The Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoji's Sarasvati Mahal Library is one among a few medieval libraries existing in the world. It is an unparalleled repository of culture and an inexhaustible treasure house of knowledge built up by successive dynasties of Nayaks and the Marathas of Thanjavur. It contains very rare and valuable collections of manuscripts, books, maps and paintings on all aspects of Art, Culture and Literature. The Encyclopaedia Britannica in its survey of the Libraries of the world mentions this as "the most remarkable Library in India".