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Pre-monastic name :
Rakhturam, usually called
Latu
Date of Birth : Not known
Place of Birth : Chapra in Bihar
Speaking about Latu Maharaj, Swami Vivekananda once said, “Latu is Sri
Ramakrishna’s greatest miracle. Having absolutely no education, he has
attained the highest wisdom simply by virtue of the Master’s touch”.
Latu was the only disciple of Sri Ramakrishna who could not even read
or write. He was born of very poor parents in a village in Bihar. He
lost his parents in early boyhood. Poverty forced his uncle to take
him to Kolkata where Latu was employed as a houseboy in the house of
Ramachandra Datta, a close devotee of Sri Ramakrishna. The Master
recognized the dormant spiritual potential in the boy and asked Ram to
allow Latu to stay at Dakshineswar as an attendant. Under the guidance
of the Master Latu practised intense sadhana, spending whole nights in
meditation, a habit which he followed all through his life.
After Sri Ramakrishna’s passing, Latu joined Baranagar Math, and was
ordained a sannyasin bearing the name Adbhutananda. He, however, spent
most of his time in contemplation on the bank of the Ganga or in a
room in Balaram Babu’s house.
Swami Vivekananda established Ramakrishna Mission on 1897 and Belur
Math in 1898. Latu Maharaj with his deep absorption in contemplative
life could neither take up the service activities of the Mission nor
follow the discipline and routine of the monastery. So Swami
Vivekananda permitted him to follow his own way of life. After some
years Adbhutananda moved to Varanasi where he lived alone, but his
needs were taken care of by the Ramakrishna Home of Service. At the
end of a brief ailment he passed away in a meditative state on 24
April 1920.
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