Commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda : April 2012

May 9th, 2012 Admin


The following centres organized various programmes to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.  (Main programmes conducted by them are mentioned against their names.)

Chandigarh: Drama on the life of Swami Vivekananda on 2 April at the Ashrama; Lectures on the life and teachings of Swamiji and guided meditation at Vidya Bharati Shodh Sansthan, Kurukshetra, on 21 April (about 150 people attended), and at a Government school in Panchkula district, Haryana, on 24 April (approx. 250 persons attended);

Chengalpattu: Procession, discourses, cultural programmes and a film show on Swami Vivekananda at Neelamangalam village on 8 April;

Jalpaiguri: Cultural competitions on 25 March, in which about 600 students took part;

Kadapa: Four-day free residential training camp in agriculture and allied subjects for farmers from 3 to 6 April, which was attended by 33 persons from 4 districts of Rayalaseema.

Limbdi: Talks on the life and message of Swami Vivekananda in four educational institutions from 27 March to 3 April, which were attended by about 3200 students in all; A nine-day ‘Baal Bharati’ camp from 20 to 28 April, in which 80 students participated each day;

Mysore: Bharatiya Adhyatmika Sammilana (spiritual congregation) from 20 to 23 April in which about 230 monks and spiritual leaders of various Hindu denominations and groups, mostly from Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, took part; About 2500 devotees attended the programme;

Release of a commemorative volume ‘Viveka Jagruthi’ on 20 April;

Processions of monks, delegates and devotees on 21 and 22 April;

 

On 22 April, Sri D V Sadananda Gowda, Chief Minister of Karnataka, inaugurated ‘Viveka Smaraka’ on the renovated erstwhile premises of Niranjan Math where Swami Vivekananda had stayed during his visit to Mysore;

Public function on Mysore Palace grounds on 22 April, which was presided over by Swami Prabhanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission; The Chief Minister of Karnataka and several other dignitaries addressed the huge gathering of fifteen to twenty thousand people;

Felicitation of monks on 23 April;

Meetings on all the four days;

Narainpur: Three-day Regional Tribal Convention from 29 to 31 March, which was attended by about 2500 persons, including 949 delegates from six states; Sri Shekhar Dutt, Governor of Chhattisgarh, attended the programme on 30 March;

Patna: Teachers’ workshop on 8 April, which was attended by nearly 200 teachers from different schools and colleges and also some professors and doctors from Patna University;

Ranchi Morabadi: A three-day spiritual retreat, public meetings, discourses, devotional singing and cultural programmes in the month of April;

Shillong: Public meetings addressed by the Governor of Meghalaya Sri R S Mooshahary, Deputy Chief Minister of Meghalaya Sri Bindoo M Lanong and several other dignitaries on 27 April;

Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House: On the centre’s initiative, two institutions, one in Salt Lake and the other in North Kolkata, organized seminars on 17 and 27 April on the relevance of the message of Swami Vivekananda in today’s context;

Vijayawada: Cultural competitions in which about 36,000 students from various schools in Andhra Pradesh took part;

Vishakhapatnam: Talks at 32 educational institutions in 3 districts of Andhra Pradesh from January to March.

Result : Joint Admission test for MSc (acronym: JAM) courses in the various Indian Institutes of Technology

May 9th, 2012 Admin

BSc (Honours) students of our colleges in West Bengal secured the following all-India ranks (within the first ten) at the Joint Admission test for MSc (acronym: JAM) courses in the various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs):

College

Mathematics

Statistics

Physics

Chemistry
Narendrapur

8

2, 6, 7 & 10

2

2, 5 & 10
Vidyamandira (Saradapitha)

1

N.A.

3

4

The following centres conducted Child Eye Care Programmes, details of which are given below:

Sl.

Centre

Duration

Underprivileged children checked / given vitamins & medicines

Specs given

   1  

 Lucknow

April

 606 children of 5 schools in 3 districts, namely Lucknow, Barabanki and Shahjahanpur

57

   2  

 Ranchi Morabadi

Jan. to Mar.

 2352 children of 23 schools in 3 districts of Jharkhand, namely Ranchi, Ramgarh & Khunti

31

The following centres conducted free eye camps:

Sl.

No.

Centre

Duration

of camps

Patients

checked / treated

Specs given

Surgeries

no.

 performed at
   1 Bankura

Mar. & Apr.

678

71

211

 Our eye care centre in Bankura
   2 Belgaum

March

201

–

30

 Our eye care centre in Belgaum

13

 A hospital in Belgaum
   3 Chennai Math*

22 April

121

51

11

 An eye hospital in Chennai
   4 Kanpur

19 & 26 Feb.

