Another Vivekananda Ratha Yatra (2013-2014) was launched on 25 April from Ranchi Morabadi Ashrama.  It will cover six states in North India, namely Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

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.)

Asansol: A youth convention on 24 March in which 70 students of 18 schools participated.

Chandigarh: 24 value education programmes for 4715 students and 3 value education workshops for 400 teachers from January to March.

Chennai Students’ Home: Seminars and various cultural competitions from August to November 2012 in which altogether 2763 students from 321 schools of Chennai participated.

Cherrapunji: The concluding event of the tribal and folk cultural programmes of northeast region was held at Cherrapunji centre on 30 March in which 30 troupes representing different tribal groups performed ethnic music concerts, dances, dramas, etc.  Many dignitaries and nearly 1400 people attended the programme.

On 29 April, Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, gave a talk on Swami Vivekananda which was attended by about 700 persons, mostly students and teachers.

Delhi: During 2012-13, the TB Clinic of the centre sensitized 8772 students as well as their teachers in 26 schools through the health awareness programme ‘Stop Tuberculosis’. Subsequently, 2893 of these students participated in 51 poster-making sessions on ‘Stop TB’, and selected students participated in a seminar on the same theme on 22 March 2013.

A programme of Abhang Bhajans and Namavalis at the Ashrama on 14 April which was attended by nearly 500 people.

A classical Bharatnatyam dance programme titled ‘Krishna Darshan’ at the International Centre for Cultural Relationships, New Delhi, on 21 April which was attended by about 300 persons.

Guwahati: Vivek Ratha (a decorated vehicle with Swami Vivekananda’s statue) journeying in the northeast region reached Guwahati on 24 April.  It was received with great enthusiasm by local monks, devotees and admirers of Swami Vivekananda.  On this occasion, Guwahati centre held a public meeting on the Ashrama premises which was attended by about 1000 people. The Ratha reached Kamakhya Temple on the following day.  Nearly 500 people attended the public meeting there.

Hatamuniguda: On 27 April, Dr S C Jamir, Governor of Orissa, unveiled the newly installed 12½-foot bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda in front of the Ashrama’s school building in the presence of many dignitaries, devotees and students.  Dr Jamir and Swami Gautamanandaji among others addressed the public meeting held on this occasion.  About 700 people attended the programme.

Jalpaiguri: Cultural competitions on 25 April in which around 1000 students from 20 schools took part.

Limbdi: Religious discourses from 5 to 7 April.

A six-day camp for school students from 25 to 30 April which was attended by 85 students every day.

Mangalore: Hindustani vocal music performance by a renowned artiste on 6 April which was attended by 350 persons.

Mumbai: A programme of devotional songs by eminent artistes on 5 April which was attended by about 1000 people.

Quilandy: Three students’ camps at Quilandy and one at Waynad in the month of April in which altogether 268 students participated.

Rahara: Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated a seven-day celebration and the Vivekananda Mela (fair) on 30 March in the presence of Mr Altamas Kabir, Chief Justice of India, and several other dignitaries.  A colourful procession with three Rathas (decorated vehicles) and more than 7000 people circumambulated the entire town on 31 March.  Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, handed over prizes to the winners of the cultural competitions in which 2295 students of 68 schools and 11 orphanages had participated.  More than 5000 people attended the programmes comprising conventions, cultural events, etc every day from 30 March to 5 April.

Ranchi Morabadi: Three district-level youth conventions in April in which altogether 2263 youths participated.

Salem: Value education programmes for parents on the Ashrama premises on 27 March and at a school in Namakkal district on 6 April.  In all, 108 parents attended the programmes.

Orientation programme for auto-drivers on 21 April in which 78 auto-drivers participated.

Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House: 21 lectures at different places in and around Kolkata between 23 February and 20 April which were attended altogether by about 10,000 people.

Tiruvalla: Youth convention at Pathanamthitta on 13 April which was attended by 96 youths.

Vadodara: Value education programmes in five educational institutes of Gujarat in March and April which were attended by nearly 600 students.

