The Gazetteers Department

There are no schools in the district that teach fine arts like music, dancing and painting, etc. However, the non-Government secondary schools at Pen and Panvel have introduced fine art sections in their schools since 1960, under the scheme of multipurpose high schools. A few music classes may be found scattered over the district but they are not registered.

Oriental Schools and Colleges.

There are no oriental schools and colleges in the district. The Sanskrit Pathashala that was in existence at Alibag sometime back, has ceased to function. The tradition of Vedic learning still persists at Nagaon.

Education of the Handicapped.

There are no schools in the district catering to the educational needs of the handicapped persons at present. Attempt was made to start a school for the deaf and dumb, at Pen, a few years ago but the attempt failed.

Measures taken for Diffusion of Culture.

The only organised attempts made for the diffusion of culture are (1) the cultural activities organised under the Social Education Programme in the district, and (2) lectures arranged under the auspices of the Poona University Extension Services, which have eight centres in the district. Besides, the traditional institutions of Kirtan and Pravachan still play their parts in the cause of diffusion of culture among the masses.

Periodicals.

The four weeklies, viz., Rashtratej, (Alibag), Nirdhar, (Alibag), Kolabasamachar (Pen) and Navkrishival (Chari Pezari) inform people about public questions and other developments. A monthly periodical, Adarsha, published from Alibag deals with cultural topics.

The first periodical of the district, Satyasadan, was started in 1870. Since then a number of periodicals, viz., (1) Abalamitra, (2) Saddharmadip, (3) Sudhakar, (4) Kolabavritta, (5) Sharabha, (6) Natyakathamala, (7) Kundalividnyana, (8) Simian, (9) Konkan Sheti Samachar, (10) Kharenswaraja, (11) Vidhayak, (12) Kolaba Sadwritta, (13) Kolaba, (14) Konkan, (15) Janaseva, and (16) Inquilab were started from time to time but did not live long. An Urdu periodical, viz., Jauhar was also started at Panvel in 1948 hut it also failed to make headway.

Libraries, Museums, Botanical and Zoological Gardens.

At present there are in the district, (1) one district library at Alibag, (2) 14 taluka libraries in 13 taluka places and one at Matheran, (3) two city libraries−one at Revdanda and the other at Chaul, and (4) 77 village libraries.

The first among these was founded at Alibag in the year 1866 and in the same year another was opened at Pen. Besides these, there was one valuable collection of Sanskrit books at Kankeshwar.

There is no museum in the district and no attempt seems to have been made in this direction so far. As regards botanical gardens one attempt seems to have been made privately at Uran and another near Panvel. No attempt seems to have been made to bring up a well maintained garden.

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