- Around 1852-1853, Thakur Sri Ramakrishna (then
Gadadhar Chattopadhyay) came to Kolkata at the age of sixteen or early
seventeen. He accompanied his elder brother Ramkumar Chattopadhyay when the
later went for worshipping different household deities.
- The two of them resided at Govinda
Chatterjee’s house and Gadadhar used to worship the Radhakrishna idol of this
house. Later the idol was shifted to an adjacent Radhakrishna temple
(Shyamsundar Jiu’s temple), at an area which used to be Ramkumar’s Sanskrit
school or chatushpathi. The descendants of Govinda Chatterjee still stay in
this house.
- During this period, Thakur used to worship the deity of Narayan
Shila (Sridhar Jiu) at Digambar Mitra’s palatial house just a few minutes away
from where he was residing.
- Raja Digambar Mitra was a prominent businessman and the first sheriff of Kolkata
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| The place of worship |
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| The place of worship (Thakur Dalan) |
- Though most of the portions of ‘Jhamapukur
Rajbari’ was subsequently sold off, the place where Thakur used to worship
is now being maintained as ‘Jhamapukur Sri Sri Ramakrishna Sangha’ since 1979.
At present, this Sangha is run by Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Bhavprachar Parishad
of Belur Math. Daily worship, observance of special days, devotional music
programmes and gatherings, competitions for children are some of the
activities. . Life size portraits of Sri Ramakrishna are seen. Photographs of
Maa Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda, Thakur’s direct disciples and Sister
Nivedita, adorn the walls.
- The ornate structure of the pillars, the stained-glass
windows and the architectural style of the building, not only bespeaks of the
lost grandeur of the palace but also resonates with an old-world charm of the
zamindar era.
- The house is situated at No. 1, Jhamapukur Lane while walking
just opposite to the Thanthania Kalibari along Bechu Chatterjee Street.
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