158

–

4

 A hospital in Kanpur
   5 Khetri

March

135

–

51

 An eye hospital in Jaipur
   6 Lucknow

April

1119

–

270

 Our Lucknow hospital
   7 Porbandar

21 April

33

–

18

 A hospital in Porbandar
   8 Rajkot

April

34

–

34

 Our eye care centre in Rajkot
   9 Salem

8 & 15 April

290

39

5

 An eye care hospital in Salem
 10 Silchar

April

485

–

52

 A hospital in Silchar
 11 Ulsoor

April

333

–

150

 A hospital in Bangalore
 12 Vishakhapatnam

13 April

300

–

100

 An eye hospital in Vishakhapatnam

* through Chengalpattu centre

Communication Addresses : April 2012

May 9th, 2012 Admin

Postal Address: The Postal Index Number (PIN) of Quilandy centre has been changed to 673306.

Telephone & Fax Numbers:  Narottam Nagar centre has discontinued its telephone and fax lines 255236 and 255262.  Now the centre’s telephone numbers are 255230 and 255237, and phone‑cum-fax no. 200160.

 

Email IDs:  The following centres have got email facility:

Centre / Sub-centre

Email ID
Balaram Mandir

<rkm.balarammandir@gmail.com>
Gourhati

<rkmgourhati@gmail.com>
Shyampukur Bati (sub-centre of Balaram Mandir)

<shyampukurbati@gmail.com>

The following centres have discontinued the email IDs shown against their names:

Centre

Email ID discontinued
Narottam Nagar

<rkmnn@sancharnet.in>
Raipur

<rkmvaraipur@promultitech.com>

The email ID of Dinajpur (Bangladesh) centre has been changed from <rkmdinma@yahoo.co.in> to <rkmdin@gmail.com>.

Websites:  The following centres / institutions have launched websites:

Centre / Institution

Website Address
Narendrapur Vidyalaya (Higher Secondary School)

<www.rkmvnarendrapur.org>
Viveknagar (Tripura) centre

<www.rkmmviveknagar.org>

Commemoration of the 175th Birth Anniversary of Sri Ramakrishna : April 2012

May 9th, 2012 Admin

The following centres celebrated the 175th birth anniversary of Sri Ramakrishna.  (Main programmes conducted by them are given against their names.)

Jalpaiguri: Discourses and bhajans at the Ashrama on 23 and 24 March;

Malda: Discourses and bhajans at Koklamari village, about 30 km from the Ashrama, on 30 April;

Nagpur: A one-week programme comprising spiritual retreat, devotional singing, etc from 23 to 29 February;

Porbandar: A six-day programme comprising discourses on Sri Ramakrishna, public meeting, spiritual retreat and cultural programmes from 10 to 15 April;

Ramharipur: Monks of the Ashrama visited 175 villages in Bankura district at different times from November 2011 to April 2012.  In all these places, they conducted religious discourses and discussed with the villagers the ways and means for achieving all-round development of the villages.

New Mission Centre at Nepal

May 9th, 2012 Admin

Ramakrishna Ashrama, Kathmandu, Nepal, has been made a branch centre of the Ramakrishna Mission.  Its contact details are as follows:

Postal Address: Ramakrishna Ashrama, Ward No 2, Saraswoti Marg, Gairidhara, Kathmandu, Nepal

Phone numbers: (977) 1 4004053 and (977) 9851144315

Email ID: <ramakrishnaashramnepal@gmail.com>.

Personalia : April 2012

May 9th, 2012 Admin

Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, underwent treatment for ARMD (age-related macular degeneration), a retinal disorder, at Seva Pratishthan hospital in Kolkata from 22 to 24 April.  He is keeping well at Belur Math.

Swami Gitanandaji, Vice-President, continues to be under medical care at Kankurgachhi Math.

Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, is scheduled to return to Belur Math on 3 May after his trip to Rahara and the Institute of Culture, Kolkata.  He will be visiting Chennai Math from 12 to 26 May.  He is keeping well.

Buddha Purnima Celebration : 2012

May 6th, 2012 Admin

Buddha Purnima Celebration was celebrated at Belur Math on 6 May 2012

Sri Sankaracharya Jayanti Celebration : 2012

April 26th, 2012 Admin


Sri Sankaracharya Jayanti Celebration was celebrated at Belur Math on 26  April 2012

Medical help to underprivileged children : Lucknow Sevashrama

April 14th, 2012 Admin

Lucknow Sevashrama provided Vitamin A capsules to 1349 underprivileged children of six schools (five in Lucknow district and one in Barabanki district) and free glasses to 78 children with refractory errors in the month of March.

Aurangabad centre organized a free medical camp at Paithan

April 14th, 2012 Admin

Aurangabad centre organized a free medical camp at Paithan (the birthplace of Sant Ekanath) on the occasion of Nath Shashthi Mela from 13 to 15 March in which 2372 patients were treated.

New prayer hall at Shyamla Tal Ashrama

April 14th, 2012 Admin

The newly built prayer hall at Shyamla Tal Ashrama was consecrated on 8 March, the sacred Dol Purnima day.

Commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda

April 10th, 2012 Admin

Commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda

On 26 March Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, released at Belur Math the Santali version of the book ‘Bharat-Jagaraner Agradut Swami Vivekananda’ published by Belur Math on the occasion of Swami Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary.
The following centres organized various programmes to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary.  (Main programmes conducted by them are mentioned against their names.)

In India:


Bhubaneswar: District-level youth conventions on 14 & 29 January and 26 February;

Value education programmes in 48 schools and 6 colleges in 9 districts of Odisha which were attended by about 15,000 students in all;

Essay competition in which nearly 700 students of 51 schools took part;

Drama on a few events in the life of Swami Vivekananda on 5 February;

Pictorial exhibition on the life and message of Swami Vivekananda from 11 to 22 February;

Seminar on ‘National Integration and Swami Vivekananda’ at a college in Bhubaneswar on 16 March;

Chengalpattu: Procession, discourses and cultural programmes at Mullikulathur village on 18 March;

Delhi: In a function held on 4 March, four NGOs were handed over ‘Swami Vivekananda Award’, instituted by Delhi Ashrama, for their service to the poor and downtrodden in India.

Gadadhar Ashrama: Youth convention at Ashutosh College, Kolkata, on 3 March;

Kanchipuram: Discourses on the life and message of Swami Vivekananda in two colleges of the town on 3 and 5 March in which altogether nearly 650 students participated;

A rally and public meeting on 6 March in which about 500 persons took part;

Limbdi: Talks on the life and message of Swami Vivekananda in eight schools in the month of March which were attended by about 3050 students in all;

Mumbai: Interfaith dialogue on 10 March which was attended by nearly 500 persons;

Palai: District-level cultural competitions for school and college students on 21 January;

Youth convention on 18 February which was attended by 250 students from 7 schools and 2 colleges;

Ponnampet: Interfaith meet on 10 March which was attended by nearly 650 persons;

Porbandar: Programmes on the life and message of Swami Vivekananda in 30 schools of Porbandar, Junagadh and Bhuj districts, which were attended by a total of 5840 students and 139 teachers;

Port Blair: Interfaith seminar on 4 March which was attended by 350 delegates;

Pune: State-level youth convention on 12 February in which nearly 1500 youths from all over Maharashtra took part;

Rajkot: The Ashrama has started ‘Vivekananda Service Corps’.  At present, 52 young men are being trained in first aid, disaster management and other relief-related service programmes.  They are also provided with career guidance, coaching and counseling.

Ranchi Morabadi: Value education training programme for teachers from 27 to 29 February in which 103 teachers took part;

State-level seminar on ‘Harmony of Religions’ on 10 and 11 March which was inaugurated by Dr Syed Ahmed, Governor of Jharkhand, and attended by 924 delegates from different parts of Jharkhand;

Vadodara: Written quiz competition on Swami Vivekananda from June 2011 to February 2012 in which 54,840 students of 1066 schools in 27 districts of Gujarat participated;

Essay competition from June 2011 to March 2012 in which 1412 students of 150 colleges in Gujarat took part;

District-level youth conventions in various districts of Gujarat from January to March in which about 13,000 youths took part;

State-level youth convention at Vadodara on 24 March in which nearly 1100 students from all over Gujarat participated;

Viveknagar (Tripura): All-Tripura devotees’ convention at Viveknagar on 4 March which was attended by about 700 delegates;

Seminar at Dharmanagar (North Tripura) on 13 March in which nearly 500 people took part.

Outside India:

Our Gretz (France) centre and the Maison de l’Inde (India House), Paris, with the support of the Town Hall of the 14th District of Paris, the Embassy of India and the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris (CIUP), jointly organized the unveiling ceremony of the commemorative plaque on Swami Vivekananda on 8 March at 39 rue Gazan, 75014 Paris, where Swamiji had stayed for some time in 1900.  The plaque was unveiled by Mrs Gaitri Kumar, Chargée des Affaires of the Embassy of India in Paris, in the presence of the Mayor of Paris and many other dignitaries including Swami Veetamohananda, Head of Gretz centre, and Dr Bikas C Sanyal, Director of Maison de l’Inde, Paris.

Obituaries : March 2012

April 10th, 2012 Admin

We are sorry to announce the passing away of two of our brother-monks.

Swami Jnanaghananandaji (Sisir Maharaj) passed away on 8 March at 3.15 pm at Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata, owing to congestive cardiac failure.  He was 73 and had been suffering from diabetes, hypertension and kidney diseases for some years.  Initiated by Swami Shankaranandaji, he joined the Order in 1958 at Tamluk centre and had Sannyasa from Swami Vireshwaranandaji in 1968.  Besides his joining centre, he served at Medinipur centre as an assistant, and Varanasi Advaita Ashrama and Gadadhar Ashrama (Kolkata) as head.  The Swami was simple and austere by nature.