Public meetings, meditation camp, religious discourses and musical story on Swami Vivekananda from 12 to 20 April (each programme attended by 150 to 200 persons), and musical performances on 21 & 22 April (attended by about 500 people).

Outside India: Gretz (France): A four-day programme comprising seminar on ‘Swami Vivekananda and His Universal Message’, guided meditation, yogasanas and devotional music from 18 to 21 April which was attended by about 80 persons on each day.

Sri Shivraj Patil, Governor of Punjab, visited Chandigarh Ashrama on 5 April and participated in its annual celebration.

Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated the renovated Swami Vivekananda Children’s Library & Development Centre in the library building of Rajkot Ashrama on 9 April.

Sri MK Narayanan, Governor of West Bengal, visited Kamarpukur and Jayrambati centres on 11 April.

The Junior Basic School (Unit-3) of our Sarisha centre has been awarded the Nirmal Vidyalaya Puraskar for the year 2012-2013 in recognition of its commendable efforts in advancing Water Sanitation and Hygiene Interventions organized by Sarva Siksha Mission, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal.  The award carries a citation, a trophy and Rs. 5000/-.

The outgoing class-10 students of our Malda school secured the 1st, 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th ranks in the National Talent Search Examination (State Level) 2013, Government of West Bengal.

Seva Pratishthan conducted a medical camp at Kotulpur, Dist. Bankura, on 24 March with a team of 18 members (3 diabetologists, 1 physician, 2 ophthalmologists, 2 dietitians and 10 diabetes caregivers).  In all, 146 patients (including 76 diabetic patients) were treated and given medical counseling.

Ulsoor centre conducted the following medical camps:

* General: Dental, Eye, Pediatric and General

Lucknow Sevashrama held a two-day workshop on “Kangaroo Mother Care” on 25 & 26 April at its Polyclinic & Institute of Medical Sciences where experts from different parts of the country interacted with the paediatricians and nurses in and around Lucknow, updating them with the novel method of baby-care particularly suited for developing nations like India.

Lucknow Sevashrama provided Vitamin-A capsules to 2360 underprivileged children of eleven schools (2 in Barabanki, 1 in Sitapur and 8 in Lucknow district) and free glasses to 71 children with refractory errors in the month of April.

E-mail IDs: Jamtara Math has got email facility with id <rkmjamtara1921@gmail.com>.

Salem centre has discontinued its email id <ashrama@rkmasalem.org>.

Website: Lucknow centre has got an alternative abbreviated address <www.rkml.org> for its website <www.ramakrishnalucknow.org>.

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

Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, is keeping well at Belur Math.  He will be visiting Mayavati, Shyamla Tal and Lucknow from 8 May to 14 June.

Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-President, is scheduled to return to Belur Math on 12 May after his visit to Shillong, Cherrapunji, Guwahati and Pandu.  He will be visiting the Institute of Culture (Kolkata) on 13 May, and Agartala from 22 May to 5 June.

2. Hailstorm Relief: West Bengal: In the aftermath of a destructive hailstorm in Bankura district, our Ramharipur centre distributed 1960 roof tiles and 198 asbestos sheets among 74 families of 6 villages in Bankura district from 22 to 27 April.

3. Fire Relief: The following centres distributed various items among the families whose houses were gutted by fire.

4. Economic Rehabilitation: Our Rahara centre distributed 15 rickshaws, 15 sewing machines and 23 cycles to economically backward people on 30 March and 4 April.

5. Distress Relief: The following centres distributed various items, shown against their names, to needy people:

(a)     Baranagar Mission: 30 saris and 20 dhotis on 2 April.

(b)     Khetri: 24 sewing machines on 4 January.

(c)     Rahara: 730 saris, 75 dhotis, 75 lungis, 150 children’s garments, 685 mosquito-nets, 300 bed-sheets, 220 school bags, 117 litres of coconut oil and 24 kg milk powder on 30 March and 4 April.

Ramharipur: 200 kg rice on 15 April.

Click here to get  Welcome address develivered by The General Secretary

12►

.

- A Brief Report and an Appeal

Dear Sir / Madam,

Trust this finds you all hale and hearty.

