The book thief who knew his scriptures well - Stolen: 82 rare tomes on ancient texts from Ramakrishna Math
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Several of the works were personally translated from Sanskrit to Kannada by the last ruling Maharaja of Mysore and his court astrologer in the 1940s
There is an extraordinary crook on the loose, but it's not money, gold, or diamonds he's after. In a bizarre case, the city police are on the lookout for a thief who stole 82 invaluable literary works preserved inside the library of the Ramakrishna Math on Bull Temple Road last week in a meticulously crafted operation.
The rare collection of books that were stolen includes ancient puranas reported to have been personally translated from Sanskrit to English by the last ruling maharaja of Mysore, Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar and his court astrologer, H Gangadhara Shastry, in the pre-Independence era. It is said the only other set of these publications is available in the Mysore Palace library.
The theft came to light around 9:30 am on September 5, when the librarian in-charge, L A Satish, unlocked the library doors. Since there were no signs of forced entry, it is suspected the thief may have sneaked in using a duplicate key.
"After finishing work around 6:30 pm on September 4, Satish claims he locked up the library as usual and left for home. The stolen books occupied four shelves that can be spotted immediately upon entering the library. We were told the shelves were all locked, and the glass was found intact too the next morning, indicating the thief must have had a duplicate key for the shelves as well. Interestingly, the main doors of the library had been locked again after the theft so as not to raise suspicion," said a senior police officer from the DCP (South) squad who is part of the investigation.
The scriptures that the thief made away with include the Naradiya Purana (vol 1-10), Vamana Purana (vol 1-2), Linga Purana (vol 1-6), Varaha Purana (vol 1-5), Vayu Purana (vol 1-6), Halasya Mahatmya (vol 3), Narasimha Purana (vol 1-3), Tripura Rahasya (vol 1-5), Brahma Purana (vol 3-6), Brahma VyvarthaPurana (vol 1-10), MarkandeyaPurana (vol 1-4), Karma Purana(vol 1-4), NaradaPurana by Galgali, MatsyaPurana by Galgali, PadmaPurana, and nearly 20 other books.
The translation of these scriptures and several more classics from Sanskrit to Kannada are said to have been sponsored by the last maharaja of Mysore as part of the Jayachamaraja Grantha Ratna Mala, including 35 parts of the Rig Veda. Till around the early 1940s, these ancient and sacred scriptures had existed only in Sanskrit; with no comprehensive translations available in Kannada. Apart from containing the original text in Kannada, these interpreted works are accompanied by a paraphrase in simple Kannada for the benefit of the common man.
Sources revealed the Wadiyar himself had contributed substantially to translating several of these works as he used to study each literary piece separately and discuss them with the authors.
His court astrologer and the then Dharmadhikari of Mysore Palace, H Gangadhara Shastry, is also largely credited with deciphering the scriptures. Legend has it that one night during Shivaratri, Shastry was summoned by Wadiyar in the wee hours and advised to simplify the use of some difficult Kannada words in one of the books.
The police, meanwhile, are confident that this is one thief who knows the value of the books. "It appears the thief may have created an exact blueprint of the library; having mapped out exactly where his target books were located and how to access them. To do this, we suspect he may have been a frequent visitor to the library, and had an expansive knowledge of the value contained in the scriptures," explained the officer. He says whoever has stolen the books will have a tough time attempting to sell them off, as there is only one other original set of these books. "However, we are also not ruling out the possibility that the thief may be an eccentric collector of sorts who stole the books so that he alone could enjoy them," he added.
Incidentally, books cannot be taken out of the library premises. Patrons are required to read or refer to the books in the reading room itself. The police have also taken into their possession the library register which details who had taken which books over the last few months.
Besides the fact that the theft was carried out meticulously, what is intriguing is how the thief transported the entire lot out of the place as the loot would have required at least a mini truck.
For their part, the Ramakrishna Math claims their library contains books worth several lakhs and that most of the holy scriptures are almost 150 years old. "There is no way to ascertain the exact worth of the stolen books - they are literally priceless. These particular sets which were published in the Wadiyar's time were not available for sale to the general public and, hence, cannot be found in any ordinary bookstore. Our patrons visit the library specifically requesting to read these literary works, which have come to form the essence of our library," claimed a representative of the institution in his statements to the police. "We are trying to find out who is behind this theft, and are confident he will be found. The police are already conducting their investigations, and we hope to know the truth soon," Shanthimani, a monk from the Ramakrishna Math, told Bangalore Mirror.