 

 

Swami Anuktanandaji (Sudhangshu Maharaj), aged 67, expired on 13 March at Belur Math under tragic circumstances.  He had come to Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata, from Cherrapunji for his medical treatment and, after the treatment, he was staying at Arogya Bhavan (Belur Math) for the last few days.  On the fateful day, he was missing from Arogya Bhavan from around 8.10 pm.  After a search his dead body was found floating on the Ganges near the Holy Mother Ghat at about 10.45 pm.  Initiated by Swami Bhuteshanandaji, he joined the Order in 1977 at Belur Math and had Sannyasa from Swami Gambhiranandaji in 1987.  Besides his joining centre, he served at Cherrapunji, Taki and Sarisha centres.  He was the headmaster of our schools at Cherrapunji and Taki for some period.  He also participated in Andhra cyclone relief work in 1977‑79 and Malda flood relief operations in 1987.  The Swami was gentle and amiable by nature.

Commemoration of the 175th Birth Anniversary of Sri Ramakrishna : March 2012

April 10th, 2012 Admin

Commemoration of the 175th Birth Anniversary of Sri Ramakrishna

The following centres celebrated the 175th birth anniversary of Sri Ramakrishna.  (Main programmes conducted by them are given against their names.)

In India: Aurangabad: Public meeting on 18 February, youth camp on 19 February (about 500 students took park) and spiritual retreat on 19 March (150 persons participated);

Delhi: Discourses on the Bhagavatam from 12 to 18 March which were attended by about 450 persons daily;

Hyderabad: Cultural programme on 24 February, ‘Sri Ramakrishna Sahasranama Akshatarchana’ (worshipping Sri Ramakrishna with saffron rice) by 500 devotees on 25 February, spiritual retreat and ‘Sri Ramakrishna Leela Ganam’ (narration of Sri Ramakrishna’s life with songs) on 26 February in which respectively about 500 and 1000 devotees took part;

Kanpur: Discourses and devotional singing from 11 to 14 March;

Malda: Meeting and cultural programmes on 24 and 25 March which were attended by about 1000 devotees;

Pune: Speeches and devotional singing from 23 to 26 February;

Salem: Speeches and drama at a local college on 11 March; nearly 700 people attended the programme;

Thiruvananthapuram: Cultural programme, discourses and devotional singing on 26 February;

Vadodara: A programme from 11 to 23 March comprising discourses, public meeting, spiritual retreat, devotional singing and release of a commemorative volume.

Outside India: Dinajpur: Interreligious meet in which representatives of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam spoke.

conference on 23 April), Salem (two dramas on the life and message of Swamiji on 12 and 26 January)

Personalia : March 2012

April 10th, 2012 Admin

Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, is keeping well at Belur Math.

Swami Gitanandaji, Vice-President, continues to be under medical care at Kankurgachhi Math.

Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, is scheduled to return to Belur Math on 6 April after his trip to Aurangabad and Pune.  He will be visiting Rahara and the Institute of Culture, Kolkata, from 17 April to 3 May.  He is keeping well.

Free eye camps : March 2012

April 10th, 2012 Admin

The following centres conducted free eye camps:

Sl.

No.

Centre

Duration

of camps

Patients

checked / treated

Specs given

Surgeries

no.

 performed at
   1 Belgaum

February

233

–

46

 Our eye care centre in Belgaum

11

 A hospital in Belgaum
   2 Chandigarh

24 March

265

100

35

 A health centre at Sauja, Patiala
   3 Chennai Math*

25 March

92

33

11

 An eye hospital in Chennai
   4 Khetri

February

132

–

58

 An eye hospital in Jaipur
   5 Lucknow

March

910

–

211

 Our Lucknow hospital
   6 Nagpur

11 March

219

80

37

 An eye hospital in Nagpur
   7 Porbandar

9 March

130

–

20

 A hospital in Virnagar (Dist. Rajkot)
   8 Rajkot

March

77

–

44

 Our eye care centre in Rajkot
   9 Salem

4 & 18 March

504

54

8

 An eye care hospital in Salem
 10 Silchar

Feb. & Mar.

270

–

128

 Two hospitals in Silchar
 11 Ulsoor

March

197

–

100

 A hospital in Bangalore
 12 Vadodara

22 January

402

–

67

 A hospital in Vadodara district
 13 Varanasi Sevashrama

February

243

–

226

 Our Varanasi hospital

* through Chengalpattu centre

Lucknow Sevashrama provided Vitamin A capsules to 1349 underprivileged children of six schools (five in Lucknow district and one in Barabanki district) and free glasses to 78 children with refractory errors in the month of March.

Relief work : March 2012

April 8th, 2012 Admin


A  Brief  Report  As  ON  31 March  2012

  1. 1.     Winter Relief: 612 blankets were distributed to poor people through the following centres:

In India:   Hatamuniguda – 100, Khetri – 58, Pune – 250, Sargachhi – 149;

In Bangladesh: Dinajpur – 55.

2.  Fire Relief: The following centres distributed various items among the families whose houses had been gutted by fire:

       (i) Andhra Pradesh: Our Rajahmundry centre distributed 1262 saris, 1070 lungis, 550 towels and an equal number of chaddars, mats and utensil sets (each set containing 3 cooking pots, 3 ladles, 1 plate and 1 tumbler) among 550 families in Pallam village, near Amalapuram in East Godavari district.

