Mayer Bari (Udbodhan House)
মায়ের বাড়ি
Also known as Udbodhan Karyalaya.
The house where Sarada Devi lived, kept as a shrine.
About Mayer Bari (Udbodhan House)
This house was built in 1909 to give Sarada Devi, the wife and spiritual companion of Sri Ramakrishna, a home in Calcutta and to house the Bengali journal Udbodhan, which Swami Vivekananda had started. She lived upstairs for much of the next eleven years and died here in 1920. Her room is kept as a shrine, and the building is still a centre of the Ramakrishna Math and the journal’s office.
Why visit
A living shrine in an ordinary North Kolkata lane, central to the Ramakrishna movement.
What to see and do
- Sarada Devi’s room and shrine upstairs
- The Udbodhan publication counter
- The lane itself, a classic Bagbazar street
Plan your visit
- Area
- Bagbazar, North Kolkata
- Nearest landmark
- Bagbazar Ghat
- Best time
- Morning or evening. October to March is the most comfortable time of year.
- Time needed
- About 30 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Entry
- An active place of worship that admits visitors; its own rules apply. Open to visitors at set hours with a midday break. Timings are set by the Math.
- Metro
- Shyambazar (Blue Line), about 15 minutes’ walk
- Train
- Bagbazar (Circular Railway)
- Walking
- Little walking
- Photography
- Photography is restricted. No photography inside the shrine.
Tip
It is a monastery, not a museum: dress modestly, keep quiet and follow the monks’ directions.
Nearby and related places
- Balaram Mandir: The house where the Ramakrishna Mission was founded in 1897.
- Sister Nivedita’s House: The lane house where an Irish woman opened a school for girls in 1898.
- Bagbazar Ghat: A wide northern ghat with a long view down the river.
- Kumartuli: The lanes where the city’s gods are made from river clay.
- Golbari: The round-fronted corner shop known for dark, slow-cooked kosha mangsho.
- Shyambazar Five-Point Crossing: Netaji on horseback, where five roads meet.
Walks that include it
- Kumartuli Art Trail: Clay, river and the Bagbazar of Ramakrishna
More guides
- Places in Bagbazar
- Heritage places in Kolkata
- Places of worship to visit
- Hidden gems of Kolkata
- Free places to visit in Kolkata
- Family-friendly places
- 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.