?Swadesh bidesh uchholi uthichhey tomaro modhuro mantroney (This land and the lands across the seas brim over with your sweet incantations).?

With these words, the doors of Swami Vivekananda?s birthplace and ancestral home ? at 3, Gour Mohan Mukherjee Street, popularly known as Simla Street ? were thrown open to the public on Sunday.

The rituals started at 9.30 am. Around 1,000 devotees gathered on Bidhan Sarani, hoping to set foot on the premises. The queue extended up to Girish Park.

?Restoration work is complete, and the house now looks just like it did during Swamiji?s time,? said Swami Bishokananda of the Ramakrishna Mission.

Apart from the residence, the 64-cottah plot houses a cultural centre, a textbook library and a philanthropic research centre. The main entrance is on Bidhan Sarani.

According to Swami Ranganathananda, president of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, the heritage site will facilitate advanced research into Vivekananda?s life and teachings. Swamiji?s philosophy, he stressed, is as relevant now as it was when the monk preached it.

The 300-year-old building was in a dilapidated condition, worsening by the day, when the Mission acquired it, along with an adjacent plot, in May 1999. A committee was set up ? comprising, among others, conservation engineers of the Archaeological Survey of India ? to advise on the renovation and coordinate with the agencies involved in the process.

The Rs 20-crore renovation was part-funded by the Centre and the state government, as well as private donations to the Mission. ?Of the state government?s contribution, we have already received Rs 4 crore. Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has promised that the remaining sum will be granted soon,? Swami Bishokananda said.

He thanked all those involved in the renovation, including mayor Subrata Mukherjee, the Centre and the state government. Among other senior monks present on the occasion were Swami Gahanananda, Swami Atmasthananda and Swami Gitananda.

The part of the complex that houses the museum and the library will be inaugurated by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on October 1