Attractions Of Chennai : Ice House (VivekanandaIllam)

Ice House (VivekanandaIllam): 

flickr:Vivekananda Illam

Vivekananda Illam, originally called Ice House, was renamed in 1963 to commemorate Swami Vivekananda's sojourn here. The museum is a semicircular building facing the marina, Swami Vivekananda stayed for 9 days at the Illam on his return from the West. This place now houses a Pictorial Exhibition of Indian culture from the Vedic Period to the advent of Sri Ramakrishna and a Photo Gallery on the life Swami Vivekananda. The room in which Swamiji stayed is maintained as a meditation room.

The Vivekananda House is also known as Ice House. Because a Britisher used to have an Ice block storage facility here. But later, it was converted into a residence where Swami Vivekananda stayed immediately after his visit from the West (en-route to Calcutta) and later on, it was given on a lease to Ramakrishna Missions by the Tamil Nadu Government to hold a permanent exhibition on the life and works of Swami Vivekananda as well as to represent the cultural history of India. 

There is a meditation hall in the room where Vivekananda stayed back then, and there is also an audio visual presentation on the life of Swami Vivekananda. The whole museum is arranged into various rooms, each with a particular theme. There is even a room dedicated to the history of the Ice House. There is a beautiful and extensive painting gallery which speaks about the important epics/ people in all major religions (founded in India), Some of the paintings even talk about the pre-religious days during which Vedanta originated. Under every photo, there is a short description of the events/ people/ concepts etc.

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