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.

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

The following centres conducted free eye camps:

* through Chengalpattu centre

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:

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

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:

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.

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>.

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.

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

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.

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.

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)

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.

* 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.

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—-

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.

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.

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.

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:

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).

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.

The following centres conducted free eye camps:

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

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

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.

—-o—-

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:

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;

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.

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).

—o—

Photo Gallery : Click here

PUBLIC CELEBRATION IN CONNECTION WITH
THE 177th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA
Photo Gallery 

Concluding Ceremony (2012)
175th Birth Anniversary of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna 

Procession from Dakshineshwar to Belur Math
on 22 February 2012

Photo Gallery 

Photo Gallery :  Birthday Celebration of Sri Ramakrishna

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.

12►

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

]]> http://www.belurmath.org/news_archives/2012/02/16/national-youth-day-celebrations-by-centres/feed/ 0 http://www.belurmath.org/news_archives/2012/02/16/kisan-melas-ranchi-morabadi/ http://www.belurmath.org/news_archives/2012/02/16/kisan-melas-ranchi-morabadi/#comments Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:00:55 +0000 Admin http://www.belurmath.org/news_archives/?p=1529 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.

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.

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 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.

Phone numbers:  Jayrambati centre has got two additional telephone connections: 03244-244910 and 03244-244911.

Email IDs:  Bangalore Math has got an additional email ID <rkmfive@gmail.com>.

Dhaka (Bangladesh) centre has discontinued its email ID <rkmdhak@bangla.net>.

Jayrambati centre has got two additional email IDs, namely <mm244214@bsnl.in> and <mm244214@gmail.com>.

Rajarhat Bishnupur centre has got email facility with ID <rkm.rajarhat@gmail.com>.

Websites: Dehradun (Kishanpur) centre has launched website <www.rkmdehradun.org>.

Jalpaiguri centre has changed its website address from <www.rkmjalpaiguri.org> to   <www.rkmjalpaiguri.com>.

The following centres conducted free eye camps:

* through Chengalpattu centre

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Sri Sri Saraswati Puja was held on 28 January 2012 at Belur Math. Watch Repeat Live

Winter Relief: 2470 blankets were distributed to poor people through the Headquarters (600) and the following centres: Agartala (300), Baranagar Math (20), Belgaum (200), Garbeta (200), Jalpaiguri (250), Ponnampet (500), Raipur (150), Silchar (250).

Besides, our Baranagar Math centre distributed 280 woollen chaddars to poor and needy people.

(ii) The following centres continued flood relief operations in Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal as per details given below:

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SWAMI VIVEKANANDA’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
(Sunday, 15 January 2012)

Photo Gallery

In 1984, the Government of India declared and decided to observe the Birthday of Swami Vivekananda (12 January, according to English calendar) as National Youth Day every year from 1985 onwards. To quote from the Government of India’s Communication, ”it was felt that the philosophy of Swamiji and the ideals for which he lived and worked could be a great source of inspiration for the Indian Youth.”

The Headquarters of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission as well as their branch centres observe the birthday of Swami Vivekananda withmangalarati, special worship,homa, meditation, devotional songs, religious discourses, sandhyarati, etc. on Pausha Krishna Saptami tithi, and as National Youth Day(12 January) with processions, speeches, recitations, music, youth conventions, seminars, Yogasana presentation, competitions in essay-writing, recitations, speeches, music, sports, etc. on 12 January.

Photo Gallery

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

In India: Belgaum: Convention for school students on 2 December (about 200 students of Class X participated), youth convention on 3 December (nearly 1100 students from pre-university and degree colleges took part), and devotees’ convention on 4 December (about 500 devotees participated);

Chandigarh: Guided meditation and two lectures on the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda on 15 December, which were attended by about 300 students of Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh;

Coimbatore Math: Cultural competitions from 30 November to 3 December in which about 300 students participated;

Coimbatore Mission: Interschool science exhibition on 10 and 11 November in which 40 schools participated and about 150 exhibits and working models were exhibited; a three-day state-level residential youth convention from 2 to 4 December in which about 1100 delegates participated;

Delhi: Two musical programmes on 4 December;

Lucknow: Zonal-level competitions in quiz, elocution and essay-writing on 18 December;

Madurai: Installing at the railway stations of Tiruchirapalli, Kumbakonam and Mayiladuthurai (earlier known as Mayavaram), on 15 December, pictures of Swami Vivekananda and brass plaques inscribing write-ups about the receptions given to him at the respective railway stations in February 1897;

Mumbai: A medical seminar on 3 December in which about 200 eminent doctors of the city participated;

Nagpur: Interschool group singing competition in which 873 students of 52 schools participated;

Pune: District-level youth conventions in the districts of Buldhana (27 November), Akola (30 November), Kolhapur (4 December) and Satara (11 December).  In all, about 2000 youths attended the programmes.