You may be aware that nearly six states of the country are presently reeling under acute water scarcity. Lakhs of families are suffering from want of minimum potable water. This grave drought situation at the very onset of summer is a serious concern for us all.

Seeing the miserable plight of these poor and needy people, Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission has decided to conduct drought relief work on a large scale. For your kind information, thousands of liters of drinking water is being distributed among the drought victims through our Pune and Aurangabad centres in Ahmednagar and Aurangabad districts of Maharashtra. Moreover, thousands of liters of drinking water is being distributed among the drought victims through our Shivanahalli (Bangalore) centre in Kolar district of Karnataka.

The relief work is continuing. Further reports are awaited.

Needless to mention, we have to continue this distribution of water until the monsoon arrives or any other source is made available. For this purpose only, the estimated expenditure will cross at least One Crore Rupees. The drought relief work will be further extended depending upon the drought situation and the availability of funds.

We solely depend on the generosity of benevolent persons like you to carry out this large-scale service project successfully. We sincerely request you and your friends to kindly come forward and help us generously in this noble endeavour, to the extent possible.

All donations paid in cash or by cheque / demand draft drawn in favour of “RAMAKRISHNA MISSION” payable at Kolkata are exempt from Income Tax under section 80 – G of the I. T. Act. Donations may please be sent to:

THE GENERAL SECRETARY

Ramakrishna Mission

Belur Math, Howrah, W.B. 711 202

Ph: 2654 9581 / 9681

Fax: 2654 9885

E-mail: rkmrelief@gmail.com

For more details and photographs please visit: www.belurmath.org/relief

Anticipating a favourable response for the noble cause and also thanking you for your dedicated support and continued enthusiasm.

With kindest regards,

Yours sincerely,

Swami Suvirananda

Assistant Secretary

TO THE WORLD YOU MIGHT BE ONE PERSON,

BUT TO ONE VICTIM, YOU MIGHT BE THE WORLD.

Moreover, our Almora centre distributed 151 sweaters and 2 woollen chaddars to the poor and needy from 4 January to 12 February.

2.  Drought Relief: Maharashtra: In the wake of the severe drought in certain parts of Maharashtra, our Pune centre supplied 2,16,000 litres of drinking water among 12,735 people of 9 villages in Ahmednagar district from 25 to 31 March.

3.  Distress Relief: The following centres distributed various items, shown against their names, to needy people:

India:

(a)    Belgharia: 256 dhotis & 430 lungis on 19 February, and 320 saris, 320 lungis & 730 children’s garments on 29 March.

(b)    Guwahati: 300 saris, 50 dhotis and 150 tins (total 45 kg) of protein powder in December-January.

(c)     Nagpur: 120 saris, 30 chaddars, 30 towels and 300 soap-bars on 19 March.

(d)    Ponnampet: 70 plastic sheets, 40 steel plates and 40 steel tumblers in August-September 2012.

United States of America:

New York Vedanta Society: Garments like jackets, sweaters, coats, pants and t-shirts to 500 homeless people; various food-stuffs like cereals, vegetables, soup, sugar, flour, etc and other necessary items like soap, detergent and shampoo to 250 homeless people in New York City on 24 March.

Swami Ishatmanandaji, who had been appointed head of Chicago (USA) centre, reached Chicago on 28 February.

Swami Chetananandaji returned to St. Louis (USA) after his two-month visit to India and Bangladesh.

Swami Satyayuktanandaji returned to India on 26 March from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

India:             Bangalore: Vivekananda Ratha Yatra (procession with Vivekananda carriage), which will cover all the districts in Karnataka, was launched on 13 March.  Nearly 1500 people attended the public meeting organized on this occasion.

Chengalpattu: Processions, devotional music and film shows on Swami Vivekananda at Athivakkam, Devadhur, Perampakkam, Thiruvilachery, Maruvalam, Kezhakandai, Vasandhawadi, Vilagam, Ozhaveti, Sidhandimandapam on 23 & 24 February and 2, 3, 8, 9, 16, 17, 23 & 24 March respectively.

