Situated in the Alkapuri area of Vadodara, opposite the circuit house, is the Dilaram Bungalow. The bungalow was made in 1863, the Dilaram Bungalow was the bungalow of the Dewan of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III – Manibhai Mehta. The bungalow was later let out to the Government Officers and Forest Officers for their stays in the city. In 2005, the then Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat – Narendra Modi handed over this bungalow to the Rama Krishna Mission.

In the early 1890s, before going to America in order to participate in the Parliament of Religions, Swami Vivekanand performed a Parivrajaka by travelling all over India for about three years. In Gujarat, he visited many places like Ahmedabad, Limbdi, Junagadh, Dwarka, Somnath, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Bhuj, Narayan Sarovar, Bhavnagar, Palitana, Nadiad, etc. After all this, he finally came to Baroda sometime in April 1892. Since Swami Vivekananda had visited Junagadh before coming to Baroda and would perhaps have discussed his plans with the Dewan there, the Dewan of Junagadh reached out to Manilal Mehta in Baroda, and recommended to Swamiji that he stay as the guest of the Dewan of Baroda when he went there. It is known that Swami Vivekananda used to discuss the educational system of the state with Manilal Mehta. Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad had established an amazing system of education in his kingdom. He also saw the rich library and the paintings by Raja Ravi Varma at the Lukshmi Vilas Palace, however, was unable to meet the Maharaja as he was out of the kingdom at the time. Swamiji then left for Mumbai at the end of the month.

The Dilaram Bungalow has now become a memorial of Swami Vivekananda. A new branch centre of Ramakrishna Mission has also been started here. It is a spiritual centre open to everyone. The bungalow now houses meditation areas, library, some artefacts, etc. The Ramakrishna Mission carries out numerous social welfare activities from here. The bungalow is very well maintained now and is definitely worth a visit, giving one an opportunity to connect with one’s spiritual side as well as dwell upon the rich heritage of this place.