The collections of General Amar Singh Kanota Library & Museum Trust, housed at Kanota, reflect a rich family tapestry. The collections at Castle Kanota Museum hold many objects that date from Thakur Zorawar Singh’s time, with gradual additions by other members of the family, especially the multi-faceted General Amar Singh. Amar Singh is perhaps the only member of the Rajput nobility to have developed and sustained a practice of writing / chronicling. Culminating in a voluminous set of diaries, these offer a fascinating glimpse of the royal courts, colonial encounters and connected histories of Rajasthan. The rest of the collection ranges from paintings, maps, photographs, books and household accounts to carriages, arms, armour and firearms. Part of the living heritage of Kanota, many of these objects are regularly used for ceremonial purposes. It is one of the most popular museums near Jaipur, known for its stunning architecture.
He had the spirit of a scholar and thinker, writing a diary for forty four years from 1898 to 1942, leaving behind eighty-nine volumes of what is perhaps the longest continuously-written diary in the world. A vast and astonishingly detailed resource for his times, it provides fascinating insights into both British and Rajput life. His legacy also includes several thousand books he read about 60 books a year, journals, manuscripts and magazines in both Hindi and English in what is possibly the finest period library in Rajasthan.
The library is located over the taikhana (the underground apartment where residents took refuge during the hottest months), with the imposing facade of the 19th century Castle Kanota on the left. Astonishingly, Amar Singh never seems to have photographed his beloved library. The only visual reference the archivists found was a photograph taken in 1970 by a Mr. Robin von Breton; the room was recreated after this fashion.
Village Kanota, Agra Road, Jaipur, Rajasthan, INDIA
