Maharaja College is a constituent college of the University of Rajasthan located in Jaipur's capital city, near Maharani College, that offers undergraduate-level degree courses in Science and Computer Technology. Established in 1844, Sawai Ram Singh founded University Maharaja College as "Maharaja School," and it was situated in Manak Chowk, adjacent to Hawamahal. The college was shifted to the current building in 1933 after being raised to an international level and becoming affiliated with Calcutta University. With this, the institution moved into the current structure, which was built at a cost of INR 8.5 lakhs. The college's premises still contain the original foundation stone. The campus currently has a total land area of 19.47 acres with a built-in area of 1,20,000 square feet. The IT building alone is spread across an area of 5000 square feet. At present, the university is well-built with a sizable infrastructure and multiple facilities for students, including modern amenities such as a library, hostel, medical facilities, canteen, labs, several playgrounds etc. available on site.

Available amenities

University Maharaja College believes in offering the best amenities to provide luxuries that serve as the foundation for a full immersion in the college's spirit and the ideal setting for the fruitful pursuit of both academic and extracurricular activities.

Labs  

As a major scientific institution with a high number of practical subjects, the college has stateof-the-art laboratories with all the newest tools for experimentation in the fields of Geography, Physics, Psychology, Statistics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Drawing, Painting, and life sciences. There are separate laboratories available for first, second and third year students. The labs are well equipped and neat.

Sports facilities  

According to the official statement given by the college, the playgrounds of this college hosted a number of international sporting events prior to the construction of Sawai Man Singh Stadium, including a cricket match between MCC and England in 1961. The University Maharaja College is known for its achievements in the field of sports all over Rajasthan. There is a place for several outdoor sports such as badminton, basketball, cricket, football, hockey, tennis, ringtennis, throwball, volleyball, and indoor table games as well. The college currently offers sporting facilities like three volleyball courts, two tennis courts, and one basketball court. Four units of NSS and three units of NCC are also working here. SPS tournaments and other cultural activities are still held on these grounds. The hostel of University Maharaja College offers the facilities to play volleyball on its own grounds as well. The college playground, which includes a basketball court, a lawn tennis court, a football field, and a cricket field, is not far from the hostel. The college also has a sports physical department where students can get sports equipment.

Library  

The library is located on the college campus, near the open-air theatre. There are roughly 80 student seats available in the library. There are more than 1 lakh books, and the library subscribes to over 29 renowned newspapers, magazines, and several publications on a variety of topics. The library has every book that might be needed by the students for the curriculum, and registering for books is incredibly simple. There is a separate reading room to read magazines and different newspapers. In addition to all this, the UGC-INFONET e-journals collaboration makes over 3000 e-journals available for online access for all the students. The library collection has been expertly organised to best serve the students. Various groups of books, including general books, text books, reference books etc. have been created.

Working Days and Hours:

1. All working days of the year
2. The working hours of the library are from 10.00 AM to 04.00 PM.
3. The loan issuing counter functions half an hour after the opening time and closes half an hour before the closing time of the library.

Wi-Fi facilities  

All students can access free Wi-Fi networks for up to an hour on campus.

Auditorium

The University Maharaja College in Jaipur has an open stage, also known as an open-air theatre that serves as a mini-auditorium for many sporting and cultural events.

Canteen  

The campus canteen is clean and well-kept, and it offers students cheap light snacks and soft beverages. Students can eat their meals in the roomy, covered seating area outside the canteen.

Medical facilities

The campus includes dispensaries for allopathic, ayurvedic, and homoeopathic medicine. The delivery of necessary medications is free. Medical health check-up camps such as ECG, BP, Blood Sugar, Bone Mass Density, Pulmonary Function Tests, Prostate Screening, and other Urological Tests are occasionally organised. The health centre offers curative, comprehensive, preventative, and rehabilitative (including remedial yoga counselling) services to students, instructors, staff, and their dependents.

Hostel and Mess Facilities  

The Gokhle Hostel, situated in the vicinity of the college, is a well-furnished hostel with 220 beds accessible to the students. There are rooms with both double and single seating, as well as all the amenities required for the students' comfort. Additionally, the hostels offer a mess, a dining area, a reading room, sports, and entertainment. The mess is said to be clean and well maintained.

Transport facilities  

Transport facilities are easily accessible from the campus. A bus stop is situated just outside the main gates of the college, from where public buses or other means of transport can be taken to travel anywhere and everywhere around the city.

About the Author: Manisha Jethwani is an English major student at University of Rajasthan, based in Jaipur. Apart from being an active part of the literary society Eclectics and a published writer at People's Reflection live, she is also the winner of IIT Kharagpur's '22 poetry slam competition and Readathon at IEEE Modi University.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha