Timings: April-September: 6am-11:30am and 4pm-7pm
October-March: 6:30am-11:30am and 3:30pm-6:00pm
Museum: 8:30am-11:30am and 3:30pm-5:30pm
Entry: Free
Although administratively part of the Howrah district, Belur Math is so inextricably linked to the spiritual and historical narrative of Dakshineswar that no tour of the region is truly complete without a journey across the river.
The headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission was established by Swami Vivekananda in 1897-98. Its centerpiece, the 1938 Ramakrishna Mandir, is one of the most architecturally ambitious religious buildings in Bengal: a structure that incorporates the visual language of a Hindu temple, a Christian cathedral, an Islamic mosque and a Buddhist vihara simultaneously, expressing in stone Ramakrishna's teaching of the unity of all religions. Chunar stone and concrete, rising 112.5 feet across 32,900 square feet of floor space. From the river, it appears to be all of these things at once.
Within the campus, individual temples are dedicated to Sri Sarada Devi (whose remains are enshrined here) and Swami Vivekananda. A beautifully curated two-level museum houses personal belongings of Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi and Vivekananda; the long coat Vivekananda wore during his American tours; a reconstruction of the Panchavati grove at Dakshineswar where Ramakrishna performed his sadhana; and Vivekananda's tanpura.
Photography is strictly prohibited inside the complex. Guards enforce this rule firmly but without unkindness. The ban, however frustrating for photographers, contributes to an atmosphere of real contemplative calm that is rare for a site of this scale and significance.
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