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Sister nivedita educational centre at roy villa in darjeeling
Roy Villa, a four storied building with basement situated at Lebong Cart Road, Darjeeling, West Bengal holds a special significance in India’s rich cultural tradition. In this heritage house, Sister Nivedita, the great disciple of Swami Vivekananda died on 13 October 1911.
Contents
Sunrise from roy villa darjeeling
History of Roy Villa
This European castle-like structure is around 115 years old and is named after its original owner, Dwarakanath Roy. He was the brother of Mr. P. K. Roy, the first ever Principal of the Presidency College. Famous scientist & botanist Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose took this premises on rent from his friend, Dwarakanath Roy due to its weather and ambience in summer. Later, when Sister Nivedita’s health was deteriorating, he & Lady Abala Bose invited Sister Nivedita to stay in this house. Sister Nivedita liked this place due to the soothing weather and started to live discreetly with them. Apart from Mr. & Mrs. Bose, famous Doctor Nil Ratan Sarkar and scientist Basiswar Sen were also present in the Roy Villa when Sister Nivedita died in 1911. From 1903 to 1911, Sister Nivedita stayed at Darjeeling for around 242 days in 7 different visits.
Later Stage
For several years, Roy Villa was abandoned until The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute took this place for starting its operation in 1954 when the prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurated this. Initially there were 20 students who used to be taught in the Roy Villa and once the number of students became more, The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute shifted its base to the Western Spur of Birch Hill on 25 December 1957. For several years, Roy Villa was under the Youth Services Department of Govt. of West Bengal and then to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) before it was finally handed over to the Ramakrishna Mission.
New Life of Roy Villa
After a series of discussion between GTA & State Government with the presence of Association for Conservation and Tourism, the Siliguri-based NGO who proposed to make Roy Villa a heritage site and Ramakrishna Mission, it has been decided that Roy Villa will be handed over. Mamata Banerjee handed over the Roy Villa to the Ramakrishna Mission in presence of Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math on 16 May 2013. Finally the key of the Roy Villa was handed over to Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Nivedita Educational and Cultural Centre, a branch centre of Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math on 10 July 2013, the auspicious day of Ratha Jatra by Sri Gautam Deb, Minister In - charge of North Bengal Development Department. State Government has sanctioned Rs. 1 crore for its restoration and its Information & Cultural Department will look after the heritage building.
Present Status
Newly revamped & restored Roy Villa is now under the control of Ramakrishna Mission and they have taken a series of projects to run from this premises. Her picture, old writing desk, chair, table lamp stand, wall clock, typewriter, the old styled electric wiring are there to remember her presence always.
Apart from this, Nivedita Educational & Cultural Center has some more plans to execute:
13 students in the last 1 year became financially benefited to procure books and 4 poor yet meritorious students received a scholarship of Rs. 12000/-. With this new approach, Roy Villa is moving ahead to provide service to mankind and is the focal point of Ramakrishna Mission in North Bengal.
Recent News
Visit of Honourable governor Keshari Nath Tripathi 06.06.2016 Wednesday
Honorable governor Keshari Nath Tripathi visited our Centre on 6 June 2016. He told that he was called by some divine spirit and on arriving, he realised that spiritual power in the environment. The message of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda has got so much of power that we can safely say India is a spiritual land. He appreciated tae-kwando, presented by little Gadadhars of Gadadhar Abhyudaya Prakalpa and also paid homage at the Nivedita museum.
Newly revamped & restored Roy Villa is now under the control of Ramakrishna Mission and they have taken a series of projects to run from this premises. Her picture, old writing desk, chair, table lamp stand, wall clock, typewriter, the old styled electric wiring are there to remember her presence always.