Mlbd

Motilal Banarsidass (MLBD) is a leading Indian publisher on Indology and other related subjects since 1903, located in New Delhi, India. It publishes and distributes serials, monographs, and scholarly publications on Asian religion, philosophy, history, culture, arts, architecture, archaeology, language, literature, linguistics, musicology, mysticism, yoga, tantra, occult, medicine, astronomy, astrology and other related subjects, and to date have published over works. MLBD was first established in Lahore in 1903 by Lala Motilal Jain, a descendant of the family of court jewellers to Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Amritsar. Motilal borrowed Rs. 27 from his wife's savings that she had earned from her knitting work, to start a bookshop selling Sanskrit books in 'Said Mitha Bazar' in Lahore. He named it after his eldest son Motilal Banarsidass Jain, who later took charge of the publishing business. In 1911, MLBD opened a branch at Mai Sewan Bazar, Amritsar, under the supervision of Lala Sundarlal Jain, another son of Lala Motilal Jain, after the untimely death of Lala Banarasidass in 1912. Soon, a printing unit was set up and the publishing house was established. In 1937, the first branch commenced in Patna at the suggestion of former President Dr Rajendra Prasad. Subsequently, during the Partition of India, a riot burnt down the Lahore shop. Post-independence, the family moved to India and initially stayed at Bikaner and Patna, before moving to Varanasi in 1950, where it set up shop in 1951, and finally shifted base to Delhi in 1958. In 1992, Shantilal Jain was awarded the Padma Shri by the Govt. of India, the first-ever Padma award for outstanding community service through publishing.