Temple dedication ceremony 1957
Beginnings
A center called Sri Ramakrishna Math, was opened at Delhi in a rented house at 966, Garstin Baston Road. The dedication ceremony was performed on the morning of May 4, 1927 by Swami Ambikananda in the presence of a large number of devotees. Soon after, Swami Nirgunananda took charge of supervision of the two study circles organized at Raisina and Timarpur. Besides classes and lectures, celebrations of birthdays of great religious teachers form an important feature of the activities of the center, while a library with reading room for general public was set up from the very beginning.
After a series of negotiations with the government, the authorities of the Ramakrishna Mission were able to acquire two acres of land in 1931. To have a realigned boundary, an additional 0.3 acre of land was acquired and the premises thereafter was enclosed by a compound wall by the end of 1933.
The first brick of the foundation was consecrated by Swami Shivananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and the second President of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. The brick was carried from Belur Math to Delhi and the foundation ceremony was held on 15th February, 1934. A building was constructed and ceremonially opened on December 12, 1934. However, the Delhi Centre of the Ramakrishna Mission was actually established in its own premises on the 16th Oct, 1935.
Temple of Sri Ramakrishna
The plan of a beautiful temple with the main shrine of 20´x20´ and the natmandir (sanctum santorum) of 31´x 60´ was designed and funds were collected. The foundation stone of the temple was laid by Swami Shankarananda, the seventh President of the Ramakrisha Order, on November 5, 1954, as a part of the Holy Mother’s Birth Centenary Celebrations.
Once constructed at a cost of Rs. 3.11 lakh, the temple was formally consecrated and celebrations were held for four days from November 27 to November 30, 1957. The consecration and prana-pratishtha of the image of Sri Ramakrishna was performed by Swami Shankarananda, the then President of the Order, on November 28, 1957 at 8.15 am in the presence of a large number of monks and devotees who had come from various parts of India.
New Sadhu Nivas (Monks’ Quarters)
A double storeyed New Sadhu Nivas for accommodating visiting monks was inaugurated by the eleventh President of the Order, Swami Gambhirananda, on 8th November 1988.
Book Sales and Office Building
In 1996, a new project for constructing a Book Sales -cum- Office building at the entrance of the Ashrama premises was taken up. The Bhoomi Puja for this was performed by Swami Gahanananda, the then Vice-President of our Order, on 17th January 1996. The building was completed in 1997 and was inaugurated by Swami Ranganathananda, the then Vice-President of the Order, on 21st September 1997.
Thereafter, the Administrative Section including the Secretary’s Office, started functioning from the first floor of this building. Further an imposing book-sales showroom with a computerized sales counter was set up. The showroom with abundant Ramakrishna – Vivekananda and Vedanta literature, cassettes, and other religious articles, is endeavoring to meet the ever growing needs of seekers of knowledge.
Additional Auditorium
In 2002, a new project for constructing a building with an auditorium at the Ashrama premises was taken up. The Bhoomi Puja for this was performed by Swami Gahanananda the then Vice President of the Order, on 17th of January 2001. The building was also inaugurated by him on 3rd March 2002. A new air conditioned auditorium was inaugurated on 3rd November, 2002, by the then President of the Order, Swami Ranganthananda.