Chennai Math: Selvi J Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, inaugurated the yearlong statewide celebration of Swami Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary at Vivekanandar Illam on 27 February.  She also laid the foundation stone for the proposed ‘Vivekananda Cultural Centre’ on the vacant land adjacent to Vivekanandar Illam, and released a Tamil book containing pictures of Swamiji.

The centre has published 150 eBooks in Vedanta eBooks App (www.vedantaebooks.org) and has made available the iPad versions of The Vedanta Kesari and Sri Ramakrishna Vijayam.

Delhi: A play on Swami Vivekananda on 29 March (attended by about 400 people) and a programme of devotional songs by a renowned classical singer on 31 March (attended by nearly 350 people).

Hyderabad: Seminars on Management and Leadership Lessons from Swami Vivekananda on 9 and 23 March which were attended by about 1200 youths and professionals.

Institute of Culture, Kolkata: On 1 March, Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, released the book Swami Vivekananda: New Perspectives, an anthology on Swamiji, brought out by the centre.

Kanchipuram: Speeches and cultural competitions in seven schools and seven colleges on 15, 19, 22, 26 & 31 January, 1, 2 & 13 February, and 1, 2 & 8 March which were attended altogether by about 9000 students.

Kankurgachhi: A seminar on “Swami Vivekananda and Seva Dharma” on 24 March in which 35 eminent doctors of Kolkata participated; nearly 400 people attended the seminar.

Limbdi: Talks on the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda at seven schools which were attended by nearly 6000 students in all.

Lucknow: A training workshop on ‘Youth Counseling and Positive Thinking’ as well as an awareness programme from 23 to 25 March.  Thirty counsellors from 7 states participated in the training workshop and nearly 300 parents, teachers and interested youths attended the awareness programme.

Porbandar: A retreat on 24 February (attended by about 150 devotees) and a seminar on positive thinking on 25 February (attended by nearly 200 youths).

Rajkot: 14 youth programmes in Upleta and Bhavnagar on the arrival of ‘Vivekananda Rath’ at those places; about 4500 students in all attended the programmes.

Ranchi Sanatorium: A seven-day national integration camp for youths from 23 February to 1 March in which 160 youths from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal participated.

Salem: Discourses on Swami Vivekananda on 22, 23 & 24 February and 15, 16 & 17 March on the Ashrama premises.

Programmes in 14 rural schools of Namakkal district in Tamil Nadu from 6 to 13 March which were attended altogether by 2141 students.

Sargachhi: Cricket tournament from 3 February to 10 March in which 16 teams participated.

Tiruvalla:  Speeches and cultural competitions in 2 colleges and 4 schools in February and March which were attended altogether by about 3000 students.

Outside India: Boston (USA): On 8 March, the centre organized a programme in Sever Hall at Harvard (the same room in which Swami Vivekananda had lectured on Vedanta Philosophy in May 1894).  The programme included a slideshow on Swamiji, music, a scholarly panel discussion and a general discussion.  A good number of people attended the programme.

Dhaka (Bangladesh): The yearlong celebration was inaugurated on 14 March by Sri Promod Mankin, Deputy Minister for Social Welfare, Bangladesh.  The three-day programme held from 14 to 16 March comprised discourses by eminent persons, devotional songs and cultural shows.

Dinajpur (Bangladesh): A devotees’ conference and a public meeting on the Ashrama premises on 15 March which were attended by 300 and 400 devotees respectively.

Meetings at five different places in Dinajpur district which were attended altogether by nearly 10,000 persons.

Mauritius: A programme comprising devotional songs, talks and a cultural show in a village on 23 March which was attended by nearly 400 people.

Sydney (Australia): A programme comprising worship, speeches, an interfaith conference and devotional music at Brisbane on 9 March which was attended by around 200 people.

Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, laid the foundation stone for the proposed kitchen‑cum‑dining-hall complex near the new water treatment plant at Belur Math on 20 March.

