Please consider Beloved Archives when you are ready to
donate any material associated with Meher Baba.
It will be preserved, protected, and shared.
Beloved Archives is located in Hamilton, New Jersey, one hour from New York City.
The Archives and Archival Preservation Project
The appearance of the Avatar is a rare and extraordinary event, and we are immensely fortunate to be alive at this time. When the Avatar takes human form, He utilizes the tools and materials available in His lifetime. These become objects of focus, meditation, and reverence, carrying His light and giving profound significance to the archives. Beloved Archives, and all other Meher Baba archives, serve as beacons for those following in His footsteps.
Meher Baba, mid 1930's
Special techniques, such as preserving strands of hair in sealed glass vials, are employed as required.
Archives are repositories where physical and digital materials are preserved. Examples are clothing, correspondence, diaries, books, photographs, films, videotapes, drawings, pamphlets, and written and digital records.
Restoration is also part of Beloved Archives’ work. Photographs are being restored using computer-aided techniques and films are being digitized. These collections are housed in a way that meet the highest standards of archival preservation. This ensures they will be accessible for generations to come.
Beloved Archives originated when Keki and Freiny Nalavala first met Meher Baba in the 1940’s. Both had an innate sense to preserve every object and piece of paper that Meher Baba touched. Beloved Archives now holds one of the largest collections of Meher Baba archival material in the world. It includes original handwritten letters by Baba dating back to 1922, photographs dating from 1894, thousands of documents associated with His life and work, clothing worn by Meher Baba and items He used in daily life.
Strict guidelines ensure the protection and preservation of each archival item, considering factors such as temperature, humidity, dust, and light exposure. Archives must be shielded from acid, mold, mildew, fire, and water, and handled as minimally as possible. Working with experts, Beloved Archives has installed state-of-the-art climate controls and operations to maintain conservation standards to stave off deterioration of these precious materials.
Beloved Archives location:
116 Youngs Road
Hamilton Township, NJ 08619
To visit, please call or email for an appointment.