Old Math (Nilambar Babu’s Garden House)
Before the establishment of the Belur Math, the Ramakrishna order was housed at the garden house of Nilambar Mukherjee, known as Old Math from 1898-1899. The building facing the Ganges The earthquake on 12 th June 1897 severely damaged the old monastery building (Alambazar Math) and made it uninhabitable. The dwelling conditions were also unfavorable. This prompted the shifting of the Math to Nilambar babu’s garden house. It is situated about a kilometre southwards from the Belur Math near the Belur boat jetty. Sri Sarada Devi stayed here on several occasions and initiated many devotees. Swamiji’s famous song ‘ khandana bhava bandhana ’ and the hymn ‘ Om hrim ritam ’, was composed here. It was here that Miss Margaret Noble was initiated into brahmacharya and given the name Sister Nivedita. The shrine is situated in the room of the Holy Mother. The terrace was the place where Mother practiced her intense meditations including the pancha-tapa meditation. Both the...