Belur Math

After his return to Calcutta from the pilgrimage to Amarnath, Vivekananda got the Belur Math construction started. It was on the west bank of Ganga, five miles away from Calcutta. In January, 1899, the monks moved to the new monastery. The Nivedita Girls School had already been started. A Bengal monthly under the name Udbodhan was also started at that time. His British disciples, Capt. Sevier and his wife, built the Advaita Asram at Mayavati (Almora) in the Himalayas. An English monthly Prabuddha Bharati was also then started.

During this period, Swami constantly inspired the Sanyasins and Brahmacharis at the Math towards a life of intense spirituality and service for one’s own emancipation and the good of one’s fellow man –“ Atmano Mokshartham Jagat hitaya cha,” as he put it. Meanwhile his health deteriorated considerably due to restless obsession with the work of the Math. As he was being pressed to visit America again by his disciples there, he set out once more on a second voyage.