State-RKM joint initiative: Sister Nivedita’s statue installed at UK cemetery

The first outdoor statue of Sister Nivedita was installed at Great Torrington in London inside the family cemetery of Sister Nivedita. It will be unveiled on 27th July by Swami Girishananda, treasurer of Ramakrishna Mission. This bronze statue has been sculpted by Nirjan Dey and is around 4ft in height. It was installed by the famous 1895 masons firm known as J Short & Sons. Born Margaret Noble, this 20th century educator was one of the key disciples of Swami Vivekananda who met her in London in 1895 and she accompanied him to Kolkata. Vivekananda named her Nivedita, meaning ‘dedicated to God.’

Sister Nivedita who had a major influence in various social work, especially women education, died in Darjeeling in 1911 and was cremated there. However, her brother Richmond Noble took her ashes to England and buried them at the family cemetery. Now a bronze statue has been installed at the spot which will soon be unveiled, thanks to the joint collaboration between RK Mission and the Bengal government. Meanwhile, the state government has already acquired Darjeeling’s Roye Villa where Sister Nivedita spent a large part of her life and handed it to RK Mission, that has set up a centre there. Her Bosepara Lane home has also been restored.