Tucked away in the quiet lanes of Haralahalli village near Srirangapatna in Karnataka’s Mandya district stands Pustaka Mane — the ‘House of Books’. Neither a university nor a government institution, this vast free public library is the life’s work of one man whose devotion to knowledge has transformed rural access to learning.
Its creator, 75-year-old Anke Gowda, has been honoured this year with the Padma Shri under the ‘Unsung Heroes’ category, recognising his extraordinary contribution to literacy, librarianship, and the preservation of knowledge.
Born into a farming family in Chinakurli village, Gowda grew up with limited access to books. His relationship with reading began during his college years, when a professor encouraged him to read and collect books — advice that would define the rest of his life. At just 20, while working as a bus conductor, Gowda spent his spare time reading, even as his income remained modest.
His passion for learning led him to earn a Master’s degree in Kannada literature and later work for nearly three decades at a sugar factory. Throughout his working life, Gowda steadily invested in books, reportedly spending nearly 80 per cent of his earnings on expanding his collection. In a defining moment of sacrifice, he even sold his house in Mysuru to make space for more books.
Over five decades, this commitment grew into Pustaka Mane — now home to more than two million books in over 20 Indian and foreign languages. The collection spans literature, science, technology, philosophy, mythology, history, and competitive exam materials, alongside rare manuscripts, journals, newspapers, and nearly 5,000 dictionaries.
What sets Pustaka Mane apart is its open-access philosophy. There are no membership fees or restrictions. Students, researchers, writers, and legal professionals — including Supreme Court judges — have visited the library, drawn by its depth and inclusivity.
Gowda and his wife Vijayalakshmi live within the library itself, sleeping on the floor and managing daily life amid towering shelves of books. Along with their son Sagar, they manually clean, organise, and maintain the collection. Despite its scale, thousands of books are still awaiting cataloguing, and the family hopes for institutional support to digitise and preserve the archive.
In a time dominated by digital consumption, Pustaka Mane stands as a reminder of the enduring value of books — especially in rural India, where access to quality learning resources remains uneven. For students preparing for exams, scholars researching texts, and readers seeking knowledge without barriers, the library has become a sanctuary.
By conferring the Padma Shri on Anke Gowda, India recognises not just an individual achievement but a lifetime devoted to making knowledge freely available. Gowda himself remains humble, saying his only goal was to ensure that books were accessible to anyone who wished to learn.
Today, Pustaka Mane is more than a library — it is a living monument to curiosity, generosity, and the belief that education should belong to everyone.
