Belur Math & Temple

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Sight Address : Belur Math & Temple, Howrah, West Bengal 711202 Edit

Detail InformationEdit

Belur Math & Temple is the international head quarters of Ramakrishna Mission. Constructed in the honour of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, The concept of the Math was entirely designed by Swami Vivekananda. Housed inside the Math is the Ramkrishna Sarada Mandir where regular prayers take place. This is the place where Swami Vivekananda resided and died. A monument commemorated in his memory stands within the Math premises right beside River Hooghly. The rooms where he resided have now been transformed into a museum exhibiting the clothes and articles he used.Belur Math houses the Sri Ramakrishna Temple, the Old Shrine, Swami Brahmananda Temple, Holy Mother Temple, Swami Vivekananda Temple, the Samadhi Enclosure, Old Math and the Ramakrishna Museum. The museums have on display the articles and clothes used by Sri Sarada Devi, Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. A store inside Belur Math has on sale several religious and philosophical books of teachings, CDs and pictures of Ramakrishna Dev and Swamiji. Regular prayers and spiritual teachings through religious songs and recitation take place in the shrines of the Math which can be attended by visitors.

$Belur math$

Belur math

HistoryEdit

In January 1897, Swami Vivekananda arrived in Colombo with his small group of Western disciples. Two monasteries were founded by him, one at Belur, which became the headquarters of Ramakrishna Mission and the other at Mayavati on the Himalayas, near Almora called the Advaita Ashrama. These monasteries were meant to receive and train young men who would eventually become sannyasis of the Ramakrishna Mission, and to give them a training for their work. The same year the philanthropic activity was started and relief of the famine was carried out. Swami Vivekananda’s days as a parivrajaka (wandering monk) before his visit to Parliament of Religions, took him through many parts of India and he visited several architectural monuments like the Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri palaces, Diwan–I–Khas, palaces of Rajasthan, ancient temples of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and other places. During his tour in America and Europe, he came across buildings of architectural importance of Modern, Medieval, Gothic and Renaissance styles. It is reported that Vivekananda incorporated these ideas in the design of the Belur Math temple. Swami Vijnanananda, a brother-monk of Swami Vivekananda and one of the monastic disciples of Ramakrishna, who was, in his pre-monastic life, a civil engineer, designed the temple according to the ideas of Vivekananda and Swami Shivananda, the then President of Belur Math laid the foundation stone on 16 May 1935. The massive construction was handled by Martin Burn & Co. The mission proclaims the Belur Math as, “A Symphony in Architecture”.

Must SeeEdit

Attraction

Visiting TimeEdit

5:30 am – 10:30 am 4:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Closed OnEdit

N.A.

Best Season to VisitEdit

October to March is considered as the best time to visit Howrah.

Best Time To VisitEdit

Morning and Evening.

Time Required for SightseeingEdit

3 hours.

Ticket Required : No Edit

Individual National Adult Rs. : N.A.

Kids Rs. : N.A.

Individual Foreigner Adult Rs. : N.A.

Kids Rs. : N.A.

Still Photo Camera Rs. : N.A.

Video Camera Rs. : N.A.

Guide Required : No Edit

Approximate cost: N.A.

Dress Code (If Any) : No Edit

Dress Require: N.A.

Restaurants NearbyAdd / Edit

ITC Sonar – Howrah ; JBS Haldane Avenue, Opp. Science City, Kolkata, West Bengal 700046 ; Ph/M – 033 2345 4545 ; Food Serve – N.A.

How to ReachEdit

Taxi : After landing in Kolkata cabs would be the easiest choice to reach the sight in the city from the airport or the railway station. The meters in Kolkata are not standardized so remember to ask for the conversion chart that would indicate the exact payable amount for the number indicated by the meter. The cab fares should ideally be around Rs 15 for the first two kilometers and around Rs 3 for two hundred meters from thereon. Kolkata Cabs is the leading Cab Service and you can book yourself a cab by calling them on 03344333222.
For a night out, cabs are the safest option if you have missed the last metro train or the last bus. The nighttime cab fares are more expensive than daytime fares, but it is a small price to pay for the safety it provides.

BUS : The state transport buses as well as private buses connect the city with several other cities of the country. One can get A/C as well as Non A/C buses at a minimum cost from Howrah bus station. You can get buses for Kolkata (10 km), Kharagpur (110 km), Durgapur (150 km), Jamshedpur (230 km) from Howrah quite easily.
There are also mini buses. The fares range from Rs 10 to 15. Buses are an ideal choice if you plan on travelling a long distance or going to the suburbs or to those places that are not in the vicinity of the Metro stations. Most long distance bus services offer comforts like push back or sleeper seats, video coaches and air conditioning. ”

Train : “The Howrah junction connects the place to several cities across the country and these include Chennai (Coromandal Exp), New Delhi (Kolkata Rjdhni), Ahmedabad (Hwh Adi Express), Cochin (Ghy Tvc Express), Guwahati (Saraighat Exp), Mumbai (Jnaneswarisupdl) and Ranchi (Shatabdi). Trains are the easiest mode of transport and second class tickets from Delhi to Howrah cost around Rs 450. Taxis are available at the station.
Howrah Station Phone: (033)26382581, (033) 26383542.
After getting down at the railway station, take an auto-rickshaw, bus or hire a taxi to reach the destination within the city.

Air : Kolkata airport is the nearest airport to Howrah is located outside the city of Kolkata and this is the most suitable option for those who are travelling by air. The international airport is well connected to many cities around the country and also to several international destinations. One can reach the place easily from cities such as New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Pune, Goa and Imphal amongst others. International flights are available from place such as Dhaka, Singapore, Frankfurt, Bangkok, Dubai, Yangon, Kuala Lumpur and Paro. Taxis are available at the airport and you can hire these to reach the city of Howrah. Air India : 22114433; China Eastern Airlines: 40448887 , Druk Air: 22902429, Biman :22266672, GMG:30283030; United Airways Bangladesh :9007095363.

Others : Rickshaws: Rickshaws is also available in Howrah .Rickshaws are of three kinds. The usual three wheeled motor one, one which is pedaled by the rickshaw driver and a third one which is a two-wheeled cart pulled by a rickshaw puller. The motorized three wheeled rickshaws are not like the rickshaws found in other parts of India. They ply on a fixed route and the fare is fixed. So these rickshaws are more like smaller forms of public transport. The two wheeled carts are an experience by themselves. Being taken across the town by the sheer physical strength and manual effort of the rickshaw driver is an experience only Kolkata can offer. Many consider it barbaric and it has been prohibited in most parts of the city. These rickshaws charge from anywhere between Rs 10 – 20 per km.