Belur Math, in Belur, Howrah in West Bengal, is dedicated to Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, with Holy Mother Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda also venerated. It is also known as Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission headquarters.
A major spiritual and pilgrimage destination and the global headquarters of the Ramakrishna Order, set on the bank of the Hooghly river; it draws both religious pilgrims and visitors interested in its architecture and its role in the Vivekananda-Ramakrishna spiritual tradition. Belur Math is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda, chief disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
West Bengal carries a distinct temple identity of its own: Land of the Divine Mother, where Kali is worshipped with fervour at Shakti Peethas along the Ganga and the tantric shrines of Birbhum.
Darshan hours and daily worship
| Session | Timing (as published) |
|---|---|
| Morning | 6:30 AM to 11:30 AM |
| Evening | 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM (April to September); 3:30 PM to 8:30 PM (October to March) |
Reverified directly against the official site (belurmath.org/our-location/ and the belurmath.org FAQ archive). Campus temples: 6:30-11:30 AM every morning; evening 4:00-9:00 PM April-September and 3:30-8:30 PM October-March, both confirmed unchanged. The daily Sandhya Arati (evening prayer) at the Sri Ramakrishna Temple does not have one single fixed clock time: the official Sandhya Arati calendar publishes a 'first bell' time and an 'arati' time a few minutes later for each date across the year, drifting with sunset (examples found on the official FAQ page: first bell 5:35 PM / arati 5:45 PM around late January; first bell 6:00 PM / arati 6:10 PM around mid-September; first bell 6:10 PM / arati 6:20 PM around early April). Because this genuinely changes through the year rather than being one sourced time, it is described here in prose rather than added as a fixed ritualSchedule entry, consistent with the official site's own note that Sandhya Arati timings are 'subject to change' and each listed timing remains effective 'until the next mentioned date and time'. After the aratrikam bell, devotees are permitted to sit only inside the Sri Ramakrishna temple. The Ramakrishna Sangraha Mandir (museum) keeps separate, shorter hours (about 8:30-11:30 AM and 3:30/4:00 PM-5:30/6:00 PM depending on season) and is closed Mondays and designated holidays; the administrative office keeps the same shorter hours. A separate dispensary is open 7:00-10:00 AM and closed Sundays and designated holidays.
Poojas and daily rituals
Daily aratrikam (evening prayer ritual) at the Sri Ramakrishna Temple
Festivals and special-day timings
Regular darshan hours are usually extended, or set aside entirely, on these dates.
| Festival | Period | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Sri Ramakrishna's Birthday | February or March (exact date varies yearly by the lunar calendar) | A major public celebration at Belur Math marking the birth anniversary of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa |
| Durga Puja | Ashwina month (September to October), five days from Shashti to Dashami | A major festival at Belur Math, celebrated with elaborate ritual worship |
| Kali Puja | Kartik month (October to November), on the new-moon night | Annual worship of Goddess Kali with midnight rituals and offerings |
History and architecture
Architecture
The Ramakrishna Temple was designed to blend Hindu, Christian, Buddhist and Islamic architectural motifs as a symbol of the unity of religions: its central dome recalls the Sanchi Stupa, arches show Islamic influence, windows draw on Gothic church style, and the entrance facade and tower echo Buddhist and South Indian Hindu temple forms.
History
Belur Math is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda, chief disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. After representing Hinduism at the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago, Vivekananda sought a permanent base for the monastic order's spiritual practice, learning and social work, and land on the Hooghly river at Belur was secured for this purpose in the late 1890s.
Planning your visit
How to reach
About 7 km from Howrah Junction and 14 km from central Kolkata, on the west bank of the Hooghly river; also reachable by ferry crossing the river from Dakshineswar
Where this information comes from
Confidence: High. Morning/evening temple hours (including the April-September vs October-March seasonal split) and museum/office hours and the Monday museum closure are now directly reverified against the official belurmath.org site (Our Location and FAQ pages), matching the previously recorded data exactly. The evening Sandhya Arati's exact clock time was confirmed, via the site's own arati calendar, to shift through the year rather than sit at one fixed time, so no single ritualSchedule entry was added for it, consistent with the policy against inferring a precise time from a variable schedule.