       (ii) Odisha: Our Bhubaneswar centre distributed 75 kg chira (rice flakes), 15 kg sugar, 60 packets of biscuits, 15 kg salt, 30 kg chhatu (gram flour), 15 saris and an equal number of lungis, towels, mats and tarpaulin sheets to 15 families in Kantailo village of Bolgarh block in Khurda district.

3.    Flood Relief: Fiji:   Our Nadi centre continued its extensive relief work in Nadi and Ba areas of Fiji.  The centre distributed 537 grocery packs (each pack containing 2 kg rice, 2 kg dal (pulses), 1 kg sugar, 500 gm salt, 200 gm spices, 2 packets of breakfast crackers, 1 packet of powdered milk, 500 ml cooking oil, 1 can of baked beans / peeled tomatoes, etc) and 150 cartons of clothes among the affected people.  The centre also supplied lunch parcels to 108 students for 4 weeks.  Exercise books and stationery items were distributed among 247 needy students and medical care was provided to 938 patients.  The centre has also initiated a rehabilitation programme for the local flood-affected farmers by supplying them with good seeds and has started, for this purpose, renovation and upgrading of a large nursery.   

4.    Distress Relief:  Our Dinajpur (Bangladesh) centre distributed 128 saris among poor and needy people. 

—-o—-

 

Ramnavami Photo Gallery : 2012

April 2nd, 2012 Admin

Sri Ramnavami Celebration was celebrated at Belur Math on 1 April, 2012

A seminar on ICT in Rising Bengal – inaugurated the seminar by Sri N R Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus, Infosys Limited,

March 27th, 2012 Admin

On 11 February, the Computer Centre of Shilpamandira (a unit of Saradapitha, Belur) held a seminar on ICT in Rising Bengal.  Swami Prabhanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated the seminar in which Sri N R Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus, Infosys Limited, was the chief speaker.

 

 

Narainpur Ashrama organized a kisan mela (farmers’ fair)

March 27th, 2012 Admin

On 4 February, Narainpur Ashrama organized a kisan mela (farmers’ fair) in which more than 10,000 farmers participated. It was inaugurated by Sri Chandrashekhar Sahu, Minister of Agriculture, Chhattisgarh.

Consecrated the newly built temple, with a marble image of Sri Ramakrishna, at Dhaleswar (Agartala)

March 27th, 2012 Admin

Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, consecrated the newly built temple, with a marble image of Sri Ramakrishna, at Dhaleswar (Agartala) sub-centre of Viveknagar Ashrama on 7 February, the birthday of Swami Adbhutanandaji, a monastic disciple of Sri Ramakrishna.  About 10,000 local devotees, 500 delegates from different parts of India & Bangladesh, 132 monks from our centres and 32 monks from other organizations attended the four-day programme, comprising discourses, devotional singing, a procession and a drama, from 6 to 9 February.

Relief Work : FEBRUARY 2012

March 10th, 2012 Admin

Relief  Work : A  Brief  Report  As  ON  29  FEBRUARY  2012

1.      Winter Relief: 13,952 blankets were distributed through the following centres to poor people:

   In India:   Almora – 250, Antpur – 600, Asansol – 914, Baranagar Mission – 600, Belgharia – 300, Bhubaneshwar – 200, Contai – 300, Chapra – 2000, Gol Park – 250, Guwahati – 450, Jaipur – 250, Jamtara – 250, Kamarpukur – 1000, Kankurgachhi – 250, Katihar – 100, Khetri – 131, Mysore – 250, Naora – 250, Narendrapur – 300, Ootacamund – 307, Puri Mission – 250, Ramharipur – 2000, Saradapitha – 500, Sikra Kulingram – 350, Taki – 250,  Vrindaban – 950.

Moreover, our centres at Belgharia, Chapra and Guwahati distributed 13 woollen garments, 1350 sweaters and 123 sweaters respectively to poor children.

In Bangladesh: Dinajpur centre distributed 700 blankets and 500 winter garments.

2.    Fire Relief: Our Gol Park (Kolkata) centre continued its relief work among the families whose huts had been gutted by a devastating fire in Kalikapur area, near E.M. Bypass, Kolkata.  The centre distributed 225 saris among the victims from 30 January to 1 February.

3.   Flood Relief: (i) Fiji:  In the wake of the devastating floods which hit most of the Western Viti Levu towns of Fiji, our Nadi centre, despite itself being about two feet under water, started extensive primary relief work in the nearby affected areas.  The centre served nearly 2200 cooked meals and distributed 392 grocery packs (each pack containing 2 kg rice, 2 kg pulses, 1 kg sugar, 500 gm salt, 200 gm spices, 2 packets of breakfast crackers, 1 packet of powdered milk, 500 ml cooking oil, 1 can of baked beans / peeled tomatoes, etc.) among the affected people. Besides, 65 people availed medical care also.