Salem: Launching of a mobile bookstall on 17 December;

Vadodara: Public meeting presided over by Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission; seminars on value education in which about 1400 students and 100 teachers participated; seminar on management and leadership in which about 100 executives of a company took part;

Visakhapatnam: Youth convention and citizen’s meet on 20 December in which respectively about 4000 and 250 persons participated.

Outside India: Hollywood (USA): Two Spanish publications on Swami Vivekananda: ‘Vedanta: Voice of Freedom’ and ‘The Master as I saw Him’; inauguration of a Bhajan group and a Vedic Chanting group in Hollywood; Retreats in San Diego on 9 April and 4 & 5 June; Talks in different places in and outside USA by the monastic members of the centre.

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

Chandigarh: A meeting at Nangal (Punjab) on the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna on 4 December which was attended by 60 persons;

Chapra: Interfaith conference, youth convention, doctors’ conference and spiritual retreat from 10 to 13 November, which were attended altogether by about 2000 persons;

Coimbatore Math: Procession, discourses, devotional songs, film show, etc from 23 October to 4 December;

Limbdi: Cultural competitions from 5 to 9 December in which 350 students from 20 schools participated;

Lucknow: Music recitals by renowned artistes on 11 December;

Mangalore: Cultural programme on 10, 11 & 17 December, which was attended by about 1500 people;

Narottam Nagar: Discourses and devotional songs on 8 December; 475 devotees attended the programme;

Ponnampet: Devotional music, devotees’ convention, students’ convention and women’s convention on 13, 14, 15 & 17 December respectively; in all, about 1700 persons attended the programmes;

Pune: Three-day spiritual retreat for devotees from 23 to 25 December.

Salem: Devotional songs during the whole night on 24 December.

Sargachhi: Procession, youth convention, devotees’ convention, a fair ‘Ramakrishna Mela’, and an exhibition on the life of Sri Ramakrishna on 25 and 26 December;

Viveknagar (Tripura): Devotees’ conference on 25 December, which was attended by about 600 delegates.

Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, underwent treatment at Seva Pratishthan hospital, Kolkata, for the retina of his eyes from 12 to 14 December.  He was again admitted to the hospital on 18 December for the replacement of DJ stent for PUJ obstruction in left kidney.  He returned to Belur Math on 30 December and is keeping well.

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 11 January after his trip to Gujarat.  He is keeping well.  He will be visiting Putunda (Burdwan) on 20 and 21 January, and Agartala and Udaipur (Tripura) from 31 January to 17 February.

Christmas Eve Celebration of Belur Math : 2011 : Photo Gallery

Saradapitha centre handed over 30 sets of school benches, 5 sets of chairs & tables, 10 fans and 1 computer to a school at Banipur in Howrah district which had been destroyed by fire.

(b) Odisha:  Our Puri Mission centre served cooked food (rice and dalma) for 5 days and distributed the following items to 11 families whose houses had been destroyed by fire in Old Sadar Thana Road and Kacheri Road areas in Puri town: 11 blankets, 12 saris, 15 dhotis, 11 towels, 11 mosquito‑nets, 15 sets of garments, 11 mats and 11  sets of utensils (each set containing 1 bucket, 1 degchi, 1 karai, 1 ladle, 2 plates, 2 bowls, 2 spoons and 2 tumblers).

Saradapitha centre distributed 1000 blankets to flood-affected people of Amta-II and Bagnan blocks in Howrah district.

(b) Uttar Pradesh: Our Lucknow centre distributed clothing to 221 children in the flood-affected areas near Ayodhya in the month of October.

