CPBRCL: A treasure house of knowledge

The Charles Philip Brown Research Centre for languages (CPBRCL) located at Yerramukkapalli area in Kadapa city is not only a great pride for people of YSR Kadapa district but also a boon for research scholars in various fields. Writers across the country and also from abroad visit this centre for pursuing research on various topics. Few months ago, Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Rajamohan Gandhi visited CPBRCL as part of research on noted poet Vemana.

There are number of instances students preparing for civil services and other competetive examinations made use of material rarely available on different issues elsewhere in the country and went on to occupy high positions. Present Visakhapatnam Collector Dr A. Mallikarjuna hails from Narasannagaripalle village of C.K. Dinne mandal and Sidhavatam Venkata Madhava Reddy ADC of present AP Governor from Badvel town in YSR Kadapa district qualified for civil services by studying material in CPBRCL.

" I used to spend hours together every day in the BRCL for studying material on various topics. This helped me a lot to qualify for Indian Administrative Service (IAS) said Dr A Mallikarjuna when contacted by The Hans India. He recalled that Founder Secretary of CPBRCL Janumaddi Hanumath Sastri helped and guided the students preparing for competitive examinations by providing the material. " In those days we had no other sources for preparing for competitive examinations. CPBRCL was best for acquiring knowledge to the students as rarest of rare collection of books are available there. This helped me a lot to occupy civil servant post" said S V Madhava Reddy.

Research Scholars like former UP State Governor and chief minister of joint Madras state Bejawada Gopala Reddy, professor GN Reddy, Dr. Challa Radha Krishna Sharma, Dr. Puttaparthi Narayana Charyulu, member of Jiddu Krishna Murthy Foundation, noted editor Dr. Pothuri Venkateswara Rao visited CPBRCL and donated their books in the interest of book lovers and students.

According to the official sources there are 66,055 books available in the library. Apart from 40,000 books in Telugu, 20,000 books in English, 5,000 in Hindi, 500 in Sanskrit, 250 in Kannada, 250 in Tamil, and 50 in Urdu.

The research centre shelves are loaded with as many as 2,440 souvenirs and 500 books in children wing. It obtained copies of 42 volumes of Meckenzie Kaifiyats, poems by Vemana, manscripts (Talla Pratra Grandhalu) of Vasu Charitra, and Manu Charitra etc. It has also procured copies of 17 volumes CP Brown's works brought by Sri Venkateswara University.

Over sixty dictionaries of Telugu, English, Sanskrit and Urdu languages, and more than 30 volumes of different Encyclopedias, besides 30 volumes Encyclopedia Britannica five volumes of the books related to Castes and Tribals of India, 100 volumes of Gandhian literature etc are available with which 20 scholars have secured PhD in language research.

According to the historians, one British national called Charles Philip Brown popularly known as CP Brown worked as joint collector from 1820 to 1822 and court registrar from 1836 to 1829 for Kadapa district during British regime. He used to stay in the bungalow at Yerramukkapalle area where presently CPCRBL is located.

He developed interest in Telugu language as he learned it with hard efforts. He encouraged several writers by providing financial assistance and free accommodation for conducting research on Telugu language. C.P Brown sacrificed his whole life for the glory of Telugu language despite being a British national.

Writers called CP Brown period as Golden era for Telugu language like Sri Krishna Deva Raya regime. He retired in 1854 and settled in London. After his retirement he worked in London University as Telugu Professor for some time.

The library came in to existence in 1995 with inauguration by the then chief minister N Chandra Babu Naidu, Vavilala Gopala Krishnaiah. The library is having rarest collections of manscripts belonging to 11th century and 200 years old palm leaf manuscripts on education, medicine, Vedas, Upanishads, Ayurveda Mantra Sastra Jyotish Sastra(astrology) and hundred years old handmade paper bundles on various subjects.

In 2005 during the regime of late chief minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy it was attached to S V University and later to Yogi Vemana University. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy unveiled the statue of CP Brown in the library during his recent visit in the district.

Janumaddi Hanumath Sastri who was working as English lecturer in arts college in those days took initiative for development of CPCRBL as Founder Secretary. CPCRBL advisory committee member and Janumaddi Vijaya Baskar, son of Hanumanth Sastri said that it will be necessary to digitalise books and palm leaf manuscripts placed in the library in the interest of future generations. He appealed the State government to develop the library in a technical way by deploying a librarian qualified in library science.