India, Aug. 30 -- In a century-old building in south Mumbai, a quiet preservation effort is underway to save a collection of rare Persian and Urdu translations of Hindu scriptures, offering a glimpse into India's long history of cultural exchange and coexistence.

The Karimi Library, housed within the 152-year-old Anjuman-I-Islam institute near the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, is restoring more than 32 Hindu religious texts printed between 1867 and 1896.

The collection includes rare Persian and Urdu editions of the Mahabharat, Ramayan, Bhagavad Gita and Shiv Puran, among other sacred texts.

The library is home to books and manuscripts in Sanskrit, English, Urdu, Persian, Marathi, Pashto and Arabic, covering subjects rang...