The birthday of Holy Mother was celebrated at Belur Math on Saturday, 17 December.  Thousands of devotees attended the celebration throughout the day.  Cooked Prasad was served to about 29,000 devotees.  Swami Suparnanandaji, Head of Narendrapur (Kolkata) centre, chaired the public meeting held in the afternoon.

Holy Mother’s Birthday Celebration Photo Gallery : Click here

The 102nd Annual General Meeting of the Ramakrishna Mission was held at Belur Math on Sunday, 11 December.  It was chaired by Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission.
Click here get details update

We are sorry to announce the passing away of Swami Gopeshanandaji (Saurindra Maharaj) on 30 December at 1.30 am at Seva Pratishthan hospital, Kolkata.  He was 79 and had been suffering from several old-age ailments for some years.  Initiated by Swami Virajanandaji, he joined the Order in 1966 at Ranchi Morabadi centre and had Sannyasa from Swami Vireshwaranandaji in 1975.  Besides his joining centre, he served at Saradapitha (Belur), Deoghar and Belgharia (Kolkata) centres as an assistant, and Barisha (Kolkata), Baranagar Mission (Kolkata) and Malda centres as head.  He also participated in relief work at Dighra (Arambagh, Dist. Hooghly) in 1979, and Malda and Gaighata (North 24-Parganas) in 1983.  He had been living a retired life at Belur Math for the last nine years.  The Swami was known for his independent nature, outspokenness, devotion to the Holy Trio and dedication to the Sangha.

* Through Chengalpattu centre

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

Belgaum centre held cultural competitions in which about 1200 students participated.  The Ashrama also conducted quiz competitions, through its sub-centre, on the life and teachings of Swamiji from August to November in which about 1900 students took part.

Chandigarh Ashrama organized lectures on the life and teachings of Swamiji and distributed books on him at a school and a college in Amritsar on 29 November.

Chennai Math launched a state-of-the-art multimedia gallery “Experience Vivekananda” at Vivekanandar Illam (Vivekananda House).

Delhi centre held the last round of its all-India online competition for school students on 19 and 20 November in which 34 students from different parts of the country participated.

Durban (South Africa) Ashrama built an educational and skills development centre for a high school at Kwa Mashu and handed it over to the authorities of the school on 20 October.

Kadapa centre organized a workshop on personality development on 20 August in which 550 college students participated, and a residential workshop on value education from 9 to 11 September in which 86 teachers took part.

Nagpur centre has taken up a project Swami Vivekananda Swadhyayamala under which about 50,000 students of 440 schools, who were supplied with books on Swamiji, have been asked to answer some questions on his life.

Under its Vivekananda Value Inculcation Programme, Port Blair centre further covered 5000 students from 10 institutions in Port Blair after July 2011.

Ranchi Morabadi Ashrama organized cultural competitions at the district level in the month of October in which about 4000 students participated.  Thereafter, state level competitions were held at the Ashrama on 25 & 26 November in which 215 students took part.

Postal Address: The Postal Index Number (PIN) of Narottam Nagar centre has been changed to 792129.

Email IDs: Coimbatore Vidyalaya has discontinued its e-mail IDs <srkv20@md3.vsnl.net.in> and <srkv20@vsnl.com>, and has got a new ID <srkvcbe20@gmail.com>.

Websites:  St. Louis (USA) centre has launched a website <www.vedantastl.org>.

Chennai Math has launched a website <www.vivekanandahouse.org> which provides information about Vivekanandar Illam (Vivekananda House) and is optimized for mobile devices.

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

Belgaum: Screening of a film on Swami Vivekananda for one hour every evening from 16 to 27 October; about 700 persons watched the film.

Chandigarh: Talk on the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda at a school in Patiala on 13 October, which was attended by about 300 persons.

Delhi: On 23 October, Sri Ajay Maken, Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, released a five-episode animation film on the life of Swami Vivekananda.  In the same meeting, Sri Maken also handed over Swami Vivekananda Award, instituted by Delhi Ashrama, to four NGOs for their service to the poor and downtrodden in India.  The centre also conducted a classical music concert on 30 October.

Madurai: Installation of pictures of Swami Vivekananda and brass plaques (inscribing write-ups in English, Hindi and Tamil about Swamiji’s visits to Madurai) at Madurai railway station on 2 October.

Palai: Competitions in chanting, drawing, sports, etc in which 200 students from 5 schools and 2 colleges participated.

Salem: Competitions in recitation, oration, essay-writing, Gita chanting, devotional music, drawing and quiz from 14 and 24 October, in which 1390 students from 43 schools took part.

UNESCO Headquarters at Paris inaugurated an exhibition on Swami Vivekananda on 13 October at the Town Hall of Paris.  The inauguration was followed by a seminar in which many dignitaries, including Swami Vitamohanandaji, Head of Gretz (France) centre, participated.  

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 16 December after his visit to Madurai, Chennai and Nagpur.  He will be visiting Vadodara, Limbdi, Rajkot and Porbandar from 23 December to 10 January.  He is in good health.

West Bengal: Our Naora centre distributed 2720 saris, 1000 dhotis and 100 chaddars to 3720 flood-affected people of 16 villages in South 24-Parganas district.

Madurai: Installation of pictures of Swami Vivekananda and brass plaques (inscribing write-ups in English, Hindi and Tamil about Swamiji’s visits to Madurai) at Madurai railway station on 2 October.

Sri A.K.Goel, Divisional Railway Manager, Sri V.Venkatasubramaniam, Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Sri D.Lenin Kumar, Station Manager and many other railway officials participated. Swami Kamalatmananda, Swami Gitasarananda, Sri G.R.Radhakrishnan of Ramakrishna Samajam, Madurai and many devotees of the Madurai Sri Ramakrishna Math witnessed the occasion. Besides, Sri N.M.R.K.Jawahar Babu and many other friends associated with Madurai Gandhi Museum were present.

VISIT OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA TO MADURAI

Swami Vivekananda visited Madurai city on 2nd February 1897 after his first triumphant visit to The World Parliament of Religions, Chicago, USA, England and other European countries, and left Madurai by train to Kumbakonam. He visited Madurai earlier also in the year 1893.

The newly installed Dual Slice Spiral CT Scan Unit at Vrindaban hospital was inaugurated on 21 September.

On 26 October, Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated two medical instruments at Vrindaban hospital: (i) D10 Hemoglobin Testing System for testing hemoglobinopathy conditions such as thalassemia, sickle cells, etc, and (ii) fully automated Blood Chemistry Analyzer.

At Dhaka centre, Ms Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh; Mr Shamsul Haq Tuku, State Minister for Home Affairs; Mr Ahad Ali Sarkar, State Minister for Sports; Mr Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Dhaka City Corporation Mayor; Mr Suranjit Sengupta, Presidium Member, Bangladesh Awami League, and several other distinguished persons attended the Durga Puja celebration.

Belgaum: Screening of a film on Swami Vivekananda for one hour every evening from 16 to 27 October; about 700 persons watched the film.

Chandigarh: Talk on the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda at a school in Patiala on 13 October, which was attended by about 300 persons.

Delhi: On 23 October, Sri Ajay Maken, Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, released a five-episode animation film on the life of Swami Vivekananda.  In the same meeting, Sri Maken also handed over Swami Vivekananda Award, instituted by Delhi Ashrama, to four NGOs for their service to the poor and downtrodden in India.  The centre also conducted a classical music concert on 30 October.

Madurai: Installation of pictures of Swami Vivekananda and brass plaques (inscribing write-ups in English, Hindi and Tamil about Swamiji’s visits to Madurai) at Madurai railway station on 2 October.

Palai: Competitions in chanting, drawing, sports, etc in which 200 students from 5 schools and 2 colleges participated.

Salem: Competitions in recitation, oration, essay-writing, Gita chanting, devotional music, drawing and quiz from 14 and 24 October, in which 1390 students from 43 schools took part.

UNESCO Headquarters at Paris inaugurated an exhibition on Swami Vivekananda on 13 October at the Town Hall of Paris.  The inauguration was followed by a seminar in which many dignitaries, including Swami Vitamohanandaji, Head of Gretz (France) centre, participated.  

Chandigarh: Talk on the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna at Patiala on 13 October, which was attended by about 100 persons;

Lucknow: Musical performance on 1 October;

Raipur: Spiritual retreat on 2 October in which 120 devotees participated;

Taki: Devotees’ convention on 16 October in which about 200 devotees participated;

Thiruvananthapuram: Daylong Japa-yajna on 5 October, reading from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna on 6 October from morning to evening, discourses on the Bhagavata from 8 to 15 October, and devotees’ convention on 15 and 16 October;

Vijayawada: Four quarterly three-day residential spiritual retreats during the year.