Five students of Vivekananda Veda Vidyalaya, Belur Math, were awarded gold medals for securing all‑India first ranks in Purva Madhyama (equivalent to Class X) and Uttara Madhyama (equivalent to Class XII) examinations conducted by Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi, in 2010, 2011 and 2012.  Sri Pallam Raju, Union Minister for Human Resource Development, handed them over the medals in the convocation of the Sansthan at New Delhi on 21 January 2013.

Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, laid the foundation stone for the proposed lecture hall at Vadodara centre on 30 March, the birthday of Swami Yoganandaji.

Ghatshila centre conducted a blood donation camp on 10 February in which 64 persons donated blood.

Swamiji’s Ancestral House conducted a medical camp each at Bayermari and Bamanpukur villages of North 24-Parganas district in February and March in which altogether 233 patients were treated.

On 24 March, Kankurgachhi centre held (i) a free health check-up camp in which 450 patients from a nearby slum were treated, and (ii) a health awareness programme which was attended by about 600 persons, including 125 volunteers and 20 paramedical staff.

Tiruvalla Ashrama conducted two medical camps on the Ashrama premises, one each in February and March, in which altogether 67 patients were treated.

* through Chengalpattu centre; ^# in association with Chapra centre

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

Email IDs:  Limbdi centre has discontinued its email id <rkmslimbdi@yahoo.com>.

Mumbai centre has discontinued its email id <rkmkhar@vsnl.com>.  It has now two ids: <mumbairkm@gmail.com> and <mumbairkm@yahoo.com>.

Websites: Vivekananda Centenary Girls’ Higher Secondary School (Chennai Math) has launched a website with address <www.rkmvcs.edu.in>.

Jayrambati centre has launched a website with address <www.rkmjoyrambati.org>.

Swami Gitanandaji, Vice-President, was admitted to Seva Pratishthan on 7 March for the treatment of aspiration pneumonia.  He was discharged from the hospital on 20 March and continues to be under medical care at Kankurgachhi Math.

Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, is keeping well at Belur Math.  He is scheduled to stay at Bangalore Math from 2 to 24 April.

Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-President, is scheduled to return to Belur Math on 10 April after his visit to Vadodara and Rajkot.  He is scheduled to visit Barasat from 18 to 22 April, and Shillong, Cherrapunji, Guwahati and Pandu from 26 April to 12 May.

Moreover, the following centres distributed winter clothing to the poor and needy as per details given below:

2.   Distress Relief: The following centres distributed various items, shown against their names, to needy people:

India:                      

(a)   Asansol: 78 saris and 26 dhotis on 6 January

(b)   Baranagar Mission: 30 saris and 14 dhotis in February 2013

(c)   Belgharia: 300 saris, 300 lungis and 400 children’s garments on 19 February

(d)   Cherrapunjee: 210 saris on 10 February

(e)   Jayrambati: 4336 saris from 16 December to 14 January

(f)    Kothar: 198 saris, 690 dhotis and 75 vests on 12 January

(g)   Puri Mission: 1000 saris from 28 November to 3 February

(h)   Ranchi Sanatorium: 648 bed-sheets from 30 December to 20 January

(i)     Sikra-Kulingram: 1000 saris and 150 chaddars on 9 and 10 February

Bangladesh:

(a)   Dinajpur: 200 dhotis and 100 chaddars on 23 February

Barisal: 40 saris and 30 lungis on 16 February

[nggallery id=131].

The name of the Mission centre at Comilla (Bangladesh) has been changed from ‘Ramakrishna Ashrama, Comilla’ to ‘Ramakrishna Mission, Comilla’.

On 13 February, Calcutta Tram Corporation (CTC) launched two trams, Vivek Tirtha and Parivrajak, to spread awareness about the life and message of Swami Vivekananda.  Vivek Tirtha is an exhibition tram displaying letters, pictures, speeches and biography of Swamiji.  It will be stationed at different CTC depots in Kolkata till 15 April 2013.  Parivrajak is a passenger tram decorated with the pictures and quotations of Swamiji.  Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, flagged off the trams and addressed the meeting organized on this occasion.

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.)

Allahabad: An intra-faith conference from 7 to 9 February at the Kumbha Mela camp in which several scholarly monks of various Hindu denominations and groups delivered talks.

