Nivedita's statue to be set up beside her grave in London

Kolkata: Great Torrington Cemetery authorities have given permission to install a statue of Margaret Elizabeth Noble, more commonly known as Sister Nivedita, beside her grave.

Cannizaro Park authorities, meanwhile, have also principally agreed to install statues of Swami Vivekananda and Sister Nivedita and a formal permission is likely to be given shortly, said Sarada Basu Sarkar, who took the initiative for the installation of the Blue Plaque at Sister Nivedita's house in Wimbledon.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was present at the function and had donated two small statues of Swamiji and Sister Nivedita.

The garden is registered under the Historic Buildings Archival Monuments Act 1953 with the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens by English Heritage for its special historical interest.

The public park is situated at Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton.

Sarkar said the Bengalis based in London who are associated with Sister Nivedita will request Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to donate either the head-and-shoulder bust of the social worker or the two statues and be present at the installation ceremony.

Sarkar recently came to Kolkata for a day to deliver a lecture on Sister Nivedita at Belur Math.

There are statues of Raja Rammohan Roy in Bristol, Rabindranath Tagore at Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare and Mahatma Gandhi.

The Tagore's bust was installed on September 20, 1996, in presence of the then Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and the then state Information and Cultural Affairs minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. The statue was funded by the Bengal government and made by sculptor Debabrata Chakraborty.

After Nivedita was cremated in Darjeeling on October 13, 1911, the ashes were sent to her sister May Wilson in England.

May and her husband buried the ashes beside the graves of her father and brother Richard who died prematurely.

Sarkar said the Great Torrington Cemetery authorities have allowed installation of Nivedita's bust beside her grave.

"It is a great honour shown to her by the people of England." Also, installation of two statues of Swamiji and Sister Nivedita at Cannizaro Park will be "really great," she said and added: "It is a well-known public park and allowing installation of their statues show how much respect the people of England have for them."