Durga Puja was celebrated at Belur Math from 3 to 6 October with due solemnity.  The weather was fine on all the four days, and thousands of devotees attended the Puja to receive the blessings of the Divine Mother.  The Kumari Puja performed on 4 October drew huge crowds, and the Sandhi Puja on that evening was also attended by many devotees.  Sri M K Narayanan, Governor of West Bengal, attended the evening Arati of the Divine Mother on Navami Day. This year, besides Doordarshan Kolkata, Doordarshan India also telecast live the Puja at different times on all the days. Cooked Prasad was served to about 49,000 devotees on Ashtami day and to more than one lakh devotees during the four days.

Photo Gallery (Sasthi)-1
Photo Gallery (Saptami)-2
Photo Gallery (Astami-Kumari Puja)-3
Photo Gallery (Navami)-4
Photo Gallery (Dashami)-5 (updated with immersion photos)

Video-1(Sasthi)
Video-2 (Saptami)
Video-3 (Saptami)
Video-4 (Saptami)
Video-5 (Saptami Arati)
Video-6 (Astami)
Video-7 (Kumari Puja)
Video-8 (Astami Arati)
Video-9 (Sandhi Puja)
Video-10 (Navami)
Video-11 (Navami)
Video-12 (Navami Homa)
Video-13 (Dashami)
Video-14 (Immersion) 

Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, underwent treatment at Seva Pratishthan hospital, Kolkata, for the retina of his eyes from 17 to 19 October and from 28 to 31 October.  He is keeping well at Belur Math.

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

Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, returned to Belur Math on 1 November after his visit to Jammu, Vrindaban and Delhi.  He will be visiting Mumbai and Lucknow from 9 to 23 November and Madurai, Chennai and Nagpur from 29 November to 16 December.  He is in good health.

Telephone Numbers:  Puri Mission Ashrama has discontinued its telephone connection 220407.

Salem centre has got an additional telephone no. (0)94883-15602 for the Ashrama office.

Email IDs: Salem centre has got an addition email ID <ashrama@rkmasalem.org>.

Sinthi (Beni Pal Udyan) centre has got an email ID <rkmbnp@gmail.com>.  

Special worship and bhandara in his memory were held at the Math on 1 November. Devotees thronged the Math in large numbers from the early hours of the day. Prasad was served to about 12,000 devotees . Swami Smarananandaji, Swmai Prabhananda, Swami Vimalatmananda, Swami Purnatmananda and Dr. Satchidananda Dhar spoke in the memorial meeting held in the afternoon. An estimated 25,000 people  visited the Math that day.

Download : Life of Swami Prameyanandaji Maharaj (PDF file)

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Videos


Bhajan and Chanting by Brahmacharins at Belur Math on, 1 November, 2011

Devotional songs by Kouahik Mazumder at belur math on 1 November, 2011

Devotional songs by Sujit Kumar Chandra at Belur Math on 1 November, 2011

Swami Prameyanandaji Maharaj

With deep sorrow we record the passing away of Swami Prameyanandaji (Ramgopal Maharaj), one of the Vice-Presidents of Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, at Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan hospital, Kolkata, on 20 October 2011 at about 8:25 am. He was 79.

The Swami had been keeping tolerably well for the last few months, though he suffered occasionally from hypoaexemia (low level of oxygen in blood). On 9 October, just two days after Vijaya Dashami, he was admitted to Seva Pratishthan on account of a marked fall of oxygen level in blood. On 17 October his health condition became critical and he was put on ventilator support. His condition contiued to be grim and the sad end came on 20 October morning.

The body was cremated at Belur Math tomorrow (21.10.11) at about 12.30 pm.

