Because his father died in his childhood, Hari Prasanna had to work until his family was financially secure. He provided for his mother and also for the education of his younger brother. As time went on, however, his uncle began to pressure him to get married. He became disgusted with these attempts to tie him to a worldly life and joined the Ramakrishna Monastery at Alambazar in 1896. He lived there humbly and spent most of his time in japam and meditation. He was a man of few words and did not care for chatting and joking as others did.
Swami Vivekananda returned to India from the West in 1897 and took Hari Prasanna with him on his travels in western and northern India. During this tour they visited the old Hindu temples of Rajputana. Vivekananda discussed the architecture of the future Ramakrishna Temple with him and expressed his own ideas as to how the temple should be built. On their return to the monastery, Hari Prasanna drew a sketch of the Ramakrishna Temple using Swamiji’s ideas as his guide. He also consulted with Mr. Guithar, a noted architect. Swamiji was pleased when he saw the sketch and said, “This temple will certainly come up, but I may not live to see it… . I will see it from on high.” (Source: God Lived with Them)