today is the 237th birth anniversary of maharajah serfoji ll. he was born on 24th september 1777. and became the rajah of thanjavur on 30th june 1798. his reign witnessed revival on literature, education, music,dance, medicine, and infact his period was the golden era in the history of thanjavur. serfoji ll therefore devoted his life,interest, and wealth for the cultural uplift in spheres of literature,medicine, music,dance, drama and other fine arts, which paved the way for an upheaval in art,literary and cultural fields.
it is recorded that serfoji built boats or doughs fit for coastal ships. the doughs are of no ordinary means but sufficiently big and powerfull. the one such he built at thiruvaiyaru on the banks of cauvery. sadar mahal palace and sarjah mahal was built by him in 1824.
serfoji ll was more than a bibliophile. he also built dhavantari mahal where physicians of allopathy,ayurveda, unani and siddha researched their systems of medicine. he was the only king of the south who had the massive contributions in the fields of medicine's ,arts, and literature.
even in his weak state of health he visited his library located in saraswathi mahal which was his most precious treasure. on seeing some of the cloth covers on the manuscript bundles torn and decaying,he at once ordered that all that old clothes are to be replaced with new and durable ones for preservation of the manuscripts. perhaps this was his last act of public importance. the glorious reign of an enlightened scholar king had ended after 34 years of his rule. he was born in 24th september 1777 and he died on 8th march 1832 in his 54th year, leaving behind a monumental heritage to the posterity in the shape of the saraswathi mahal library.
many dynasty of kings ruled over thanjavur and none had left an indelible mark on the people to remember their names except the great raja raja chola king and maharajah serfoji ll by their monumental edifice and treasure houses as the great brahadeshwara temple and saraswathi mahal library.
Maharajah Serfoji 2 memorial hall museum, sadar mahal palace Thanjavur
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