As a visitor enters the Belur Math gate on the asphalted road to the temple, a variety of old trees camouflage the temple from his sight till about a hundred metres away, from where he gets a partial glimpse of it.

A View of the Ganges by the Side of the Temple

The site chosen for the temple by Swami Vivekananda is right on the holy river Ganges with a clear view of two important places related to Sri Ramakrishna—Dakshineswar and Cossipore, which add to its sanctity. In a spatial tribute to the Ganges, the temple has been located parallel to its flow, sufficiently away to avoid its water from entering during high tides.

The vast green spaces on both sides of the temple and in the front with a backdrop of long simple Math office building, the Math Library and residential quarters for monks complete its setting.

Not far from it are the old shrine, the remodelled Math cottage housing the room where Swami Vivekananda spent his last days and where many of the monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna stayed, and temples dedicated to Swami Brahmananda, the Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda.

The simple but elegant pathway leading from the entrance gate bordered with a number of huge trees and the setting against the holy Ganges with the other bank silhouetted against the morning sun presents a contrast to formal settings of many ancient monuments of India like the Taj Mahal or the Victoria Memorial of Calcutta.