Baranagar Math: Youth convention on 2 February which was attended by 500 delegates.  Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, delivered the inaugural address, released a book and a DVD, and inaugurated the exhibition set up on the occasion.

Spiritual retreat on 4 February in which 400 devotees participated.

Cultural programmes at Girish Mancha, Baghbazar, on 8 February which were attended by about 900 people.

Belgaum: Quiz contests in January in which 271 students from 3 schools participated.

Chandigarh: Students’ convention on 28 January in which 150 students took part.

Teachers’ convention on 29 January in which 130 teachers participated.

The centre launched a yearlong Vivekananda Ratha Yatra (procession with Vivekananda carriage) on 3 February to spread the message of Swami Vivekananda in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

Chengalpattu: Processions, devotional music and film shows on Swami Vivekananda at Melakandai, Aurimedu, Mazhuvankaranai, Kollampakkam, Orakatupetai, Pandur, Kotapunjai, Sirunallur, Melavasalai on 19, 20, 25, 26 & 27 January, and 2, 9, 16 & 17 February respectively.

Coimbatore Mission: An interschool kabadi tournament on 1 February in which about 420 students from 32 schools took part.

A youth rally on 2 February in which nearly 1000 students participated.

Cooch Behar: District-level youth convention on 6 February in which about 1500 students participated. 

Dehradun: At the initiative of the centre, a seven-foot bronze statue of Swami  Vivekananda was installed at the Mussorie Diversion Circle by the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on 12 January.

Delhi: A programme of classical devotional songs on 17 February which was attended by nearly 400 people.

Guwahati: Procession, youth convention, public meetings, quiz competition and cultural programmes from 8 to 10 February.  About 2000 persons participated in the procession and nearly 400 people attended the other programmes.

Hyderabad: Workshop on the theme Leadership Lessons from Swami Vivekananda for the Youth on 23 February which was attended by nearly 700 youths.

Institute of Culture, Kolkata: A national seminar on Indian Traditions in Search of Unity through Music on 9 and 10 February in which 12 papers were read out.  Musical presentations formed a part of the seminar to appreciate the extent of unity in Indian music.  About 100 persons attended the programme.

An art exhibition on the theme Renaissance of India and the World: Life and Mission of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda was inaugurated on 17 February.  The exhibition will be on display till 14 March 2013.

Kanchipuram: Speeches and cultural competitions in one school and one college on 15 February which were attended altogether by 550 students.

Kankurgachhi: The centre has started “Vivekananda Endowment Lecture”.  The first lecture, delivered by Swami Chetananandaji, Minister-in-Charge, Vedanta Society of St. Louis, on 9 February, was attended by about 1000 people. 

Kanpur: Speeches, devotional music and youth convention from 16 to 18 February.  In all, 750 persons attended the programme.

Khetri: State-level youth convention on 9 February in which 4000 youths participated.

Limbdi: Talks on the life and message of Swami Vivekananda in five educational institutions between 6 and 18 February, which were attended by nearly 3800 students in all.

Madurai: Swami Vivekananda reached Madurai on 2 February 1897 on his triumphant return from the West.  He was given a reception and Swamiji gave his reply.  In commemoration of this event, Madurai Math held a special function on 2 February 2013 which was attended by about 600 people.  Leaflets containing the address of welcome given to Swamiji at Madurai and his reply to it were given to all the audience.

Medinipur: Youth convention on 13 January in which 354 students and 42 teachers from 24 schools participated.

Mumbai: At the initiative of the centre, the crossing of Ramakrishna Mission Marg and 12th Road, Khar (West), Mumbai, was named Swami Vivekananda Chowk on 3 February.

Mysore: Youth convention on 30 December which was attended by nearly 2000 students from various colleges of Mysore.

Nagpur: Swami Vivekananda Swadhyayamala: Under this project, students are supplied with books on Swamiji, and they have to answer some questions on his life.  About 2,17,000 students of 1600 schools have participated in this project till now.

Teachers’ Project: Under this project 2500 teachers from 11 districts of Maharashtra submitted essays, theses, research articles, drawings, stories, skits and poems on the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda.