Swami Prameyanandaji Maharaj

Swami Prameyanandaji was born in April 1933 at Dhakadakshin in Sylhet district (now in Bangladesh). An initiated disciple of Swami Shankaranandaji Maharaj, he joined the Order at Karimganj (Assam) centre in 1951, and had Sannyasa from his guru in 1961. Just after joining the Order, he participated in our relief and rehabilitation project at Cachar (Assam) from May 1951 to August 1953. Thereafter, he was posted to Shillong centre where he continued till 1960. During 1960-1961 he served at our Tamluk ashrama for a few months. After that, he served Swami Yatishwaranandaji Maharaj at Belur Math for two months. In June 1961, he was posted to the Headquarters Office at Belur Math. Having served there till February 1966, he was appointed Secretary of Swami Vireswaranandaji Maharaj, the then President of the Ramakrishna Order. He served Revered Maharaj for 19 long years in that capacity. After the Mahasamadhi of Swami Vireswaranandaji Maharaj, he was made Editor of ‘Udbodhan’, the Bengali journal of the Order.

Swami Prameyananda

In April 1987, he was appointed a Trustee of Ramakrishna Math and a Member of the Governing Body of Ramakrishna Mission and, in September of the same year, he was made Manager of Belur Math. In March 1997, he was elected Treasurer of the twin organizations. Having served in these capacities for many years, he was elected Vice‑President of the Ramakrishna Order in February 2009, which office he held till the end. During his spiritual ministry, he blessed many devotees with Mantra Diksha (spiritual initiation) in West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Bangladesh.

Swami Prameyananda

He also visited at different times Russia, USA, Canada, Mauritius, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and various countries of Europe. Revered Maharaj has two books to his credit: Sevadarshe Ramakrishnananda (life of Swami Ramakrishnananda) and Puja Vijnana (the science of ritualistic worship).

His sad demise is a great loss to the Organization and creates a void difficult to fill up.

Download : Life of Swami Prameyanandaji Maharaj (PDF file)

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Cremation Photo Gallery 

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Photo Gallery

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Video

Cremation Video

Special worship and bhandara and memorial meeting of Swami Prameyanandaji Maharaj Belur Math Math on 1 November, 2011

Special worship and bhandara in his memory were held at the Math on 1 November. Devotees thronged the Math in large numbers from the early hours of the day. Prasad was served to about 12,000 devotees . Swami Smarananandaji, Swmai Prabhananda, Swami Vimalatmananda, Swami Purnatmananda and Dr. Satchidananda Dhar spoke in the memorial meeting held in the afternoon. An estimated 25,000 people  visited the Math that day.

Download : Life of Swami Prameyanandaji Maharaj (PDF file)

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Videos


Bhajan and Chanting by Brahmacharins at Belur Math on, 1 November, 2011

Devotional songs by Kouahik Mazumder at belur math on 1 November, 2011

Devotional songs by Sujit Kumar Chandra at Belur Math on 1 November, 2011

(a)  Bhubaneswar centre distributed 13,255 kg chattu (gram flour) and 5663 kg biscuits among 9200 flood-affected families of 48 villages in 6 blocks of Jajpur and Cuttack districts.

(b) Puri Math centre distributed 3500 kg chira (rice flakes), 175 kg gur (molasses), 70 kg milk powder, biscuits, soap-bars, detergent powder, 1400 mosquito-coils, etc among 700 flood-affected families of Satyabadi and Puri Sadar blocks in Puri district.

(c)  Puri Mission centre distributed 14,795 kg chira, 892 kg sugar, 250 kg biscuits, 84 kg milk powder, 2544 candles and 1800 matchboxes among 2959 flood-affected families of 30 villages in Gop and Delanga blocks of Puri district.

West Bengal: (a) Our Malda centre continued its primary relief work among the flood-affected people in Malda district. The centre distributed 6100 kg rice, 731 kg dal (pulses), 1024 kg biscuits, 6716 kg chira, 3500 kg salt, 548 kg edible oil, 1636 kg milk powder, 2300 kg potatoes, 920 saris, 230 dhotis and 257 lungis among 352 flood-affected families of 12 villages in Ratua and Harishchandrapur blocks of the district.

(b) Swamiji’s Ancestral House & Cultural Centre, Kolkata, distributed 200 saris and 200 dhotis to flood-affected people of Athpur and Manipur villages in Sandeshkhali-II block of North 24-Parganas district.

This is the first time that a scientist from an institution located in Eastern India has received this award in the field of pure mathematics, and the fledgling Vivekananda University, including its Department of Mathematics, is the youngest to achieve this distinction.

