The Ramakrishna Math in Bagbazar, also known as Mayer Bari for being the residence of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, has decided to stop the distribution of daily bhog to visitors due to the Centre’s clampdown on commercial LPG supply.

Senior monks of the Math, established in 1899 and publisher of the Bengali magazine Udbodhon, said they require about 20 cylinders weekly.

“The number of visitors is around 300 on weekdays and close to 500 on weekends... Since the LPG supply has become irregular, we have decided to put the distribution of bhog on hold,” said Swami Nityamuktananda of the Bagbazar Math.

“Distributors said they could supply only two cylinders a week, which will barely meet the requirement for cooking Mayer bhog,” he added.

Mayer Bari holds a key place in the Ramakrishna order, as Sarada Devi lived there for 11 years until her death in 1920. The north Calcutta site attracts hundreds of thousands of devotees annually. In May 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the house, which the Trinamool-led Kolkata Municipal Corporation had decided to renovate.

The last suspension of bhog distribution at the Math on Udhbodhon Lane was during the pandemic. “The visitors understand our challenges and have been very cooperative regarding the decision to stop bhog distribution,” a monk said.

Concession plea

The clampdown has also created uncertainty at the Belur Math headquarters. Nearly 6,000 people — including visitors, monks and staff — receive daily bhog there.

The order’s management has appealed to the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas for a “concession”. A senior monk said: “We require around 200 cylinders every month — split between 47.5kg and 19kg cylinders — to cook bhog at Belur Math. We have a hospital for senior monks, a college for probationers, over 1,400 monks and staff, apart from visitors.”

“The number of visitors increases during festivals and on weekends. This is a very challenging situation for us,” he said. “Over 1,000 visitors can receive bhog at the dining hall at a time. This number rises on special occasions... All this will have to stop if the crisis continues.”

To manage growing crowds, the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission inaugurated a multi-storey kitchen-cum-dining hall at the Ma Sadabrata Bhavan in Belur Math in 2016. The bhog served at Belur Math includes khichudi, lyabda, chutney and payesh.