The dedication of this newly built Universal Temple of Sri Ramakrishna today, at Mylapore, in the metropolis of Chennai, marks the culmination of a saga, which encompasses three centuries. It commenced in a humble way towards the fag end of the nineteenth century with Swami Ramakrishnananda (Sasi Maharaj), the apostle of the Great Master Sri Ramakrishna to the South, and a brother monk of Swami Vivekananda and a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. It continued to flourish throughout the twentieth century, which witnessed large-scale developments in the present Math complex in diverse ways and it has concluded at the threshold of the twenty-first century with the dedication of this magnificent temple by Swami Ranganathanandaji, the president of the Ramakrishna Order.

To narrate the past story in brief: On the triumphant return of Swami Vivekananda from the West to Chennai (then Madras) in February 1897, there was overflowing enthusiasm among the people. They had already become acquainted with what this illustrious son of Mother India had accomplished at the historic Parliament of Religions, held in 1893 in Chicago, by gifting to the American people the precious gem of Indian thought, her spiritual culture and heritage. The news of the unique success he had achieved in America and England had already reached the shores of India. People everywhere from Colombo to Chennai accorded him grand receptions and paid him glowing tributes for carrying the message of the Vedanta, the grandest truths of this highest and best of India's religion, to the West. In the West, he had raised his powerful voice in defence of India and her people. He spoke very little of his Master, Sri Ramakrishna, who was the very embodiment of the teachings of Hinduism at its best, of not merely toleration, but of universal acceptance. He had lived and practised the harmony of religions and pronounced the dictum, 'As many faiths, so many paths.

When Swamiji arrived in Chennai, with some of his Western disciples, in 1897, the enthusiasm of its citizens knew no bounds. It was unprecedented. The Swami gave seven lectures in the city, in which he unfolded his 'Plan of Campaign' for the restoration of our ancient values in the heart of India. Those seven lectures of Swami Vivekananda constitute the very essence of his message to his compatriots for the rebuilding of India on national lines, according to her characteristic genius, so that she might occupy her rightful place in the comity of nations. At Chennai, he was housed in 'Castle Kernan', known popularly as 'Ice House', now rechristened 'Vivekanandar Illam', on the Triplicane stretch of the Marina Road (now Kamarajar Salai). Swamiji stayed there for nine days. When the time came for him to bid adieu to his host, admirers, and devotees at Chennai, they requested him to start a centre at Chennai. Thinking in his mind of Swami Ramakrishnananda as the most suitable monk to work and spread the message of Sri Ramakrishna in South India, Swamiji replied: 'I shall send you one who is more orthodox than your most orthodox brahmins of the South, and who is, at the same time, incomparable in performing worship, scriptural knowledge, and meditation on God'. This reply bespeaks the love, admiration, and regard he had for Swami Ramakrishnananda.

No sooner had Swamiji returned to Calcutta than he disclosed to Swami Ramakrishnananda, what he had promised to his close friends at Chennai. By that time, the brother monks had moved from the 'haunted' Baranagore monastery (the first Math of the Ramakrishna Order) to Alambazar Math, not far from Baranagore. Amongst his monastic brothers, there was one who was extremeley steadfast in his devotion to, and service of, Sri Ramakrishna and who carried on the daily worship of the Master's relics. Swami Ramakrishnananda had been doing this for eleven long years, ever since the mahasamadhi of the Master in 1886.

One might anticipate a little hesitation on the part of Swami Ramakrishnananda, when Swamiji suggested to him that he should leave for Chennai at the earliest, in order to fulfil his promise to the people of Chennai, for starting a monastery and spreading the message of the Master there. But without any hesitation he accepted the bidding of the leader. Had not Sri Ramakrishna himself chosen 'Naren' as their Leader?

Swami Ramakrishnananda arrived in Chennai in the third week of 1897 and was accommodated for a short period at Flora Cottage, a building on the same road as the 'Ice House'. There he installed a small picture of Sri Ramakrishna he had brought with him. That was the first shrine of the Master in the South. Shortly after, he moved to the 'Ice House'. He carried the picture of the Master with him and installed it there. It was the second shrine of the Master. He lived there till the close of 1906 or early 1907, when the 'Ice House' was auctioned away. For a short period before shifting to the present site, he had to stay in one of the outhouses of the Ice House. That was the third shrine of Sri Ramakrishna.

That makes up about the first ten years of Swami Ramakrishnananda's life in Chennai, during which period he held scriptural classes in different localities in the city. In the beginning, he was all alone without any helper or monastic brother to assist him. He was the cook, preparing offerings to the Master, and he took the offered food as sanctified prasada. He had to go out for taking scriptural classes in different areas of the city, giving as many as eleven talks in a week, three classes on certain days. Very hard was the time he had to pass through in the early days of the Math. Undaunted, he carried on, serving the Master and spreading His message.

