The Advanced Research Consortium Public Library & Archives (ARCLA) was conceived in the social milieu of Manipur at a crossroads of the old and the new, a land in the birth pangs of resurgence and reinvention. The library was opened to the public in 2022, at a moment when the world was beginning to reopen with resilience after the COVID-19 pandemic. It is run by the Advanced Research Consortium, a registered society under the Manipur Society Registration Act, 1989 (Reg. No. 438/M/SR/2010). The library has a permanent space in the erstwhile homestead land of Rajkumar Sanajaoba, grandson of Maharaja Narasingh (r.1844-1850 CE), at Singjamei Wangma Bheigyabati Leikai, Harinath Road, Imphal East.
ARCLA serves as a repository of archival and contemporary knowledge resources, together with historical artefacts, while also functioning as a space for creative expression. The library nurtures the continuing relevance and enduring charm of the printed text, as well as the irreplaceable need for human interaction within a conducive public space. The Library & Archives houses rare materials such as vernacular journals and magazines, social movement literature, original copies of international newspapers covering the Anglo-Manipuri War (1891) and the aerial bombing of Imphal by Japanese forces (WWII), rare photographs (including the first-ever photograph taken in Manipur in 1868 by the then Political Agent, Dr. R. Brown), first-edition British colonial-era books, and Korbeks (Puyas/manuscripts) ranging from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth century.
Our repository includes the personal collections of Maharaja Gharib Nawaz (b.1690–d.1752 CE), Maharani Dhanamanjuri (1886–1975), Sougaijam Somorendra, R. K. Elangbam, and Thoidingjam Suresh, among others. We have also preserved the fonds of Saroj Nalini Arambam and John Parratt, comprising photographs, documents, and maps. The archive also holds the complete original documentation related to Manipur’s first feature film, Matamgi Manipur (1972) and the documentary film Maipak, Son of Manipur (1971), along with the ARRIFLEX 16ST motion picture camera from the Karam Monomohan Collection. The archive further preserves the complete corpus of Manipuri newspapers from the 1970s and 1980s, generously donated by Athokpam Chinglemba Luwang.
From 2023 to 2025, ARCLA has organised 25 lectures delivered by scholars, artists, journalists, and researchers from Manipur, across India, and abroad. Among the theoretical innovations developed at ARCLA in 2025, the most important idea to emerge from its ongoing discourses is the Korbek Archive. Since the launch of this initiative, approximately 200 manuscripts have been scanned and documented. Beyond functioning as a mere repository of historical manuscripts, the Korbek Archive functions as a counter-archive and as a methodological framework aimed at decolonizing epistemology and historiography.
The library is situated on Harinath Road, approximately 0.52 kmfrom Singjamei Bridge and 0.76 km from New Thumbuthong Bridge(Loklaobung). It is located 2.5 km from the Eastern Gate of KanglaFort, accessible within a 6-minute drive. The library is also 7.7 kmfrom Imphal Airport, a 16-minute drive, and 4 km from ManipurUniversity, a 7-minute drive.For those using passenger auto-stop services, routes are availablefrom Polo Ground Parking to Khongman, stopping at Harinath Road(Lane No. 18) on Singjamei-Kongba Road, as well as from PoloGround to Manipur University, with a stop at Singjamei. Uponreaching Singjamei, a brief 6-minute walk of 500 m will lead youto the library. Similarly, from Manipur University Parking toSingjamei, a 6-minute walk of 500 m will guide you to the library.
The Advanced Research Consortium Library & Archives (ARCLA) was conceived in the social milieu of Manipur at a crossroads of the old and the new, a land in the birth pangs of resurgence and reinvention.
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