Did you know: Vivekanandar Illam was an ice storage

Vivekanandar Illam on the Marina Beach, formerly known as Ice House, was built by Frederic Tudor, the Ice King, in 1842 to keep ice under proper insulation. Out of the three buildings he constructed, in

Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, only the one in Chennai survives. 

The house was later bought by Madras High Court advocate Biligiri Iyengar and remodelled as a residential quarter and a shelter for poor and educationally backward students. He named it Castle Kernan, as a tribute to Justice Kernan of the Madras High Court.

However, the house became historically significant only in 1897, after Swami Vivekananda stayed at the house during his visit to Chennai for the seven historic lectures. On the eve of his departure, his devotees in Chennai requested Swami Vivekananda to set up a permanent centre in the city. He readily agreed and deputed his brother and disciple Swami Ramakrishnananda to initiate the Ramakrishna Order’s activities in South India. Swami Ramakrishnananda, with Swami Sadananda, established a shrine for Sri Ramakrishna at the Ice House in March 1897, making it the first branch of the Ramakrishna Math.