Maha Bodhi Society Temple
মহাবোধি সোসাইটি
Also known as Sri Dharmarajika Chaitya Vihara.
A Buddhist vihara on College Square, built in 1920.
About Maha Bodhi Society Temple
The Maha Bodhi Society was founded by the Sri Lankan Buddhist leader Anagarika Dharmapala to revive Buddhism in the land of its birth. Its headquarters and the Dharmarajika Chaitya Vihara stand on the east side of College Square. The vihara, opened in 1920, was built to enshrine a relic of the Buddha, and its façade borrows from the cave architecture of Ajanta.
Why visit
A quiet shrine hall that few of the students walking past ever enter.
What to see and do
- The Ajanta-inspired façade
- The shrine hall upstairs
- The society’s library and bookshop
Plan your visit
- Area
- College Street, North Kolkata
- Nearest landmark
- College Square
- Best time
- Morning or evening. October to March is the most comfortable time of year.
- Time needed
- About 25 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Entry
- An active place of worship that admits visitors; its own rules apply. Open to visitors; hours are not currently verified.
- Metro
- Mahatma Gandhi Road or Central (Blue Line)
- Walking
- Little walking
- Photography
- Photography is fine with some care.
Nearby and related places
- College Square: A tank ringed by colleges where the city learns to swim.
- Paramount: A sherbet shop from 1918 with marble tables and a famous daab sherbet.
- Thanthania Kalibari: A small, very old Kali temple on Bidhan Sarani.
- College Street (Boi Para): A kilometre of book stalls between the city’s oldest colleges.
- Indian Coffee House: The high-ceilinged hall where Bengal’s writers and students argue over coffee.
- Favourite Cabin: A 1918 tea cabin where revolutionaries and poets met.
Walks that include it
- College Street Book Trail: Books, coffee and a hundred-year-old sherbet
- Bengal Renaissance Trail: Tagore, Vivekananda and the streets that shaped modern Bengal
More guides
- Places in College Street
- Heritage places in Kolkata
- Places of worship to visit
- Hidden gems of Kolkata
- Free places to visit in Kolkata
- Places near a metro station
- All places to visit in Kolkata
Last checked on 2026-10-02. Each place was checked to exist and its position confirmed. Timings, closing days and ticket prices are shown only where known and can change: confirm before you travel.