Another contribution by K. P. Girja, with inputs from Teena Antony
Kerala Council for Historical Research: Library and Research Resource Centre, Nalanda, Thiruvananthapuram – 695003
The library has books on social science theories, Indian history, and Kerala history. It has a local history archive of biographies, village histories and family histories. Gazetteers, administrative reports, manuals and Census of India reports are also available in the KCHR library.
St. Kuriakose Elias Chavara Archives and Research Centre, St. Joseph’s Monastery, Mannanam, Kottayam-686561
Contains magazines, books and manuscripts from the 1800s. Some of the manuscripts are in Syriac, while others are in Malayalam. They also have materials in English, Latin and Tamil. Most of the books are related to church history, accounts of the monastery, and the first printed materials from the monastery. There are also letters, works and other books related to Kuriakose Elias Chavara. More details about the archive are available on their site.
Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam-686001
A collection mostly relevant to biblical studies, religious studies, ministry, and historical documents connected to the Malankara Syrian Church. They have manuscripts, Palm leaf manuscripts, etc. However, the collection is not extensive as this is a relatively new library.
The Collins Library, CMS College, Kottayam-686001
One of the most extensive collections of missionary records, gazettes, and books from the early missionary period in Kerala. The entire collection of the Diocesan Gazette published by the CMS, The Travancore and Cochin Diocesan Record, and missionary records by CMS members who worked in other parts of the world are available here.
Satyadeepam, Lisie Hospital Road, Ernakulam North, Kochi-682 018
All the old issues of Satyadeepam newspapers starting from the mid-twentieth century.
Sree Narayana (S.N) Public Library and Reading Room, Mukundapuram, Irinjalakuda-680125
Founded in the memory of C.R. Kesavan Vaidyar, an industrialist and an SNDP (Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam) organiser. He was a disciple of Sree Narayan Guru.
The library has bound volumes of Vivekodayam magazine, the mouthpiece of SNDP, from 1950 onwards. Magazines such as Mathrubhumi, Bhashaposhini, Kalakaumudi and selected works on Sree Narayana Guru are also available.
The Desaposhini public library was established in 1937 and it has a vast collection of books, magazines, reference books and newspapers. A catalogue of the library is available on their website.
Shiju Alex collections
Apart from the above-mentioned collections, Shiju Alex has taken a personal interest in digitising old and rare materials about Kerala.
With the support of a few friends, he painstakingly digitised magazines, school textbooks, and other materials pertaining to indigenous medicine, literature, vasthusastra, culture and science. This is a valuable repository of all kinds of knowledge practices from the eighteenth century onwards.
Unfortunately, he recently declared that he has stopped this activity because of the lack of time, labour and assistance from a larger group of people to scale up the project.
Most of his collections are available at https://archive.org/details/kerala-archives
Compiled by: K P Girija & Teena Antony
K P Girija is an independent scholar based out of Kerala. She was a Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. Her area of research interest includes gender studies, development practices, questions that explore the politics and history of knowledge formation and their philosophical and psychological foundations. Her recent book is Mapping the History of Ayurveda: Culture, Hegemony and the Rhetoric of Diversity (2022, Abingdon: Routledge).
Teena Antony is a freelance editor and web content writer. Her research area and interests include women’s history, women’s education, literature for women, and the history of Kerala. Her work has focused specifically on periodicals for women published from pre-Independence Kerala. She is currently part of the editorial team of the forthcoming magazine, Samyukta Journal on Cinema.
Archive and Access 