Interschool Group Singing Competition: Final round was conducted on 9 January in which students of 16 schools in Nagpur participated.

Ratha Yatra: A ratha (literally means ‘chariot’), along with bookstall, exhibition and animated movie on Swami Vivekananda, covered 11 districts of Maharashtra from 14 December 2012 to 31 January 2013.  About 1,10,000 copies of pamphlets with pictures and quotations of Swamiji were distributed during the Ratha Yatra.

Puna: Swami Vivekananda Ratha Yatra, which was launched by Pune centre on 12 January, has covered Satara and Sangli districts of Maharashtra.  During this Yatra 12 speakers delivered 185 talks which were attended by nearly 47,000 people.

Porbandar: Programmes on the life and message of Swami Vivekananda from July 2012 to January 2013 in 25 schools which were attended altogether by 4570 students and 198 teachers.

Puri Mission: Sadhu Sammelan (congregation of monks) on 3 February in which 116 monks of various monasteries in Puri town participated.

Seminar, state-level interfaith dialogue and intra-faith dialogue from 16 to 18 February which were attended altogether by about 700 people.

Ramharipur: Public meeting and cultural programmes on 25 January which were attended by nearly 4000 people.

Towards the end of his life, Swami Vivekananda one day fed a group of Santal men and women at Belur Math with many kinds of delicious dishes.  In commemoration of this event, Swamiji’s admirers and devotees, under the auspices of Ramharipur centre, invited 151 Santals from 6 nearby villages to Ramharipur Ashrama on 25 February 2013, served them with noon food and gave each of them one dhoti / sari, a bathing soap, hair oil and Rs. 100/-.

Salem: Various programmes in 39 educational institutions from 3 January to 5 February which were attended by about 15,000 students in all.

Sargachhi: Speeches and cultural programmes, including classical music renderings, at Berhampore on 12 and 13 January.

Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House: Lectures at the centre on 23 January and 9 February which were attended altogether by 1200 devotees.

A programme at Netaji Bhavan, Kolkata, on 24 January which was attended by 650 people.

Five lectures and public meetings in and around Kolkata in January and February which were attended by 2700 persons in all.

Taki: A procession on 10 February in which around 850 people participated.

Vadodara: A lecture for NCC cadets at Ahmedabad on 13 January which was attended by 275 cadets.

A public meeting on 24 January on The Relevance of the Life and Message of Swami Vivekananda.

A state-level written quiz competition from June 2012 to February 2013 in which 71,349 students of 1233 schools in Gujarat participated.  Four state-level prizes and 77 district‑level prizes were given on 17 February.

Outside India: Bagerhat (Bangladesh): Procession, devotees’ convention, public meetings and cultural programmes from 19 to 22 February.  A large number of people attended the four-day celebration which was inaugurated by Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, on 19 February.

Barisal (Bangladesh): A two-day programme comprising procession, public meeting and classical music renderings on 15 and 16 February which was attended altogether by about 2000 people.

Dinajpur (Bangladesh): Procession, discourses, educational conference and cultural programmes on 22 and 23 February.   About 3500 persons participated in the procession and 400 delegate-teachers took part in the educational conference.

Kathmandu (Nepal):  Satsangs (religious gatherings) at Pathamari on 6 and 7 January which were attended by nearly 1200 people.

A programme on 12 January in which Sri Ram Baran Yadav, President of Nepal, and Sri Jayant Prasad, Indian Ambassador to Nepal, delivered speeches.  Around 450 people, including several dignitaries, attended the programme.

Mauritius:  A public function at the centre on 24 February in which Sri Rajkeswur Purryag, President, Republic of Mauritius, and Sri T P Seetaram, High Commissioner of India to Mauritius, spoke.  About 350 people attended the programme.

New York Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Centre (USA): Speeches by distinguished speakers, followed by musical performances, on 11 November and 3 February which were attended by about 300 persons.

New York Vedanta Society (USA): Publication of two booklets on Swami Vivekananda authored by Swami Tathagatanandaji, Minister-in-Charge, Vedanta Society, New York.

