 Even as a child he was compassionate by nature and he gave his shirt to a school friend when his got ripped and frequently gave food to beggars secretively so his parents would not know.At the age of twelve he was given the sacred thread and afterwards repeated the Gayatri Mantra three times per day, and often made a clay image of Lord Shiva and worship him.Gangadhar and his friend Harinath met Sri Ramakrishna at Dinanath Basu's house in Baghbazar in 1877.