Vivenkanandar House(Ice House)

Vivekananda House (Ice House)

Vivekananda House, also known as Ice House, is a shrine and target of pilgrimage for the admirers of Swami Vivekananda. This is remembered as the place where Swami Vivekananda stayed for nine days when he visited Chennai (then Madras) in 1897. Vivekanandar Illam now houses a permanent exhibition on Swami Vivekananda set up by the Chennai branch of the Ramakrishna Math.



Built way back in 1877 , the two-story house is a masterpiece of Victorian architecture with its characteristic designs of sunburst and gabled roof. The bedroom where Vivekananda stayed, lived and slept is now a safe haven for meditation. One can respectfully see the table at which he dined, placed downstairs near the fireplace. Devotees can stroll through the kitchen where he cooked his simple food, the parlor where he spoke and the garden where he frequently played with the children. These physical reminders of the life of Swami Vivekananda revive the great principles for which he stood all along his life.