Agartala: devotees’ conferences at Sabroom and Bikhora in South Tripura on 22 and 23 September respectively; altogether about 1000 delegates participated;

Chengalpattu: processions, devotional songs, talks and cultural programmes at Thirumani and Keezhakaranai villages on 3 and 18 September respectively;

Hyderabad: 126 satsangs (spiritual retreats) from February to August 2011 in which altogether about 14,000 devotees took part;

Kamarpukur: guardians’ convention, teachers’ convention and cultural programmes from 4 to 12 September;

Kanchipuram: residential spiritual retreat from 23 to 25 September in which 375 persons participated;

Kanpur: art competition on 14 August and youth convention on 11 September, in which respectively 210 and 260 students participated; a sadhu sammelan (monks’ convention) on 18 September in which 75 sadhus of different denominations participated;

Khetri: three-day lecture programme from 29 to 31 August; about 200 devotees attended it every day;

Lucknow: free cancer detection & awareness camp and religious discourses on 3 September, and spiritual retreat on 4 September;

Ranchi Morabadi: meetings on the themes ‘Harmony of Religions’, ‘Harmony of four Yogas’ and ‘Harmony of Science and Religion’ on 11, 18 and 25 September respectively;

Silchar: devotees’ convention on 25 September in which 480 devotees participated;

Swamiji’s House: intra-faith dialogue on 23 and 24 September in which representatives of various Hindu sects participated; Swami Prabhanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated the two-day programme.

At the initiative of Asansol centre, Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Bhava Prachar Parishad member Ashramas in Burdwan district organized a twelve-day Vivekananda ratha yatra (procession of Swami Vivekananda chariot) at Asansol, Burdwan and some nearby towns.  Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated the yatra on 19 September.

The junction of National Highway-2 and Vivekananda Sarani near Asansol centre has been renamed ‘Vivekananda Mor’ (Vivekananda Junction) by Asansol Municipal Corporation.  Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, unveiled the plaque on 19 September.

Delhi centre conducted an interfaith meet on 10 and 11 September in which 13 religious leaders of 9 faiths presented speeches.  Each of these speeches was followed by an interactive question‑answer session with the audience.  Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India, delivered the inaugural address and Smt Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi, gave the valedictory address.  About 1000 persons from various faiths attended the meet each day.

Delhi Ashrama held an all-India online competition for school students.  The first phase of the competition attracted 52,787 entries from 8989 schools.  Nearly 1000 students were selected for the second phase.

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

Agartala: a classical violin recital at Viveknagar on 17 September which was attended by about 400 persons;

Chennai Vidyapith: an exhibition on the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda;

Kanchipuram: a youth camp on 23 September in which 450 college and polytechnic students participated;

Kankurgachhi: a youth convention on 11 September which was attended by about 1000 youths and 150 teachers and guardians;

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Photo of Khetri

Khetri: four interactive lecture programmes from 21 to 23 September; altogether about 2800 persons, including 2600 students, attended the programmes;

Limbdi: talks on Swami Vivekananda from 15 to 17 September; a total of about 4000 students and 250 teachers attended;

Mangalore: a seminar on the theme Education for Character and Nation Building for BEd students on 21 September and for college students on 22 September; about 550 BEd students and 500 college students participated;

Mumbai: a seminar on Human Excellence beyond Academic Excellence on 17 September in which about 250 persons from various institutions, including administrators, heads, educators, academicians and students, participated;

Pune: a service project contest in which 47 teams of youths executed different service projects for a month in July-August and submitted their project reports with photographs, videos, etc to the Ashrama;

Saradapitha, Belur: a lecture programme on Swamiji and Youth organized by Shilpamandira on 7 September; Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, presided over the programme;

Silchar: youth conventions on 23 and 24 September in which respectively 255 school students and 146 college students participated.

Swami Medhasanandaji, head of Japan centre, reached Delhi on 28 September on a four‑week visit to India.

No. Centre Duration

of camps Patients

checked / treated Specs given Surgeries no. performed at 1 Belgaum August 145 – 19 Our eye care centre in Belgaum 3 A hospital in Belgaum 2 Chennai* 11 Sept. 41 15 10 A hospital at Pammal (Dt. Kanchipuram) 3 Khetri August 115 – 36 An eye hospital in Jaipur 4 Lucknow September 1409 – 190 Our Lucknow hospital 5 Porbandar 9 Sept. 107 – 27 A hospital in Virnagar (Dt. Rajkot) 6 Rajkot September 277 – 105 Our eye care centre in Rajkot 7 Salem 4 to 18 Sept. 721 123 16 A hospital in Salem 8 Silchar Aug. & Sept. 633 – 142 Two hospitals in Silchar

Telephone Number: The telephone number of Haripad centre has been changed from (0)93886‑55691 to (0)97453-25834.

