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Ramakrishna Temple, Belur (Belur Math as it is fondly called) is a
place of international pilgrimage significant due to the fact that
Swami Vivekananda placed the relics of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
here and envisioned a unique temple to house them.
Before his debut in the Parliament of Religions (1893) at
Chicago, Swami Vivekananda had wandered about many historically important
places of India looking for the signs of the greatness as well as
for the reasons for the decline of her ancient culture.
Swami Vivekananda’s pilgrimage took him to many parts of Uttar Pradesh,
Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu. He must have made profuse mental notes of his observations
especially on the 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 must have come across
buildings of architectural importance of modern, medieval, Modern,
Medieval, Gothic and Renaissance styles.
To pay tribute to the multifaceted, all-embracing divine
personality of Sri Ramakrishna, he envisioned a great edifice
combining various architectural features of monuments in various
parts of the world. It was Swami Vivekananda’s desire that the new temple
should embody the salient features of major temple architecture of
different religious beliefs so that every one who comes to the
Ramakrishna Temple would feel at home and realise the underlying
principle of the universal brotherhood and religion propounded by
the Great Master.
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Ramakrishna Temple
: Belur Math |
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1. In the Garbha Mandira (Sanctum Sanctorum) of
the Temple, Sri Ramakrishna’s marble image is enthroned on a
marble lotus platform
with Braahmi Hansa engraved on it. His sacred Relics are
preserved in side the platform. |
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2. One Bhandaar (store
of sacred articles) is annexed behind the Garbha Mandira bearing above the
Shayan Kaksha (recline
chamber) of the deity.
The kitchen for preparing the bhoga (cooked food for offering),
however, is at a separate place behind the Garbha Mandira. |
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3. The canopy above the deity was
made by a carpenter from Salkia (4 kms South of Belur
Math) with special teak wood brought from Burma (Myanmar). |
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4. The Garbha Mandira rests on a
concrete foundation slab of 27 square metres area and more
than 1 metre thick. |
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5. Thick stone slabs, bricks and
concrete have been used in the walls of Garbha Mandira
and only claddings have been done with chunar sand stone. |
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6. Surki (brick dust) was prepared
locally and sand was collected from Magra (near
Panduah) of Hooghly District. |
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7. Domes have been made of chunar
stone, bricks and cement concrete. Galvanised iron strips have been used to resist tensile hoop
stress. |
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8. The floor of the Garbha Mandira and
the Nat Mandira have been laid on with
white and black marble stones respectively. |
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9. The Nat Mandira and the Garbha Mandira
are structurally separate. They are attached to each other by an
expansion joint which is not easily visible to visitors. |
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10. All the doors and windows of Garbha Mandira and
the Nat Mandira are made up of choicest teak–wood imported from Burma (Myanmar).
The work was done by Chinese
carpenters and the fittings were procured from a Bombay (Mumbai)
based company at concessional rates. |
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11. Lamp stands (made of copper) on
the temple platform were cast by a local artisan. |
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12. The estimated cost
of the temple was six lakh rupees (1935),
but on completion (1938), the actual cost came to around eight lakh
rupees. |
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13. Almost the whole
expenditure of construction of the temple was borne by the generous donations from two disciples from
USA. |
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Three decades after the passing
away of Swami Vivekananda, the idea was put into actuality by Swami
Vijnanananda, another direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, with
the help of M/s. Martin Burn and Company, the then famous
architect builders of Calcutta.
In his discussion with Mj. Herald Brown, the architect at
Martin Burn Co., Swami Vijnanananda stressed upon the following
three features that Swami Vivekananda wanted to
incorporate in this temple monument :
1. Nat Mandira (Congregational Hall) and Garbha Mandira (Sanctum Sanctorum) should not be detached as in a Hindu temple
but should be connected in a continuous space like that in a
Christian Church.
2. Garbha Mandira should have a domical roof as
introduced in Mosques through Islamic Architecture.
3. Other rendering & detailing should conform with traditional
Hindu temple architecture.
Two plans were submitted by the architect from which the one
with more Indian tone was selected.
First foundation stone for Ramakrishna Temple was laid by Swami
Shivananda on 13th March 1929, the birthday of Sri Ramakrishna.
Swami Vijnanananda laid the foundation stone at the present
site, 30 metres south of the first one on 16th May 1935.
Construction was completed and consecrated on 14th January 1938.
Major outer
dimensions of the temple
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Maximum |
Platform |
Superstructure |
| Length |
70.50 m (235 ft) |
61.00 m (202 ft) |
| Width |
42.00 m (140 ft) |
24.00 m (80
ft) |
| Height |
1.75 m (5.80 ft) |
31.20 m (104 ft) |
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