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Several of the works were personally translated from Sanskrit to Kannada by the last ruling Maharaja of Mysore and his court astrologer in the 1940s
There is an extraordinary crook on the loose, but it's not money, gold, or diamonds he's after. In a bizarre case, the city police are on the lookout for a thief who stole 82 invaluable literary works preserved inside the library of the Ramakrishna Math on Bull Temple Road last week in a meticulously crafted operation.
The rare collection of books that were stolen includes ancient puranas reported to have been personally translated from Sanskrit to English by the last ruling maharaja of Mysore, Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar and his court astrologer, H Gangadhara Shastry, in the pre-Independence era. It is said the only other set of these publications is available in the Mysore Palace library.
The theft came to light around 9:30 am on September 5, when the librarian in-charge, L A Satish, unlocked the library doors. Since there were no signs of forced entry, it is suspected the thief may have sneaked in using a duplicate key.
"After finishing work around 6:30 pm on September 4, Satish claims he locked up the library as usual and left for home. The stolen books occupied four shelves that can be spotted immediately upon entering the library. We were told the shelves were all locked, and the glass was found intact too the next morning, indicating the thief must have had a duplicate key for the shelves as well. Interestingly, the main doors of the library had been locked again after the theft so as not to raise suspicion," said a senior police officer from the DCP (South) squad who is part of the investigation.
The scriptures that the thief made away with include the Naradiya Purana (vol 1-10), Vamana Purana (vol 1-2), Linga Purana (vol 1-6), Varaha Purana (vol 1-5), Vayu Purana (vol 1-6), Halasya Mahatmya (vol 3), Narasimha Purana (vol 1-3), Tripura Rahasya (vol 1-5), Brahma Purana (vol 3-6), Brahma VyvarthaPurana (vol 1-10), MarkandeyaPurana (vol 1-4), Karma Purana(vol 1-4), NaradaPurana by Galgali, MatsyaPurana by Galgali, PadmaPurana, and nearly 20 other books.
The translation of these scriptures and several more classics from Sanskrit to Kannada are said to have been sponsored by the last maharaja of Mysore as part of the Jayachamaraja Grantha Ratna Mala, including 35 parts of the Rig Veda. Till around the early 1940s, these ancient and sacred scriptures had existed only in Sanskrit; with no comprehensive translations available in Kannada. Apart from containing the original text in Kannada, these interpreted works are accompanied by a paraphrase in simple Kannada for the benefit of the common man.
Sources revealed the Wadiyar himself had contributed substantially to translating several of these works as he used to study each literary piece separately and discuss them with the authors.
His court astrologer and the then Dharmadhikari of Mysore Palace, H Gangadhara Shastry, is also largely credited with deciphering the scriptures. Legend has it that one night during Shivaratri, Shastry was summoned by Wadiyar in the wee hours and advised to simplify the use of some difficult Kannada words in one of the books.
The police, meanwhile, are confident that this is one thief who knows the value of the books. "It appears the thief may have created an exact blueprint of the library; having mapped out exactly where his target books were located and how to access them. To do this, we suspect he may have been a frequent visitor to the library, and had an expansive knowledge of the value contained in the scriptures," explained the officer. He says whoever has stolen the books will have a tough time attempting to sell them off, as there is only one other original set of these books. "However, we are also not ruling out the possibility that the thief may be an eccentric collector of sorts who stole the books so that he alone could enjoy them," he added.
Incidentally, books cannot be taken out of the library premises. Patrons are required to read or refer to the books in the reading room itself. The police have also taken into their possession the library register which details who had taken which books over the last few months.
Besides the fact that the theft was carried out meticulously, what is intriguing is how the thief transported the entire lot out of the place as the loot would have required at least a mini truck.
For their part, the Ramakrishna Math claims their library contains books worth several lakhs and that most of the holy scriptures are almost 150 years old. "There is no way to ascertain the exact worth of the stolen books - they are literally priceless. These particular sets which were published in the Wadiyar's time were not available for sale to the general public and, hence, cannot be found in any ordinary bookstore. Our patrons visit the library specifically requesting to read these literary works, which have come to form the essence of our library," claimed a representative of the institution in his statements to the police. "We are trying to find out who is behind this theft, and are confident he will be found. The police are already conducting their investigations, and we hope to know the truth soon," Shanthimani, a monk from the Ramakrishna Math, told Bangalore Mirror.
