Ramakrishna Order
Headquarters
The Ramakrishna Temple at Belur Math is a place of international pilgrimage, significant because Swami Vivekananda placed the relics of Sri Ramakrishna there and envisioned a unique temple to house them. To pay tribute to the multifaceted all-embracing divine personality of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda envisioned a great edifice combining various architectural features of monuments and temples in various parts of the world.
"Today Swamiji (Swami Vivekananda) is to perform a sacrifice and install Sri Ramakrishna on the site of the new Math. Swamiji himself took on his right shoulder the ashes of Sri Ramakrishna's body preserved in a copper casket, and led the van. The disciple in company of the other Sannyasins brought up the rear. There was the music of bells and conches. On his way Swamiji said to the disciple: "Sri Ramakrishna said to me, 'Wherever you will take me on your shoulders, there I will go and stay, be it under a tree or in a hut.' It is therefore that I am myself carrying him on my shoulders to the new Math grounds. Know it for certain that Sri Ramakrishna will keep his seat fixed there, for the welfare of the many, for a long time to come." — Talks With Swami Vivekananda: From the Diary of a Disciple
