Shankar Math, Barishal

Shankar Math is a Hindu monastery (a place where monks live) and a cultural center. It is in Barishal, Bangladesh. Swami Prajnanananda Saraswati started it in 1912. He was a holy man and a revolutionary. The Math was a place to learn Vedanta philosophy (ideas about life). It was also a secret main office for the Barishal group of the Jugantar Party. This group fought for India's freedom from the British.

 History 
 Starting the Math and fighting for freedom 
Swami Prajnanananda Saraswati (born Satishchandra Mukhopadhyay) started the math. He mixed a holy spiritual life with fighting for his country. Before this, he was a teacher at the Brajamohan School. He left his job because he had problems with the school leaders. The British government also did not like the school's founder, Ashwini Kumar Dutta.

In 1912, he wanted to build the institution. He bought a piece of land near Barishal town. It was about 3.5 acres big. At first, the buildings were simple. There was a tin house for books (library). There was a hut made of straw to live in. The main goals were to teach the Vedanta ideas of Adi Shankaracharya. They also wanted to help people by making schools and libraries.

However, the Jugantar party used the place too. Around 1916, the police were catching many political workers. They stopped Swami Prajnanananda from leaving the math. This made the monastery a busy place, but it was secret. Leaders like Jadugopal Mukherjee and Nalini Kar came to the math at night. They made plans to fight with weapons. The British police thought the math had two sides. They built a watching post across the street to see what the monks were doing.

 New leaders 
Swami Prajnanananda died in 1921. People brought his body from Kolkata to Barishal. They buried him inside the math grounds. This was what the Bholagiri Maharaj wanted. Dr. Nishikanta Gangopadhyay became the new leader. He was a revolutionary and a teacher. The Swami had taught him. Dr. Gangopadhyay had a high degree (MA) in History. He stopped being a headmaster so he could live a simple, unmarried life at the math.

Dr. Gangopadhyay continued to go against British rule. In 1930, he traveled around the Barishal area. He asked people to join the Salt Satyagraha. This was a protest. Because of this, police put him in Alipore Central Jail. Leaders like Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose were also there. When he came out of jail, he went back to Shankar Math. But the police arrested him again that same day. He spent the next eight years in prison. In prison, he studied and got an MD degree in Homeopathy.

 Hard times and fixing the Math 
In 1947, the Partition of India happened. Later, in 1950 and 1964, there was fighting between religious groups. This hurt the math very much. Many Hindus left the area and went to India to save their lives. People left the math almost empty. The buildings became old and broken. The library and primary school closed because no one used them or paid for them.

By the early 1980s, people tried to take the land illegally. They went to court with false claims. In 1982, a group of local leaders saved the place. The revolutionary Debendra Nath Ghosh led them. They asked the government to solve the legal problems. They made a new group of people (trustees) to look after the math. They started to fix the buildings and bring life back to the institution.

 Buildings and land 
The place now has a main temple. Inside, there is a Shivalinga. To the left of the main god is the samadhi (grave) of the founder, Swami Prajnanananda Saraswati. To the right, there is a statue of the teacher Adi Shankaracharya.

Over the years, they added more temples:
 A Durga temple, built in 1999.
 A Kali temple, added in 2006.
 A Manasa temple, opened in 2016.

The east part of the land is about one acre. It has a temple for ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness). It is called the Radha-Shyamasundar Mandir. This makes the math a busy place for many different Hindu groups.

 Social work and culture 
In 2024, there were floods. The Barishal Shankar Math Durga Puja committee spent less money on their festival. They gave the money to help victims in Feni and Comilla.

The math is a main place for big Hindu festivals in Barishal city. These include Durga Puja and Ratha Yatra. They celebrate Ratha Yatra with the ISKCON temple. In 2012, a diplomat from the High Commission of India, Dhaka visited the site. He spoke about the culture that the two countries share. He gave books and other things to the math.

 References