Fact-Check: Kerala’s Peramkulam Is Not India’s ‘First and Only’ Village of Books

India's first "village of books" is located in a village called Bhilar in Maharashtra's Satara district.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor shared this video to claim that it shows India's first and only village of books.

(Photo: X (formerly Twitter)/Altered by The Quint)

Sharing a video by a content creator, Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor claimed that the video – which was about a village in Kerala called Perumkulam – showed "India’s first and only Book Village (sic)."

• The video that Tharoor shared was created by content creator Aakanksha Moga.

An archive of this post can be seen here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

(Archives of more users sharing this claim can be seen here and here.)

Is it true?: No. While Perumkulam is Kerala's only book village, India's first book village is located in Bhilar village, in Maharashtra's Satara district.

How did we find out?: A simple keyword search led us to several news reports about a book village in Maharashtra.

• One report by The Indian Express, published on 21 April 2017, had the headline "Country's first village of books to open near Panchgani on May 4."

The article mentioned Bhilar, Maharashtra's Pustakaanch Gaav, or village of books.

(Source: Indian Express/Screenshot)

• It mentioned that India's first village of books was set to open on 4 May 2017 and is located in Bhilar, a village in Maharashtra's Satara district.

• Lifestyle magazine Outlook Traveller also carried a report on the village, stating that Bhilar used to be a hub for strawberry farming before being converted.

• It added that around 25 families that reside in the village gave parts of their homes as "reading hubs, which stock nearly 15,000 Marathi and 500 English books."

Outlook Traveller's coverage of Bhilar carried more details about the village.

(Source: Outlook Traveller/Screenshot)

Perumkulam is India's second, Kerala's first: A keyword search for Perumkulam led us to a report by The Hindu, published in June 2021.

• It mentioned that while author MT Vasudevan had "unofficially" dubbed the village Kerala's village of books in 2020, the title was formalised on 19 June 2021 by Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan.

Perumkulam officially became a 'village of books' in 2021.

(Source: The Hindu/Altered by The Quint)

• The date holds significance as India celebrates National Reading Day on 19 June each year.

• This report also called Bhilar India's first "village of books."

• Other news organisations, such as The Indian Express and The Times of India, also carried similar articles.

More book villages to come?: A search for book villages showed us several articles related to a village called Aragam in Kashmir's Bandipora district.

• Aragam is set to be India's third, but largest village of books, reported The Times of India.

More book villages are being built around the country.

(Source: The Times of India/Screenshot)

• The village will be developed by Pune-based NGO Sarhad, in collaboration with the Jammu and Kashmir government, and will showcase Kashmiri literature and culture, along with Indian and international literature.

Conclusion: Peramkulam is not India's "first and only" book village, as claimed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

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