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The
history of Mother's House
Mother
Sarada Devi, the goddess of peace and happiness had come to Calcutta
on many occasions to shower her bounty on the people of this city.
She stayed here for quite a long period. There being no permanent
place for her stay, the sannyasi children of hers were quite perturbed
and finally succeeded in building a house for her at Baghbazar,
north Calcutta.
Frequent
changes in location had caused a loss of important documents related
to the Udbodhan Office. So, it was decided to shift the office
immediately to a tiled house on the newly acquired piece of land
(the present Mother's House). Mother was to be brought here only
after the second storey was complete. The responsibility of Sri
Ramakrishna's worship and service of Mother was to be with the
monks of the Udbodhan Office.
There
was not enough money to start the construction work at that time.
The total amount with Udbodhan was Rs. 2700/- which had come from
the sale of Swami Vivekananda's literature. However, Swami Saradananda
mustered up courage and started the work with this small capital.
On his personal surety he borrowed Rs. 5700/-, but this too was
inadcquate and he had to borrow more money to complete the building.
When completed, the house had six rooms on the ground noor, three
on the first floor, and one on the second floor. Thus, there were
a total of ten rooms. The entrance was from the north, and a shuttered
door was in the south.
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Udbodhan
Office shifted to this building permanently in November 1908
and Holy Mother arrived at the new house on Sunday, May 23,
1909. The new centre of Ramakrishna Math, Belur was christened
'Sri Ramakrishna Math, Baghbazar'. Since its inception, service
of the Holy Mother and managing the affairs of Udbodhan Office
had been its principal objectives. That is why it is known as
"Mother's House" as well as "Udbodhan Office". |
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A room in the north-west of the first floor of the building
was used as the shrine of Sri Ramakrishna from the beginning.
The photograph of Sri Ramakrishlla was kept on a silver stand
on an altar on the eastern side of the room and was worshipped
daily. Sister Nivedita had prepared a canopy made of silk which
used to be hung over the stand. The room to its left (as one
faces it) was meant for Mother. |
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Mother
wanted some changes made. She decided to stay in the shrine
room itself instead of the room meant for her. Mother always
carried with her the photograph of Sri Ramakrishna which he
once worshipped at Dakshineswar. This photograph used to be
kept on the silver throne. While performing worship she used
to keep this photograph on the altar facing west. Presently,
this photograph is kept on the throne. |
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The
first and the second floors were meant for Mother and
her companions. The room to the right of the marbled staircase
on the first floor and one room on the second floor was
meant for the use of Golap-Ma, Yogin-Ma and other female
attendants of the Mother. At times she used to go to the
terrace to dry her hair and have Ganga darshan and watch
Dakshineswar temple. Both were visible from the terrace.
Swami Saradananda got one wooden staircase 2.5 feet wide,
constructed from the ground floor to the terrace. Ganga
being near, Mother had no difficulty in going there for
bath.
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Sri Aurobindo
Ghosh, one of the greatest revolutionaries of India, had met
the Mother on a Sunday in 1910 and had sought her blessings
in this house. His wife Mrinalini Devi, and his mother too had
come here and had received the blessings of the Mother. It is
also here that Sister Nivedita used to meet Mother.
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Mother
gave up her body on July 21, 1920. After her passing away, the
room in which she lived was used as Mother's shrine. Her photograph
was installed on the cot on which she used to sleep, and daily
worship commenced. The worship of Sri Ramakrishna continued
in its usual place. This is the shrine of "The Mother's House".
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small room to the left of the entrance on the ground floor was used
by Swami Saradananda as his office, sitting room and resting. In this
room he used to study, write hooks, meet with people and perform duties
of the Udhodhan Office as well as of the Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna
Mission of which he was the General Secretary. This room was used
by him for writing his magnum opus - "Sri Ramakrishna, The Great Master",
in Bengali. |
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two rooms on the right of the entrance were use as Udbodhan
Office as well. The first room to the right of entrance was
used by the monks for working at daytime and sleeping at night.
The second was used for dressing vegetables as well as sleeping
at night. At present one room is used as dining hall for devotees,
and the other room is the quarter for the Swamiji in-charge
of stores. |
The
remaining three rooms on the ground floor were used as kitchen,
store and dining hall. At present two of these rooms are used
as dining hall for the devotees and the monks respectively.
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The
small room below the staircase (at present the office of the
Swamiji in-charge of stores) was used as store for the shrine.
Later the store for the shrine was shifted to the first floor
permanently.
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some time, the area of the house increased marginally. On December
18, 1909 a small piece of land adjacent to the house was purchased.
In 1915, one room was constructcd on the ground floor and the first
floor, along with a wooden staircase which led to the terrace. After
the construction, the room on the ground floor was used as the office
for Udbodhan. |
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