Chennai Math launched India’s first stereoscopic 3D animated movie on Swami Vivekananda and first 3D holographic display on lectures of Swamiji at Vivekanandar Illam (Vivekananda House), Chennai, on 12 January.

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Chennai Math organized cultural competitions on the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda in which about 1,40,000 students from 1200 educational institutions participated.  On 12 January, prizes were given to the winners in a function which was attended by about 1500 persons.

The following centres and the Headquarters (along with Saradapitha) celebrated the Day with various programmes such as processions, speeches, recitations and cultural competitions:

Aalo (Along), Agartala, Allahabad, Asansol, Aurangabad, Baghbazar, Bangalore, Baranagar Math, Baranagar Mission, Belgaum, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chapra, Chengalpattu, Chennai Students’ Home, Coimbatore Math, Coimbatore Mission, Cooch Behar, Dehradun (Kishanpur), Delhi, Deoghar, Gadadhar Ashrama, Garbeta, Hyderabad, Jalpaiguri, Jammu, Jayrambati, Kadapa, Kalady, Kanchipuram, Kankurgachhi, Kanpur, Kochi, Limbdi, Madurai, Malda, Manasadwip, Mangalore, Midnapore, Mumbai, Muzaffarpur, Nagpur, Narainpur, Ponnampet, Port Blair, Pune, Puri Mission, Raipur, Rajkot, Ranchi Morabadi, Ranchi Sanatorium, Sargachhi, Sarisha, Shillong, Sikra-Kulingram, Swamiji’s House, Tiruvalla, Thiruvananthapuram, Vadodara, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.

Gadadhar Ashrama

Rajkot Centre

Vadodara Centre

Vijayawada Centre

Ranchi Morabadi centre held Kisan Melas (farmers’ fairs) at five villages in December-January.  Each fair received on an average about 600 exhibits on different agronomical & horticultural crops, animals, birds, handicrafts and cottage industry.

Swami Prabhanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated an Internet kiosk at the library of Ranchi Morabadi Ashrama on 25 January.

Bhubaneswar centre conducted two health awareness camps, one each at Tolak Pada and Sisilo villages of Khurda district, in December 2011; more than 4000 people attended the camps in which 604 patients were also treated.

We are sorry to announce the passing away of Swami Shivapadanandaji (Shyam Maharaj) on 14 January at 10.30 pm at a nursing home in Arambagh.  He was 68 and had been suffering from diabetes and heart disease for some years.  Initiated by Swami Vireshwaranandaji, he joined the Order in 1972 at Jayrambati centre and had Sannyasa from his Guru in 1981.  Besides his joining centre, he served at Ramharipur and Kamarpukur centres and for a short period at the Ramakrishna Museum in Belur Math.  He had been living a retired life at Jayrambati and its sub-centre at Koalpara for the last few years.  The Swami was simple and austere by nature.

Kamarpukur multipurpose school celebrated its golden jubilee during the last year by holding various events, such as discourses, exhibition, sports meet, cycle rally, procession and cultural programmes.  Besides, some additional facilities like online education in collaboration with Vivekananda University, spoken English laboratory, computerized library, etc were started in the school.  The yearlong celebrations concluded with a public meeting on 26 January

Kalady centre organized the concluding phase of the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Ashrama and its schools on 24 and 25 January.  Justice Kurian Joseph, Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh, was the chief guest on the concluding day.  About 4000 persons attended the programme.

Baranagar Mission Ashrama organized the first phase of its centenary celebration last month.  On 12 January, Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, unveiled the newly installed life-size fibreglass statue of Swami Vivekananda at the Ashrama.  Besides, public meetings, a youth convention, a devotees’ convention, a teachers’ convention and cultural programmes were also held.

