TEMPLE
OF RAMAKRISHNA
TEMPLE
OF RAMAKRISHNA
| Ramakrishna (1834-86), one of the three great leaders of the Hindu revival in the 19th century; the others were his disciple Vivekananda and Dayananda Sarasvati, founder of the Hindu reform movement Arya Samaj. Ramakrishna was born in Bengal, India, the son of a poor, orthodox Brahman, and was originally named Gadadhar Chatterji. When he became (1855) a priest at a temple of the goddess Kali near Calcutta, he developed a passionate devotion to her as the mother of the world and frequently passed into a deep trance (samadhi). Forced to marry a child bride when he was 25 years old, he left her and the temple and lived in the forest for 12 years. By the age of 37 he had become famous for his holiness and compassion, and his wife became his pupil and disciple, regarding him (as did many others) as an incarnation of Vishnu. From 1872 he lived in Calcutta, where he developed an interest in the methods of both Islam and Christianity, and his temple was visited by Hindus, Muslims, and Christians. He died of cancer in 1886, leaving behind many disciples to continue his work. Source: Microsoft Encarta 97 |