A student of Swami Ramakrishnananda offered him a small plot of land on Brodies Road (now Ramakrishna Math Road) in Mylapore, Chennai. A small one-storeyed building was constructed at a cost of Rs.5,500/- to the left of the present main entrance gate of the Math. The foundation for it was laid by Swami Abhedananda, who was on a visit to India from the U.S.A. in 1906. That included a shrine for the Master, a storeroom, a kitchen, and a room for the Swami. This was the fourth shrine of the Master.

The main building of the Madras Math was a square one-storeyed house with a hall and four small rooms at the corners. The two eastern rooms were the shrines of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. The room diagonally opposite the former was where Swami Ramakrishnananda lived; the other room was occupied by Swami Brahmananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and the first president of the Ramakrishna Order. The hall was the office of the Swami, the sitting room for all, including visitors, and also the bedroom of the other monastic inmates. Although built only two years previously, the house had cracked heavily, which necessitated its being abandoned in 1917. This building no longer exists today. It has become a flower garden.

Swami Sharvananda succeeded Sasi Maharaj as the President. It was during his Presidentship that the present two-storeyed Math building was constructed and dedicated by Swami Brahmananda in 1917. In this building there was a shrine-cum-prayer hall till about the end of 1938, when the present writer joined the Math as a probationer. This was the fifth shrine of the Master. Here under the chandelier in the prayer hall there was a raised wooden table, on which was placed a simhasana with a cushion. On that cushion a small portrait of Sri Ramakrishna was placed for daily worship.

Hereafter, I shall change over to the first person for the rest of the narration, i.e. from September 1938 to May 1945, the period I was associated with the Math at Chennai. Even now, I cherish the Mylapore Math as the cradle of my spiritual infancy. I was hardly 20 then. The first duty that was allotted there to every newly admitted probationer was to sweep and wipe the main shrine and bedroom of the Master. This duty given to me lasted several months.

The winter of 1938_1939 witnessed a change in the shrine. The shrine-cum-prayer hall was separated by extending it by about 8 feet backwards (towards the east) with a wall behind the altar and two doors on either side. A black stone cladded pedestal was provided over which rested a white marble lotus. On that lotus a soft cushion was placed and on it a big portrait of Sri Ramakrishna was kept. At the back was an ornamental prabhavali. This is the sixth shrine for the Master. Between the prayer hall, and the shrine, a wall was erected with three tall and wide doors, one in front of the altar and two doors on either side of it. The entire renovation was personally supervised by the late Sri C. Ramanujachariar, then Secretary of the Mylapore Students' Home.

Some time in 1941, I was asked to take up the worship of Sri Ramakrishna. The tradition introduced by Sasi Maharaj in the worship of the Master, with all the minute details, is being scrupulously observed to this day by successive pujaris. Apart from worshipping the Master in the main shrine, the pujari had to worship the portraits of the Holy Mother, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Brahmananda and Swami Ramakrishnananda suitably arranged in the bedroom itself. The cot of Sri Guru Maharaj was placed in the north-south (now east-west) direction. His small photo was placed towards the south (now east) against a pillow. The portraits of the Holy Mother, Swamiji and Swami Brahmanandaji were placed facing west (north now) on low cots. A much smaller portrait of Sasi Maharaj was placed facing north (now east) between Brahmanandaji's portrait and the door in the southern (now northern) wall. In the wall almirah small framed photos of the direct disciples were kept. As of now, these portraits are shifted to the room west of the bedroom. I had to carry on the worship of the Master till about the end of 1942. It was my privilege to introduce Sri Vishnusahasranama Archana with tulasi leaves on Sri Ramakrishna's birthday, in the evening, and Sri Lalitasahasranama Archana with kumkuma on the Holy Mother's birthday, in the evening, every year.

The relics of the Master are preserved at the Math in Chennai in a casket. Called the atmarama casket, it is made of silver in the shape of a salagrama and is hermetically sealed. On two occasions every year, it is taken out for worship - Sri Ramakrishna's birthday and Kali puja day - and put back safely where it is kept throughout the year, locked, and the key is kept with the President of the Math.

A memorable event took place when I was doing puja at the Math. In 1942, during the Second World War, the Japanese opened a second front in the East against the Allies. Chennai was bombed and a shell hit the First Line Beach, near the harbour. There was great confusion all over the city. Exodus began! Many people left the city to seek a safer shelter in the interior. The Ramakrishna Mission Students' Home at Mylapore was also shifted to a place called Uttiramerur in Chengalpattu District, lock, stock, and barrel. All the teachers and students of the Home were moved to the new temporary site, which had an extensive open field. Thatched sheds were erected there, which served as classrooms during the day and as dormitory at night.