      (ii) India:  The following centres continued flood relief operations in Odisha and West Bengal:

Sl. No.

State

Centre

Area of Operation

Items distributed among

flood-affected families

1

Odisha

Puri Math

 Balarampur and Ketakipatana gram panchayats in Puri district 600 kg chira (rice flakes), 325 kg sugar, 2000 candles, 1000 matchboxes and 100 kg bleaching powder among 976 families

2

- do -

PuriMission

 Gop, Puri Sadar, Konark, Delang and Kanas blocks in Puri district 5000 blankets among 5000 families

3

West Bengal

Antpur

 Antpur, Radhanagar and Rajbalhat areas in Hooghly district 500 saris and 200 dhotis among 700 families

4

- do -

Sargachhi

 Jalangi, Suti-I, Khargram, Krishnanagar, Berhampore and Beldanga-I blocks in Murshidabad district 1000 blankets among 1000 families

5

- do -

Sikra Kulingram

 Ramapur village of Hingalganj block in North 24-Parganas district 250 blankets among 250 families

 

4.   Distress Relief: The following centres distributed various items, shown in brackets, to needy people: Agartala (500 sets of children’s garments, 360 saris, 50 dhotis), Belgaum (568 bed‑sheets & 284 sets of utensils – each set comprising 2 cooking vessels, 1 ladle, 5 plates, 5 cups, 5 spoons & 1 knife), Belgharia (106 saris, 22 lungis, 607 shirts, 1419 pants, 712 frocks, 11 sets of salwar & kamiz, 20 kg soyabean cakes & 3.5 kg cornflakes); Cherrapunjee (501 saris); Guwahati (52 saris, 12 dhotis, 100 plates & 100 kg protein powder); Puri Mission (1600 saris); Ramharipur (1419 saris); Thrissur (school uniforms to 299 students).

News of Branch Centres (outside India) : Febaruary 2012

March 10th, 2012 Admin

News of Branch Centres (outside India)

Three ministers of the Government of Bangladesh, namely Minister of Social Welfare Mr Enamul Hoque Mostafa Shahid, Minister of Railways Mr Suranjit Sen Gupta, State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Dr Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, and several other distinguished persons spoke in the meetings organized by Dhaka centre as a part of its five‑day-long Sri Ramakrishna’s birthday celebration from 20 to 24 February.

Free Eye Care programmes : February 2012

March 10th, 2012 Admin

The following centres conducted Child Eye Care Programmes, details of which are given below:

Sl.

Centre

Duration of programme

Children checked / given vitamins

Specs given

   1    

 Lucknow

February 2012

 2383 children of 8 schools in 2 districts, namely Lucknow & Sitapur

80

   2    

 Ranchi Morabadi

April to Dec. 2011

 15,984 children of 97 schools in 3 districts of Jharkhand, namely Ranchi, Ramgarh & Khunti

203

The following centres conducted free eye camps:

Sl.

No.

Centre

Duration

of camps

Patients

checked / treated

Specs given

Surgeries

no.

 performed at
   1 Bankura

17 Jan. & 13 Feb.

136

18

67

 Our eye care centre in Bankura
   2 Belgaum

January

212

–

40

 Our eye care centre in Belgaum

5

 A hospital in Belgaum
   3 Chennai Math*

12 February

183

63

26

 A hospital each in Chennai and Chengalpattu
   4 Jamshedpur

29 Jan. to 25 Feb.

149

105

138

 A hospital in Jamshedpur
   5 Khetri

January

73

–

32

 A hospital in Jaipur
   6 Lucknow

February

1267

–

177

 Our Lucknow hospital
   7 Medinipur

26 January

120

–

12

 A hospital in Medinipur
   8 Porbandar

18 February

28

–

16

 An eye hospital in Porbandar
   9 Rajkot

February

262

–

129

 Our eye care centre in Rajkot
 10 Ranchi Sanatorium

23 January

65

–

15

 A hospital in Ranchi
 11 Salem

12 & 19 Feb.

417

80

7

 A hospital in Salem
 12 Seva Pratishthan

2011+

150

150

150

 Our Seva Pratishthan hospital

30 Oct. to 5 Feb.#

80

–

80
 13 Ulsoor

Jan. & Feb.

447

–

217

 A hospital in Bangalore

* through Chengalpattu centre; + through the mobile medical unit of Seva Pratishthan;

# in collaboration with 4 Ashramas (at Antpur, Bagmari, Baranagar Math & Chandpur)

Obituaries : February 2012

March 10th, 2012 Admin

We are sorry to announce the passing away of two of our brother-monks.

