Maulana Azad Library, Amu

The Library complex of the University consists of a Central Library and over 80 college/departmental libraries. Libraries of the colleges, institutes and departments, cater to the needs of postgraduates and students of professional courses.

The University has established Book Banks for the benefit of students of certain professional courses. The Central Library was set up in 1875, when this institution was established as Madarsatul Uloom. In 1877, the Madarsa became Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College. Lord Lytton, the viceroy of India, laid the foundation stone, and the library was named after him as Lytton Library. Eminent scholars like Gardner Brown, Arnold, Releigh, Horowitz, Storey and Auchtelpone functioned as honorary librarians in addition to their teaching responsibilities.
In 1960, it was named as Maulana Azad Library when the first Prime Minister, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, inaugurated its present building. The Seven storied building is surrounded by 4.75 acres of land in the form of beautiful lawns and gardens. It is the most beautiful building of the University and one of the few very attractive libraries in the country. The Library has about 9,00,000 books

The collection consists of books, periodicals, pamphlets, manuscripts, paintings and photographs. M.A. Library performs the functions of a National Library so far as its collection of Oriental manuscripts are concerned. It is because of these rich collections of immense research value that this Library is reckoned among major libraries of the world. The oldest manuscript owned by the library is more than fourteen hundred years old. It is a fragment of the Holy Quran transcribed by Hazrat Ali, the fourth caliph of Islam and is written on parchment in Kufi script. Another rare collection is the Halnama of Beyazid Ansari, no copy of which is available anywhere else in the world



The Library has a sizeable collection of early printed books in various languages. The most outstanding among them is the Latin translation of the celebrated Arabic work on optics, opticam prafatis, by Ibn-al-Haitham (965-1039) published in 1572



There are several farmans (decrees) of the Mughal kings like Babur, Akbar, Shahjahan, Shah Alam, Shah Alamgir, Aurangzeb etc. Another prized possession of the library is a “Shirt” on which the whole Quran is inscribed in khafi script. This shirt is believed to have been worn by a warrior of Mughal army

Among the large collection of Mughal paintings is the painting of Red Blossom, which is magnum opus of Mansoor Naqqash, the celebrated court artist of Emperor Jahangir. Some valuable Sanskrit works translated into Persian have also been preserved in the library. Other possessions worth mentioning is the Ayurved in Telugu and the Bhasa’s in Malyalam script written on palm leaves. Abul Faiz Faizi, an eminent scholar of Akbar’s court translated several Sanskrit works into Persian, such as Maha Puran, Bhagvat Gita, Mahabharat and Lila Wati, these are also available.

More than 5,000 students, teachers and other members of the university daily visit the library and utilize its services. For further details visit Maulana Azad Library Website

Now M.A libaray gots new developments like centrally air-conditioned reading rooms, the new news paper & magazine reading area on the G.floor, online catalogue search for books from any place with in the library premises (we expect they come on the internet soon) & after all new parking space for cycles & bikes

The Famous Marris Road

Marris Road is indeed one of the most important streets in Aligarh. The distnguished status of this street comes from the beautiful, large and palatial bungalows and Kothis situated on the both sides of this road. According to a very senior Aligarian in Hyderabad, there used to be days when Marris Road was called Paris Road because of the rich and elite who inhabited those bungalows. All of them were highly educated, cultured and sophisticated and had an exquisite taste of art and literature.

Coming to my time of Aligarh, most of these kothis and bungalows had lost their charm and grandeur but some of them simply couldn't resist telling the stories from their glorious past. With vicinity to city's railway station and the most happening commerical area - Centerpoint, most of these kothis are now being shrouded by shops and shopping complexes coming up on the roadsides and in some way, helping the majestic bungalows in hiding their pitiful state.

While, there is one reason which accounts for the loss of value of Marris Road, there is another gaining importance and momentum. The Women's college and Abdullah Hall (AMU Girls' Hostels) have their main gates on Marris Road. Most of new and happening Eating points and dating spots are like adding more taste to the relishing gravy.

So, the reasons may change but M for Marris Road remains the same - the place to be, that is.

