Anke Gowda

Anke Gowda
Gowda in 2012
Bornc. 1947
Chinakurli, Pandavapura, India
OccupationsTimekeeper, book collector, and librarian
Known forPustaka Mane library (founder)

Anke Gowda is an Indian book collector and the founder of "Pustaka Mane" library in Mandya, India. He is a retired sugar factory timekeeper who once worked as a bus conductor.[1] During the course of five decades, Gowda amassed a collection that is estimated to number over two million volumes, and has been described as one of the largest free-access personal libraries in India.[2]

Biography

Gowda was born to parents Mari Gowda and Ningamma,[3] a family of farmers in the small village of Chinakurli in Pandavapura taluk.[2] He began reading and collecting books as a child, beginning with works by Swami Vivekananda when he was still in class IX. He recalls that the people in his village were not accustomed to books, which got him thinking about how to make them more accessible.[4] Gowda went on to earn a bachelor's degree,[1] after which he took several odd jobs, including one as a bus conductor and another as a security guard.[5]

He completed a master's in Kannada at Maharaja's College, Mysore, where he was influenced by his teacher K. Anantharamu, who memorably told his class, "Never seek bribes, be good to your neighbours and cultivate a good habit." This advice stuck with Gowda, leading him to develop the habit of book collecting seriously.[5] He also began working as a timekeeper at the Pandavapura Cooperative Sugar factory,[3] where he remained for nearly 30 years.[1] He invested a large portion of his salary and retirement savings in collecting books.[2] Gowda lives with his wife and their son in a corner of the Pustaka Mane library.[1]

Pustaka Mane

Gowda's book collection is housed in a library named "Pustaka Mane" (House of Books) in the Pandavapura municipality, Karnataka's Mandya district.[2] It is a purpose-built nearly 1,500 square meter building, the construction of which was funded by Hari Khoday, who also funded the relocation and renovation of a local temple.[1]

The collection, which spans a publication history of almost 200 years,[2] includes science, technology, over 5,000 dictionaries, as well as literature, mythology, philosophy, religious texts, and rare books.[6] Books about the Mahabharata, and texts related to Jainism, Buddhism, and Christianity are well represented, and there are several thousand books about Mahatma Gandhi and the Bhagavad Gita alone.[3] The collection also includes 35,000 international magazines and 2,500 Kannada magazines and contains books and other publications in over 20 languages, including Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, and English.[2]

The library is open to the public and is readily available to researchers. Bangalore artist and curator Shivanand Basavanthappa used the library to access 70-year-old copies of Chandamama, a magazine illustrated by M. T. V. Acharya. This research helped him curate the "Life and Art of MTV Acharya" exhibition at The Indian Institute of World Culture in 2025.[7]

Notable visitors to the library include politicians Rahul Gandhi, Sadananda Gowda, and H. D. Kumaraswamy.[3]

Recognition

Gowda's work and commitment to making books available to the public has been recognised with various awards and honours. In 2009, he received the G.P. Rajaratnam Sahitya Paricharika Award from the Kannada Book Authority, followed by Alva's Nudisiri Award in 2011.[2][8] He was also the recipient of the 2014 Rajyotsava Award, and received an entry for "Largest Personal Book Collection" in the 2016 Limca Book of Records.[9] In 2026, the Indian government granted him a Padma Shri civilian award "for his extraordinary contribution to promoting literacy and learning."[1][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Qureshi, Imran (7 February 2026). "Anke Gowda: The Karnataka man who built a library of two million books". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 February 2026. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Padma Shri 2026 awardee Anke Gowda earns acclaim for lifelong service to librarianship". The Hindu. 25 January 2026. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 26 January 2026. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d Raj, Gayathri V. (25 January 2026). "Padma Shri award to Anke Gowda for his lifelong service to librarianship". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  4. ^ Kalkod, Rajiv (23 November 2015). "Bibliophile wants his Pustaka Mane to be a national library". The Times of India. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  5. ^ a b Parashar, Kiran (8 February 2026). "Unsung heroes: One man, 2 million books, meet the Padma Shri recipient behind the world's largest free access library". The Indian Express. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  6. ^ Chakrabarty, Roshni (3 February 2026). "Meet Padma Shri Anke Gowda, the bus conductor behind India's largest free library". India Today. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  7. ^ Dhanaraj, Ruth (9 April 2025). "Forgotten artist MTV Acharya's works on display at IIWC". The Hindu. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  8. ^ "Alva's Nudisiri". Alva's Institute of Engineering and Technology. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  9. ^ Kumar, M.T. Shiva (8 June 2016). "This is one for the record books". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 24 February 2026. Also published under the alternate title "Mandya man sets record as largest collector of books".
  10. ^ "Padma Awards>Awardees>2026". Ministry of Home Affairs. Retrieved 12 March 2026.

Further reading

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