Swami Ananyanandaji (Govinda Maharaj) passed away on 6 February at 11.05 am at Seva Pratishthan hospital, Kolkata.  He was 92 and had been suffering from various old‑age ailments for some years.  Initiated by Swami Virajanandaji, he joined the Order in 1938 at Chennai Math and had Sannyasa from his Guru in 1947.  Besides his joining centre, he served at Karachi (later closed down), Institute of Culture (Kolkata), London (later moved to Bourne End), Chennai Students’ Home, Nattarampalli, Mysore and Ulsoor centres as an assistant, and Mayavati, Shillong (for a short period) and Hyderabad centres as head.  He was the editor of Prabuddha Bharata for about three years.  He also participated in the refugee relief operations at Kurukshetra in 1947-48.  He had been living a retired life at Hyderabad centre and Belur Math since April 1997.  Simple, austere and forbearing, he quietly bore his physical sufferings till the end.  He was an avid reader and author of a few books, and was well known for his loving and affable nature, gentle disposition and polite manners.  In him the Order has lost a model from among the older generation of monks who acted as sources of inspiration to the younger generation.

Swami Deshikatmanandaji (Achyuta Maharaj) expired on 21 February at 8.30 pm at Ulsoor centre.  He was 67 and had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for a couple of years.  An initiated disciple of Swami Vireshwaranandaji, he joined the Order in 1973 at Chennai Math and had Sannyasa from his Guru in 1983.  Besides his joining centre, he served at Belur Math and Coimbatore Mission, Kankhal (for a few months during Kumbha Mela, 1998) and Delhi centres as an assistant and Chennai Students’ Home as head.  He had been staying under medical care at Hyderabad and Ulsoor centres for the last two years. The Swami was hardworking and devoted, simple and genial by nature.

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Communication Addresses : February 2012

March 10th, 2012 Admin

Email IDs:  Gadadhar Ashrama has got email facility with ID <rkm.gadadharashrama@gmail.com>.

Publication Department of Nagpur centre has changed its email ID from <rkmathpb_ngp@bsnl.in> to <ramakrishnamathnagpurpubl@gmail.com>.

Lucknow centre has got an additional email ID <rkml@ramakrishnalucknow.org>.

Websites: The following centres have launched websites:

Centre

Website Address
Aalo (Along)

<www.ramakrishnamissionaalo.org>
Allahabad

<www.rkmallahabad.org>

–

Headquarters : February 2012

March 10th, 2012 Admin

The birthday (tithi puja) of Sri Ramakrishna was celebrated at Belur Math on Thursday, 23 February.  Cooked prasad was served to about 22,000 devotees.  Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, delivered a benedictory address at the public meeting held in the afternoon which was presided over by Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission.  Swami Prabhanandaji, General Secretary of the Math & Mission, and Swamis Bhajananandaji and Srikaranandaji, Assistant Secretaries, also addressed the gathering.  The public celebration held on Sunday, 26 February, drew more than a lakh of visitors who thronged the Math throughout the day.  Cooked prasad was served to about 34,000 persons on that occasion.  This year fireworks on the Ganges were triggered electronically, and the spectacular display produced thereby was appreciated greatly.

Commemoration of the 175th Birth Anniversary of Sri Ramakrishna

March 10th, 2012 Admin
The valedictory celebration of Sri Ramakrishna’s 175th birth anniversary was held at Belur Math on 22, 24 and 25 February.  The celebration began with a colourful procession on 22 February from Dakshineswar to Belur Math in which about 13,000 persons of different faiths participated.  On arrival of the procession at Belur Math, Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, formally inaugurated the celebration by lighting 175 lamps.  This was followed by a meeting on the theme ‘Spiritual significance of the advent of Sri Ramakrishna’.  On 24 February, a Parliament of Religions was held in which speakers from different religions spoke on Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity and Jainism.  On the concluding day, 25 February, there was a conference on the philosophy and spiritual realizations of Sri Ramakrishna vis-à-vis earlier Avatars like Buddha, Shankara and Chaitanya.  Cultural programmes were held in the evening on each of the days.  A large number of monks, devotees and admirers attended the programmes on all the days.

The following centres also celebrated the 175th birth anniversary of Sri Ramakrishna.  (Main programmes conducted by them are given against their names.)

In India: Bhubaneswar: A spiritual retreat on 19 February in which about 450 devotees participated; A religious meeting at Siksha O Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar, in which about 250 persons, mostly doctors and medical students, took part; Eight patha-chakras (study circles) were started in rural areas of Cuttack district from September to December 2011;

Chandigarh: A drama on the childhood of Sri Ramakrishna and a mono-act play on a few events in the life of Sri Ramakrishna, on 22 February;

Chennai Math: Public meetings, parliament of religions, sadhu sammelan (congregation of monks), youth convention and cultural programmes from 22 to 26 February; thousands of devotees, monks and admirers attended the programmes;

Cooch Behar: A procession on 19 February;

Delhi: A four-day lecture series on ‘Sri Rama to Sri Ramakrishna’ from 13 to 16 February;

Gol Park: A music festival on 12 February in which distinguished vocal and instrumental artistes performed;

Hyderabad: Release of a video DVD titled ‘A pilgrimage to Belur Math’;

