Belur Math

Belur Math is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, founded by Vivekananda in 1897, and its main temple, completed in 1938, was designed to embody the movement's principle that religions are different paths to the same end: the entrance draws on South Indian gopuram forms, the upper structure on Rajput and Mughal work, the dome on Hindu temple and Islamic precedent, and the plan on a Christian church, so the building reads as one thing from a distance and resolves into several traditions up close. It stands in gardens on the Hooghly with shrines to Sarada Devi and Vivekananda alongside.

History

At the beginning of 1897 Swami Vivekananda arrived in Calcutta and founded two monasteries, one at Belur, which became the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, and the Advaita Ashrama at Mayavati in the Himalayas. The main temple was designed by Swami Vijnanananda, a former civil engineer, to Vivekananda's ideas, drawing on monuments he had seen on his travels in India and abroad; the foundation stone was laid on 13 March 1929 and the building was carried out by Martin Burn & Co. (Wikipedia, Belur Math).

What to look for

• The composite temple - Hindu, Islamic, Buddhist and Christian forms in one design.
• The riverside gardens - lawns and paths along the Hooghly frontage.
• The subsidiary shrines - temples to Sarada Devi and Vivekananda.
• The museum - material on Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and the mission.

When to go

October to March; the complex closes in the middle of the day. Evening arati on the river side is the quietest and most atmospheric time. Kolkata summers are hot.

What to expect

Photography is prohibited inside the temple. The site closes for several hours at midday. Ferry timings from Dakshineswar are limited and the crossing is weather-dependent.

Nearby

Dakshineswar lies across the river; Howrah is south.

Key facts