
of Delhi, says its secretary Raj Narayan Saraf, where people come to quench their thirst for
knowledge. Seth Kedar Nath Goenka, a Marwari cloth merchant, was inspired by Gandhi to
start this library when Gandhi first came to Delhi in April 1915. He set up this library six
months later on Dussehraas a public library where mostly Hindi books, newspapers and
journals were freely available. In the next two years, Kedar Nath was much influenced by the
thoughts and actions of Gandhi and became active in various movements like Hindi
dissemination, library movement, women’s empowerment and primarily the freedom
movement under the banner of the Congress party in Delhi. On Kedar Nath’s invitation,
Gandhi visited the library on 27th November 1917, at its present location in Chandni Chowk
close to the Gurudwara Shishganj and the historical Fountain. The library is situated on the
first floor having a steep staircase of twenty large steps. Gandhi recorded his impressions in
the visitor’s register: “Is pustakalaya ki mulakat lekar main bahut khush hun. Pustakalaya
humesha badhti rahegi aisi umeed rakhta hun.” (I am very happy to visit this library. I
expect that the library always keeps growing and progressing). Bal Gangadhar Tilak also
visited the library on the same day.
The Marwari Charitable Trust which manages the library presently, commemorated Gandhi’s
visit to the libraryin 1917, on 27th November this year as a Smriti Diwas, during the 150th birth
anniversary of Gandhi and Kasturba.The speeches and songs at the meeting reflected the
holistic, secular, nationalist, humanitarian and non-violent idealso f the Gandhian freedom
movement, particularly in Gandhi’s favorite bhajan “Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiye”. This
15th century bhajan written by Gujarati poet Narsi Mehta, sends the message that God’s true
followers are those who understand the sorrows and woes of the downtrodden, the Dalits and
the backwards and come forward to support them and ameliorate their sorrows.One of the
distinguished speakers spoke of the importance of Gandhi’s Charkha as a symbol of the
intended economic and political transformation of a free India which was however not
fulfilled after Independence.
Gandhi’s visit inspired Kedar Nath and his fellow freedom fighters. Jathas  would be seen
coming out of the Marwari Library. During the 1942 Quit India movement, Marwari women
played a significant role and Parvati Devi Didwania was the first Marwari woman to be
jailed in Delhi. Kedar Nath was imprisoned several times, so were members of his family. In
1941, while in jail, he was taken very ill. On Gandhi’s advice, he was granted parole. After
his release he passed away on 29 March 1941 at a relatively young age of 51.On his demise
Gandhi said: “Kedar Nath’s demise is of course a sad matter, however he has fulfilled his
life.”
Under the able leadership of  Kedar Nath Goenka,the membership of the Marwari Library
multiplied rapidly and its branches extended even to the rural areas of Delhi.The Marwari
Library which Kedar Nath planted and nurtured till his death, was declared a heritage library.
Renovated in 2004, it has now a collection of 35,000 well maintained books, old newspapers,
700 epics and 21 rare manuscripts. Overtime, scholars have flocked to this library to study
and collect rare research materials on diverse subjects. One such scholar, who frequented the
Marwari library in the 1970s, is Thomas Timberg, an American, who was researching on
Marwaris at the Harvard University. His book ‘The Marwaris: From Traders to
Industrialists’ traces the economic history of the Marwari community, its humble origins as
money lenders, its role as financiers and bankers to the Mughals and the British rulers, and
its pan-Indian presence due to its migrations to different parts of the country.