#UDBODHAN BENGALI BOOKS DRIVERS#

Swami Saradananda had many responsibilities both as the General Secretary of the Ramakrishna Order and in taking care of Holy Mother. He also took care of all the needs of Holy Mother. Swami Saradananda considered himself the ‘gate keeper’ of Holy Mother’s house.

In one picture we can see Swamiji writing on a small desk in this spot. In this room we see where he actually used to sit. (1) Swami Saradananda’s room on the first floor: As we entered the house, we saw a small room on the left hand side, which belonged to Swami Saradananda. All of these devotees would visit Udbodhan often.Ī couple of important things that are not to be missed in Udbodhan: After Sri Ramakrishna passed away, Holy Mother was the great source of inspiration for all of the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna including Swami Vivekananda, Rakhal Maharaj, Swami Saradananda, Mahendranath Gupta (M.), Nag Mahashay, Girish Chandra Gosh, Sister Nivedita, and others. Holy Mother lived with her relatives and women devotees on the first floor of the house, and her monastic attendants and other disciples lived on the ground floor. She lived there until 1920 with the exception of when she went to Jayaram Bati or went out for pilgrimage. The house itself was originally built before an open ground from which one was able to see the river Ganga from the terrace of the house. On May 23, 1909, Holy Mother entered the house for the first time. This house is now referred to as “Mayer Bati” or “Udbodhan”. He incurred a loan and built a house at 1 Udbodhan Lane, Baghbazar, Kolakata. Seeing this, Swami Saradananda (Sarat Maharaj), who had a great respect and love for Holy Mother, wanted to have a permanent place for Holy Mother in Kolkata. However, whenever she visited Kolkata, Holy Mother would stay in the houses of devotees or rented houses. Because Udbodhan is relatively small, we divided our pilgrims into two groups, each of which would visit Mayer Bati and Balaram Mandir at different times.Īfter Sri Ramakrishna passed away in 1886, Holy Mother lived in Kamarpukur and Jayarambati.

Our first two stops for the day were “Mayer Bati” (also known as “Mother’s House” or “Udbodhan”) and Balaram Mandir.

#UDBODHAN BENGALI BOOKS DRIVERS#

However several factors set us up for success: 1) Deba Uncle’s familiarity with the streets of Kolkata and his excellent planning 2) the morning briefing with the drivers to plan the specific route of travel using maps 3) help of Club7 members and 4) the discipline of our group. The places we were visiting today did not have parking places for buses and were located in the middle of the city where the narrow roads could not fit out big buses.

Today’s journey was a bit more challenging than that of the first two days. everyone met in the hotel lobby to start boarding the buses. Breakfast consisted of a variety of things, from several South Indian cuisines such as Idli and Dosa to the usual western options including milk, cereal and muffins.Īt about 6:45 a.m. everyone had gathered at “Guchhi”, our designated breakfast area. Our morning on August 5 th began with an overcast sky almost as if it was going to rain.

Udbodhan bengali books