On the initiative of Khetri centre, a committee of prominent persons of the town decided to celebrate every year, starting from 2011, the historical day of Swami Vivekananda’s reaching Khetri on his return from America in 1897, on 12 December, as Khetri Virasat Divas (Khetri Inheritance Day).  Accordingly, on 12 December, the committee organized various programmes in the town.  In the morning, about 1000 school children marched through the town in a colourful procession. In the afternoon a live tableau of Raja Ajit Singh bringing Swamiji in a horse carriage was positioned in a huge procession.  The prominent spots of the town were illumined and people lit candles in their houses and shops.  Some memorable events during Swamiji’s stay in Khetri were enacted in front of a gathering of about 3000 people.

On 28 January, Sri Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister, Government of India, unveiled Vivekananda Memorial Plaque with Swamiji’s embossed image on it in the Art Institute of Chicago, USA.  He also signed an agreement under which the University of Chicago will establish ‘The Indian Ministry of Culture Vivekananda Chair’ to honour the life & legacy of Swami Vivekananda by promoting fields of study most relevant to his teachings.  More details are available at <http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=79945>.

In commemoration of Swami Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary, our Karnataka centres organized Swami Vivekananda Jyoti Yatra from 1 to 30 January.  Ten vehicles were used to cover 4000 km.  Almost all the districts of Karnataka were covered to spread the message of Swami Vivekananda to the youth in particular and to the masses in general.  During the Yatra (journey), 20 satsangs (spiritual discourses) and 38 youth conventions covering one lakh students were conducted and exhibition on Swamiji’s life and teachings was held at all important places.  <svjyotiyatra.blogspot.com> furnishes more details on the Yatra.

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

Agartala: Youth conventions on 14, 23 and 25 January at Women’s College, Agartala, and at Bishalgarh and Arundhati Nagar in West Tripura District, which were attended altogether by about 1250 students;

Asansol: Five-day-long programme comprising interschool quiz competition, speeches and cultural programme from 22 to 26 January;

Baranagar Mission: On 12 January, Sri M K Narayanan, Governor of West Bengal, unveiled a plaque installed at the Ashrama in commemoration of Swami Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary;

Belgaum: Written quiz competitions on Swami Vivekananda in the month of December in which 1319 students of 9 schools participated;

Chandigarh: Guided meditation, a talk on Swami Vivekananda and free distribution of books to 100 students in Chandigarh on 14 January;

Chengalpattu: Cultural competitions from 6 to 11 January in which 750 students took part; Procession, discourses, cultural programmes and film show on Swami Vivekananda’s life at Perumbedu village on 26 January;

Cooch Behar: District-level youth convention on 22 January which was attended by about 500 youths;

Hyderabad: Conventions and cultural programmes for school and college students from 10 to 12 January; about 15,000 students thronged the Math campus on all the three days;

Kalady: State-level cultural competitions from 9 to 12 January in which 470 students took part; State-level youth convention on 23 January in which about 1500 delegates participated;

Kanchipuram: Pictorial exhibition on the life and message of Swami Vivekananda brought out in the month of August 2011 was taken to 14 educational institutions in and around Chennai and Chengalpattu; about 20,000 students visited the exhibition;

Youth camp in a college at Sriperumpudur on 27 January in which about 100 students participated;

Meeting and cultural programme in a school at Kanchipuram on 27 January which were attended by about 1000 students;

Kankurgachhi:  Devotees’ convention on 8 January in which nearly 700 devotees took part;

Installation of a glow shine board with Swami Vivekananda’s picture and his inspiring words at Girish Park Metro Station, fixing Swamiji’s posters and his sayings in metro coaches, and arranging telecast of programmes on Swamiji in the CCTVs at the different metro stations of the city in collaboration with Kolkata Metro Railway on 12 January;

A seminar on the contribution of Swami Vivekananda to Bengali language and literature on 22 January which was attended by about 700 persons;

Kanpur: A two-day youth convention at IIT Kanpur on 14 & 15 January in which about 100 youths took part; Cultural competitions on 16 January in which nearly 150 students participated; Talks in two educational institutions on 12 and 15 January;

Karimganj: Devotees’ convention on 1 January in which about 500 devotees took part;