When there was a danger of the war spreading to the city, there was a scare all over the place. What with the Air Raid Precaution (A.R.P) sirens blaring with wailing sounds, people running helter-skelter to seek some safe protected place whenever the sirens blared, anxiety and fear writ large over their faces, prices of essential commodities rocketing, sky-high etc - the then President Swami Saswatanandaji Maharaj was in a dilemma. The relics of the Master had to be preserved and protected. Just at that time, as if by a godsend, the then Assistant Secretary of the Order, Swami Vireswarananda (popularly known as Prabhu Maharaj, who later became the tenth president of the Order), arrived at Chennai, on a tour of South Indian centres. He and Swami Saswatananda decided that the relics should be taken to Uttiramerur, to where the Students' Home had been already shifted. Prabhu Maharaj offered to carry the relics himself there and to stay there as long as it was necessary.

Meanwhile, the Publication Department of the Math with the Manager Swami and staff had moved to Chengalpattu - not to the present centre in Hanumanthaputheri, but to an unaffiliated school building. An auspicious day was fixed for the taking of the relics to Uttiramerur. In those days, there was only one car in the Students' Home, used by the late Sri C. Ramanujachariar. He was informed about this decision and was requested to spare the car for the purpose. Not only did he consent to spare the car, but offered to accompany the relics himself up to Uttiramerur. He had been very closely associated with Swami Ramakrishnananda from the very inception. The Publication Department was informed of the decision to take the relics to Uttiramerur via Chengalpattu. They were to make a room in the school ready for receiving the relics in transit, clean the room and get a flower garland and some fruits and sweets for offering to the Master around 10 a.m.

On that particular auspicious day (I don't remember the exact date now), being the pujari at the Math, I was asked to complete the early morning offering and arati in the Math shrine at 5 a.m. Around 5.30 a.m., Prabhu Maharaj, Swami Saswatananda, the Manager Swami of the Math, and myself were present when the relics were taken out and put in an ochre silk cloth which was rolled to form a sling round the neck of Prabhu Maharaj, in such a way that the relics did not hang below his heart level. That was a new experience to me, to learn how to carry sacred things from one place to another. Another brahmacharin, who was an expert in the culinary art, was to accompany us to cook offerings to the Master. Prabhu Maharaj stipulated that the same quantity of all the items of food offerings, both in the forenoon and at night, should continue in the new place also. Arrangements were made accordingly.

At about 6 a.m., Sri C. Ramanujachariar arrived at the Math with the car and the driver. The day before, all of us going to Uttiramerur with the relics - Prabhu Maharaj, the other brahmacharin (Ananda Prabhu) and myself - got our personal requirements packed and ready for an indefinite stay in the new place. Apart from the relics, the small photo of Sri Guru Maharaj kept on his bed in the Math at Chennai was also taken by Prabhu Maharaj and held by him below the relics and facing the road we were to take, first to Chengalpattu and thence to Uttiramerur. In the car, beside the driver sat Sri C. Ramanujachariar in the front seat. In the back seat sat Prabhu Maharaj in the centre with the relics and the small photo of the Master. To his right, I was asked to take my seat. To his left sat Ananda Prabhu. All the brothers in the Math collected round the car and hailed aloud, 'Jai Sri Guru Maharaji-ki-jai, Jai Sri Mahamayi-ki-jai, Jai Sri Swamiji Maharaji-ki-jai, Jai Sri Durgamayi-ki-jai'! The car left and the journey was smooth, as it was quite early in the morning, long before the office rush. We reached Chengalpattu around 9 a.m. There the brothers in the Publication Department had kept everything ready for a brief worship and offering of fruits and sweets to the Master. It was all over by about 10.30 a.m. The prasada was distributed among those present there.

The last lap of the journey was resumed soon after, with the same order of the occupants in the car. It reached the destination about an hour later. In Uttiramerur, there was only one brick-built room, about 16' x 8', which was to be the shrine and prayer hall, as well as the kitchen to prepare food offerings to the Master twice a day. In that brick-built structure, a partition about four feet wide was made to separate the shrine and the prayer hall, immediately next to the partition wall. The kitchen was at the far end of the structure. A small table, about 4' x 2', with a locker arrangement, was the altar as well as the bed for the afternoon siesta of the Master, as also for his night sleep. As there were not many persons at the evening prayer, very little space, hardly five feet, was occupied by them. The rest of the room was made available to the kitchen and store for the kitchen. For the three of us to reside, a separate thatched shed was provided close to the brick-built structure, so that it would be easy of access to us. The sacred relics were kept in the locker of the table in the shrine, locked by Prabhu Maharaj himself, and the key was in his custody, kept in a secret place, which he alone knew!