Source: Aligarh Nama Blog

About: Kennedy Hall

Kennedy Hall is the Central Auditorium of AMU. Apart from screening the award winning movies during the Film Festival, it hosts a plethora of events. The events include Musical Nights, Plays, and interactive sessions with University guests, high-profile alumni and dignitaries visiting the campus.
Performing at Kennedy auditorium is a feat in itself for AMU students. Anyone who could repeatedly perform successfully on this stage would be good enough to face any kind of audience. It's a platform which brings out the best of talents in the country. For that matter, it is not only about Kennedy Auditorium. It could very well be Strachey Hall or any other Literary and Cultural event stage at AMU. AMU audience is ever ready with bouquets in one hand and brickbats in the other. I can go on to the extent of claiming that AMU also nurtures the best critics on acting, singing and oratorical skills. One who is carried on the shoulders for his outstanding talent at AMU has the potential to make it to one of the India's best talents.

My memories of Kennedy Hall include the Film Festivals where the students shouted their favourite movie dialogues in chorus even before the actor would deliver them in the movie scene. I also remember the occasion when the students coerced the Vice chancellor into wearing a cap while addressing the gathering as it was an age old AMU tradition.

Sweets n Namkeens of aligarh

The another famous thing after the locks of aligarh is sweets and namkeens, there are several & delightful sweets as well as namkeens offers in wide categories from tasteful snacks and hot dishes such as ladoo, rasgulla, rasmalai, kesar barfi, son papdi, badam halwa, fruit cream, milk cake and kaju katli to moong ki dal, mathri gol and kaju masala, samosa etc. I think if you on trip of aligarh and dont taste the sweets as well as namkeens, the trip is not completed. Anyone who visits aligarh buys & taste thier untamed sweets n namkeens, At there you can find lots of shops of sweets and namkeens but who are specialize in it are Vikas Sweets at centre point market they offers a delightful array of tasteful snacks and hot dishes such as ladoo, rasgulla, rasmalai, kesar barfi, son papdi, badam halwa, fruit cream, milk cake and kaju katli. All the products are prepared by expert chefs in most hygienic conditions., The other one is Kunjilalal at centre point market where you can find stocks a large variety of crispy, tasty and tempting namkeens, sweets and other eatables. All the sweets are prepared using the traditional method with 100% pure desi ghee which gives the very best and exotic Indian taste. Some of the hot favorites offered are kaju, badam, dry fruits, samosa, moong ki dal, mathri gol and kaju masala, The other sweets amd namkeens shops are Taj Sweets at dodhpur, bobby shop at Amir nisha, Avon Namkeens at Railway Roads. You can find these shop very easily because they are very pouplar among the local peoples.

Important places of Aligarh

There are 2 popular landmarks in Aligarh. One is Aligarh fort and another is Sir Syed Masjid in Aligarh Muslim University's campus. Another old fort, the Dor fortress (1524), now in ruins, lies at the city's centre; its site located in the area now called Upper Kot, is occupied by an 18th-century mosque. The city also contains tombs of Muslim saints.

The city also has a few known markets - Railway Road market, Centre Point Market, Amir Nisha, Tasveer Mahal and Shamshad market. Amir Nisha market is a major shopping hub, a favorite for women as it has a variety of clothes, jewelery and cosmetics. Another popular market for students is Shamshad market and with many educational book shops.Tasveer Mahal is famous for Sherwani's shop. Center point market is known for its popular eating joints like Kwality, Mezbaan, Baskin Robbins and Wheelers and an ancient Lord Hanumaan temple named Tikaram Mandir. A huge rush can be seen in the temple on Tuesday and Saturday. And a Sai BaBa's Karuna Dham on Grand Trunk Road Sai Bhakts can be seen here throughout the week but specially on Thursday.

Aligarh has many movie theatres such as Grand Surjit,Vadra,Nandan,Lakshmi,Nishat and Tasveer Mahal. Grand Surjit is the latest Cineplex among them with the best facilities to offer.

Aligarh is also famous for its sweets and namkeens. Kunjilal, Khyaliram and Vikas ^[sweets are among the well known sweets shops, while Babboo and Dabboo lead the namkeen segment. The Annual Cultural Exhibition, popularly known as numaish, held at Exhibition ground is a very famous event and a huge affair in the month of January and February. The Aligarh is also famous for Sherwani's. The huge sherwani shop of M.Hasan Tailor.