Itanagar: A religious meeting, guided meditation and cultural programmes on 19 February;

Jamshedpur: Exhibition and cultural competitions in 16 schools and 1 college from 7 December to 19 February;

Kadapa: Devotional singing on 26 February;

Kamarpukur: A public meeting at Arambagh on 15 February, which was attended by about 1000 persons;

Kankurgachhi: Guided meditation and japa yajna on 12 February in which about 700 devotees took part; Seminar on Sri Ramakrishna O Banga-Rangamancha (Sri Ramakrishna and the theatres of Bengal) on 18 February which was attended by nearly 900 persons;

Mangalore: Classical music programme on 18 & 19 February;

Medinipur: Spiritual retreat on 24 February in which 342 devotees took part;

Puri Mission: An interfaith meeting on 25 February in which representatives of 6 faiths spoke, and a spiritual retreat on 26 February in which about 200 devotees took part; Release of a commemorative volume on Sri Ramakrishna;

Rajkot: A drama on the life & teachings of Sri Ramakrishna on 26 February;

Seva Pratishthan: Cultural programmes and a spiritual congregation on 18 & 19 February;

Silchar: Public meeting, devotional singing and cultural programmes in the month of February;

Tiruvalla: Religious convention on 8 January, which was attended by about 400 devotees;

Outside India: Dhaka (Bangladesh): Procession, devotees’ convention, interreligious conference, discourses, cultural programmes, etc from 17 to 19 February;

Personalia : February 2012

March 10th, 2012 Admin

Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, is keeping well at Belur Math.

Swami Gitanandaji, Vice-President, continues to be under medical care at Kankurgachhi Math.

Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, is scheduled to return to Belur Math on 12 March after his trip to Chennai Math.  He will be visiting Aurangabad and Pune from 21 March to 6 April.  He is keeping well.

Relief Work : JANUARY 2012

March 10th, 2012 Admin

Relief  Work : A  Brief  Report  As  ON  31 JANUARY 2012

1.     Winter Relief: 21,373 blankets were distributed through the following centres to poor people:

In India: Aalo – 500, Baghbazar – 880, Bankura – 250, Barasat – 250, Bhubaneswar – 502, Chandigarh – 250, Chandipur – 250, Cherrapunjee – 2100, Coimbatore Mission – 350, Cooch Behar – 270, Delhi – 847, Deoghar – 1000, Ghatshila – 250, Ichapur – 2000, Jamshedpur – 410, Jayrambati – 1500, Karimganj – 300, Khetri – 39, Koalpara – 400, Limbdi – 250, Malda – 250, Manasadwip – 250, Medinipur – 500, Muzaffarpur – 250, Puri Math – 500, Purulia – 250, Rahara – 420, Ranchi Morabadi – 254, Ranchi Sanatorium – 270, Shyamla Tal – 247, Silchar – 3534, Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House – 2000;

In Bangladesh: Faridpur – 50.

Besides, our Baghbazar and Rahara centres distributed respectively 610 and 150 warm chadars to poor and needy people.

2.  Fire Relief: Our Gol Park centre served cooked food (khichdi) and distributed 150 blankets, 100 saris, 150 lungis, 77 vests, 12 sets of children garments, 10 sweaters, etc among 83 families whose huts had been gutted by a devastating fire in Kalikapur area, near E M Bypass, Kolkata.

3.  Flood Relief: (i) Fiji:  In the wake of the recent floods in Nadi (Fiji), our Nadi centre started primary relief work by distributing cooked food among the affected families.

     (ii) India: Odisha: Continuing its flood relief operations, our Bhubaneswar centre distributed 425 sets of study material (each set containing 1 school bag, 1 notebook, 1 pen, 1 pencil, 1 scale and 1 value education book) among 425 needy students belonging to flood-affected families in Tigiria block of Cuttack district from 18 to 20 January.

4.  Cyclone Relief: Tamil Nadu: Our Chennai Math centre served cooked food to 2800 victims of the devastating cyclone ‘Thane’ on 30 December, the day on which it had struck north coastal Tamil Nadu.

5.  Distress Relief: The following centres distributed various items, shown in brackets, to needy people:

In India: Baranagar Mission (250 saris); Cherrapunjee (501 saris); Ghatshila (175 mosquito-nets), Ichapur (45 pants, 716 sets of children garments); Jamshedpur (4000 kg rice, 800 kg dal, 400 litres of edible oil); Jayrambati (2500 saris); Koalpara (900 saris); Medinipur (100 saris, 35 dhotis); Rahara (150 saris, 199 mosquito-nets, 196 frocks, 100 pants, 100 shirts, 2 sets of school uniforms, 2 school bags, 300 bars of bathing soap, 55 litres of coconut oil, 30 kg baby food, 12 cycle rickshaws, 12 sewing machines, 15 bicycles); Ranchi Sanatorium (2000 bed sheets); Sargachhi (50 mosquito-nets);

In Bangladesh: Faridpur (130 vests, stationery items to needy students).

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