Soon after reaching the destination, I swept and wiped the shrine room. The table was placed in the place meant for it. The small photo of Sri Guru Maharaj was kept on the cushion spread over the table, with side pillows. Then I had my bath, collected whatever wild flowers were available there and made arrangements for the worship. Ananda Prabhu, after his bath, set about preparing the offering of noon meal for the Master. It was a bit late that day, which was unavoidable, but the same evening onwards punctuality was maintained. The whole ground was barren, with no flowers. There were only wild flowers, no bilva, no tulasi, no durva, and no colourful flowers to decorate the shrine. Sri Krishna says in the Gita: 'A leaf, a flower, a fruit, or even a little water, offered with sincere devotion, I accept'. On that assurance of Sri Krishna, I used to gather a few wild flowers from the nearby places and keep them ready for worship. The white and red sandal pastes were there, of course. Once in 3 or 4 days, fruits and sweets in sufficient quantities used to be brought by some monastic member or other from the Math at Chennai. The other brahmacharin used to cook all the items of food as was being done in Mylapore - same quantity of rice, a variety of vegetables, payasam, fruits, sweets etc. One evening, after about 8 or 10 days, Swami Saswatananda himself brought fruits and sweets from Chennai. The next morning, quite early, I was sweeping the shrine and wiping the floor with a wet cloth. The Swami was a bit emotional by nature. He asked me to hand over the broom and the wet cloth to him for sweeping and wiping the shrine. I was hesitant, and reported the matter to Prabhu Maharaj. His reply was 'All right. Give them to him. He feels like serving Sri Guru Maharaj today. Let him do it! At Chennai, he is the President of the Math. Here, let him be the servant of the Master!' Without a word, I handed over the broom, the bucket of water, and the cloth to him to sweep and wipe the shrine. It was not a big place hardly 4' x 8'. The same evening the Swami left for Chennai.

Thus about two months passed. The threat of war disappeared. Chennai was limping back to normalcy. People who had left the city out of fear earlier were returning home. Receiving this welcome piece of news, Prabhu Maharaj decided that we should also return to Chennai, bag and baggage. The students of the Home also returned soon after. After about two months, all the three of us returned to Chennai, with the holy relics and the small photo of the Master, directly from Uttiramerur to Chennai, without stopping at Chengalpattu. A couple of months later, I was asked to take up some work in the office, for I was due to go to the Belur Math for taking my brahmacharya vows. Those two years of my being a pujari at the Chennai Math have left an indelible impression on my mind, which has stood me in good stead all these six decades of my monastic life. I cherish those days even now.

In 1972, the Platinum Jubilee of the Chennai Math was celebrated in a grand manner. The occasion was availed of to have a new larger photo of Sri Ramakrishna installed in the main shrine and the Holy Mother's photo shifted to its present location. The Mother is installed on the cushion-simhasana previously used for Sri Ramakrishna's photo.

During that weeklong function, the proposal to have a new temple built on this very spot was mooted. But for various reasons, it did not take off. After Swami Tapasyananda passed away, Swami Smaranananda, who succeeded him as the President, took up the thread and had a plan made to build the temple. In a couple of years, he was transferred to the Belur Math, and now occupies the position of the General Secretary of the Order. Swami Gautamananda, the present incumbent, continued the work. Consequently today, we are witnessing the Dedication of the Universal Temple of Sri Ramakrishna in Chennai.

It has already been mentioned that the present shrine (started in the winter of 1938-1939) became the sixth shrine for the Master. If we include the temporary shifting of the Master's relics to Uttiramerur and back (This was the already existing one, hence no addition) again to Mylapore, they could be counted as the seventh and the eighth shrines of the Master respectively, leaving out the brief transit via Chengalpattu en route to Uttiramerur. In that case, this magnificent temple dedicated today, which can be considered a 'permanent home' for the relics, becomes 'nava mandiram' the ninth shrine for the Master, nava in a double sense of 'New and Nine'.

The 'small shrine' Swami Ramakrishnananda started at the 'Castle Kernan' (Ice-House), way back in 1897, has been growing, in spite of several ups and downs and vicissitudes in its career, spanning three centuries. It finds its culmination today with the ceremonial dedication of this Universal Temple to Sri Ramakrishna, the Great Master. Today, when all of us monastic members and lay devotees, men and women, young and old, are assembled here for this memorable function, in a joyous mood, it is but meet and proper that we should recall the pioneer Sasi Maharaj, his severe austerities, hardships, privations, trials, tribulations and hard struggle to found a lasting centre of Sri Ramakrishna here, more than a century back; our hearts should go out in gratitude to him.

It is our sincere prayer and earnest wish that this grand temple of the Master should act as a lighthouse guiding all weary souls, struggling in the sea of worldliness, to progress towards the spiritual goal of life. May it beckon them to come to his feet and seek spiritual succour and shelter. May it be a safe refuge for all for centuries to come.