Swami Vivekananda Memorial House
Swami Vivekananda in Belagavi
As an itinerant monk, Swami Vivekananda visited the city of Belagavi (Belgaum) in Karnataka from 16 to 27 October 1892. His 12-day visit to Belagavi revolved around two buildings where he stayed – Bhate’s house and Haripada Mitra’s house.
Swami Vivekananda Marg (Risaldar Galli), Belagavi – 590001
M: 8313580015 Email: svmbelagavi@gmail.com
His first 3 days at Belagavi (Oct 16-18) were spent as a guest of Shri Sadashiv Balakrishna Bhate, an eminent lawyer of the city, while the remaining 9 days stay was at the house of Shri Haripada Mitra.
The ownership of Shri Bhate’s House changed hands over the course of time. In 2006, a sub-centre of the Ramakrishna Mission was started in a portion of the house which included the room where Swamiji had stayed. In 2014, the Ramakrishna Mission purchased the remaining portion of the house thus acquiring the entire house.
Owing to many additional walls and other structures inserted over the years, lack of maintenance and a recent fire accident affecting a portion of the roof, it was imperative to urgently restore the house. Restoration of the Bhate House was carried out under the guidance of expert Conservation Architects well versed with the UNESCO guidelines for conservation of heritage structures.
An exhibition-museum has been set up on the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda in this restored building. This restored structure with the exhibition-museum was dedicated on February 1, 2019 as the Swami Vivekananda Memorial and comprises the following –
- Exhibition-museum containing
- Swamiji’s room that includes a cot, large mirror and walking stick used by him
- Galleries containing paintings, murals and sculptures on the life, personality and teachings of Swamiji, his visit to Belagavi and a glimpse of Indian spiritual heritage
- Restoration Gallery providing details of the entire process
- Audio-visual room for showing videos, films and presentations to a small audience
- Multi-purpose hall accommodating up to 150 persons that is being used for public lectures, Sanskrit and yoga classes, student interactions, cultural programmes, etc.
- Book exhibition-cum-sale counter containing Ramakrishna-Vivekananda and Vedanta literature and youth oriented books.
10.30 am to 6 pm (Closed on Monday)