Limbdi: A procession and a programme for youths on 19 January; nearly 1100 students participated in the procession;

Manasadwip: Teachers’ convention on 19 December in which 85 teachers from 27 schools participated;

Ponnampet: Talks by monks and Dr TGK Murthy, former Director of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) at four places in Kodagu district from 13 to 16 January;

Porbandar: Various cultural competitions in which 812 students took part;

Port Blair: Students’ convention on 6 January in which 350 students of class XI and XII participated;

Pune: District-level youth conventions in the districts of Alibaug (1 January) and Amravati (18 January);  A service project contest in which about 600 school children conducted various service activities in the month of December and submitted their reports to the Ashrama on 7 & 8 January;  A three-day lecture series from 24 to 26 January;

Puri Mission: District-level cultural competitions from 22 November to 5 January in which about 4000 students from 71 schools of 10 districts in Odisha took part;  State-level cultural competitions on 8 January in which 156 students participated;  Youth programmes from November to January in which altogether 605 students took part;

Rahara: Procession, public meeting and cultural programme from 14 to 16 January.

Raipur: Cultural competitions and religious discourses throughout the month of January; One youth convention on 22 January in which 300 students took part.

Ranchi Sanatorium: Football tournaments for rural youths in which 16 teams participated;

Salem: Value education programmes from 29 to 31 December at a college in Tiruchengode (near Salem); nearly 300 students attended the programme;

Sarisha: Devotees’ convention on 25 December in which about 500 delegates took part;

Thiruvananthapuram: Youth conventions on 8 and 14 January in which altogether 150 youths participated.

Vadodara: A youth convention in Vadodara on 18 January in which about 800 youths from more than 50 educational institutions took part and Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India, delivered a speech and answered the questions of the youths;

A youth convention each in Bharuch and Gandhinagar districts in which altogether nearly 2300 students took part.

At Salem Ashrama a bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda was installed and the renovated bookstall was inaugurated on 12 January.

Bangalore: Drama, folk dances, Sanskrit Ashtavadhana (eightfold concentration) from 1 to 11 January, around 1500 people on an average attended the programmes each day;

Baranagar Mission: A nine-day fair ‘Sri Ramakrishna Mela’ from 5 to 13 January;

Bhopal: A four-day lecture series on ‘Sri Rama and Sri Ramakrishna’ from 4 to 7 December;

Chengalpattu: Procession, speeches and cultural programmes at Puriyampakkam village on 28 December;

Coimbatore Mission: Devotional singing, cultural programmes, exhibition and public meeting on 1 January; altogether about one lakh people attended the programmes;

Ghatshila: Lilageeti (musical narration), public meeting and film show from 28 to 30 December;

Hyderabad: Release of two video DVDs: on Kamarpukur-Jayrambati and on Sri Ramakrishna Aratrikam (with meaning);

Lucknow: Interfaith Goodwill Meet on 1 January;

Manasadwip:  Devotees’ convention on 29 December in which about 500 devotees participated;

Narendrapur:  Procession, a fair ‘Ramakrishna Mela’, exhibitions, interfaith dialogue, seminars, devotees’ convention and cultural programmes from 17 to 22 January;

Raipur: Public meeting at Bhilai on 2 January which was attended by about 100 devotees;

Rajkot: Cultural competitions from 9 to 23 December in which nearly 7000 students of 100 schools participated;

Saradapitha (Belur): An international seminar on the theme “Sri Ramakrishna’s Ideas and Our Times” organized by Vidyamandira (Arts & Science College under Saradapitha) from 19 to 21 January in which several scholars of international repute participated; Swami Prabhanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, delivered the keynote address;

Visakhapatnam: Spiritual retreat on 1 January in which about 400 devotees took part.

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 17 February after his trip to Tripura.  He will be visiting Chennai Math from 27 February to 12 March.  He is keeping well.

The following centres conducted free eye camps:

* through Chengalpattu centre