Swami Gitanandaji, Vice-President, was admitted to Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata, on 12 September for the treatment of chest infection.  He was discharged from the hospital on 26 September.  He continues to be under medical care at Kankurgachhi Math.

Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, is scheduled to visit Baranagar Mission Ashrama from 8 to 12 October, and Jammu, Vrindaban and Delhi from 21 October to 2 November.  He is in good health.

Swami Prameyanandaji, Vice-President, was discharged from the Seva Pratishthan hospital on 30 September.  He is keeping tolerably well at Belur Math.

Immersion at Belur Math

Photo Gallery (Sasthi)-1
Photo Gallery (Saptami)-2
Photo Gallery (Astami-Kumari Puja)-3
Photo Gallery (Navami)-4
Photo Gallery (Dashami)-5 (updated with immersion photos)

Video-1(Sasthi)
Video-2 (Saptami)
Video-3 (Saptami)
Video-4 (Saptami)
Video-5 (Saptami Arati)
Video-6 (Astami)
Video-7 (Kumari Puja)
Video-8 (Astami Arati)
Video-9 (Sandhi Puja)
Video-10 (Navami)
Video-11 (Navami)
Video-12 (Navami Homa)
Video-13 (Dashami)
Video-14 (Immersion)

(a) Antpur centre distributed 36,018 kg chira, 3500 kg sugar, 10,200 packets of biscuits and 1 lakh halogen tablets among 21,840 flood-affected families of Jangipara block in Hooghly district and Amta-II and Udaynarayanpur blocks in Howrah district from 14 to 17 August.

(b) Belgharia centre distributed 29,960 kg chira, 3200 kg sugar and 3,40,000 halogen tablets among 3210 flood-affected families of 20 villages at Daspur-I and Daspur-II blocks in Paschim Medinipur district in the month of August.

(c) Ichapur centre distributed 40,000 kg chira and 3500 kg sugar among 25,648 flood‑affected families of 46 villages in Khanakul-II block of Hooghly district from 16 to 22 August.

(d) Malda centre distributed 7384 kg chira, 3345 kg sugar, 669 kg dal and 225 kg milk powder among 669 flood-affected families of 14 villages at Ratua and Harishchandrapur blocks in Malda district from 13 to 20 August.

Malda Centre Photos

(e) Medinipur centre distributed 14,000 kg chira, 3000 kg sugar and 2500 packets of biscuits among 2794 flood-affected families of Maligram, Gobardhanpur, Bagnabar and Jalchak anchals under Pingla block in Paschim Medinipur district on 21 August.

(f) Naora centre distrbuted 10,000 kg chira and 1000 kg sugar among 2920 flood-affected families of 23 villages in North and South 24-Parganas districts from 14 to 17 August.  The centre also served cooked food to 80 affected families of Tabla-Kushangra village in South 24‑Parganas district for 5 days (from 15 to 19 August).  

(g) Saradapitha centre distributed 1000 kg rice, 25,000 kg chira, 2500 kg sugar, 29 cartons of biscuits and 2 lakh halogen tablets among 5678 flood-affected families of Udaynarayanpur and Amta-II blocks in Howrah district from 16 to 21 August.

(h) Sargachhi centre conducted the following relief operations in 4 blocks of Murshidabad district in the month of August: (i) distributed 650 kg chira, 350 kg sugar, 839 packets of biscuits, 5 bags of bleaching powder and 1,90,000 halogen tablets among 2314 flood victims, (ii) served cooked food (khichuri) to 9267 affected persons of 14 villages, and (iii) distributed 1474 saris, 1366 lungis and 225 dhotis to needy people in 10 villages.

(i) Sikra-Kulingram centre distributed 4250 kg chira, 1437 kg sugar, 6000 packets of biscuits and two lakh halogen tablets among 1161 flood-affected families of 16 villages under Swarup Nagar and Baduria blocks in North 24-Parganas district from 11 to 15 August.

Sikra-Kulingram Centre Photos