San Francisco (USA): A panel discussion and a multimedia presentation on Swami Vivekananda at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, San Francisco, on 23 February.  About 800 people attended the programmes.

The foundation stone for the proposed staff quarters at Mysore Vidyashala was laid on 29 December.

Ranchi Morabadi Ashrama held a central kisan mela (farmers’ fair) on 31 January and 1 February.  About 12,000 farmers and villagers participated in the mela.

Seva Pratishthan conducted a round-the-clock medical camp during Makar Sankranti Mela at Sagar Island in South 24-Parganas district from 10 to 16 January.  In all, 4243 patients were treated, out of which 42 received indoor medical care.  Besides, 150 blankets, 50 pieces of clothing and 6000 copies of religious books were distributed to poor pilgrims and monks.

A Science Centre where students can perform various experiments to learn the basic principles of science was inaugurated at Chennai Mission Ashrama on 9 February.

Sikra-Kulingram centre celebrated the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Brahmanandaji Maharaj from 9 to 12 February.  Special worship, homa, public meetings and cultural programmes were part of the four-day celebration.  On 9 February, Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, released a pictorial biography of Swami Brahmanandaji Maharaj and a commemorative volume.  About 18,000 devotees attended the celebrations.  Besides, a youth convention was held on 11 February in which 2075 students took part.

A staff member of Deoghar Vidyapith, Sri Sanat Haldar, won the Gold Medal in the 37th National Yoga Championship in the age group 25‑35 (for men) held on 13 February at Hosiyarpur, Punjab, under the aegis of Yoga Federation of India, an alliance affiliated to Asian Yoga Federation and recognized by the Indian Olympic Association.

Barisal (Bangladesh) centre conducted a blood donation camp on 16 February in which blood group of 100 persons was checked.  Five persons donated blood in the camp.

The following centres conducted free eye camps:

* through Chengalpattu centre;  ^# in collaboration with Antpur and Baranagar Math centres

Website: Ramakrishna Institute of Moral and Spiritual Education (RIMSE), Mysore, has changed its website address to <www.rimse.org.in>.

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

Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, is scheduled to return to Belur Math on 6 March after his visit to Narendrapur.  He is in good health.

Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-President, is keeping well at Belur Math.  He is scheduled to visit Gol Park, Naora and Baghbazar centres from 1 to 10 March, and Vadodara and Rajkot from 29 March to 10 April.

Rabindranath Tagore Centre, ICCR,
9A, Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Elgin  Kolkata-71, West Bengal
Phone : 033 2287 2680
Website : www.tagorecentreiccr.org

From 18th February to 14th March 2013
Time : 11 a.m to 7 p.m

Locate on Google Map :

View Larger Map

Sri Sri Saraswati Puja photos : 2013 : Click here for more photos

Watch repeat webcasting  at www.belurmath.tv

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Bangladesh: 1327 blankets were distributed to the needy through the following centres in January:

Chittagong – 450 blankets, Dinajpur – 877 blankets.

Moreover, the following centres distributed winter clothing to the poor and needy as per details given below:

1. Fire Relief: Bangladesh: Our Dinajpur centre distributed 238 kg rice, 20 saris, 20 vests, 20 chaddars, 17 blankets, an equal number of jugs, plates and tumblers, and 34 soap-bars among 17 families whose houses had been gutted by a devastating fire in Ghidob village of Thakurgaon district.

2. Hailstorm Relief: South Africa: The town of Ladysmith, Kwazulu-Natal, was hit by a devastating hailstorm on 9 December.  Many families were displaced and their belongings damaged.  Our Durban centre immediately commenced relief work, through its Ladysmith branch centre.  Daily assistance is continuing through distribution of cooked meals and food parcels to 200 families.  Window panes and sheets of tarpaulin, plastic and tin are being supplied to needy families for repairing their houses.  Besides, 500 sets of clothing and shoes have been provided to the victims.

3. Distress Relief: India: The following centres distributed various items, shown against their names, to needy people:

a)     Belgharia: 533 saris, 400 dhotis, 89 lungis, 400 chaddars, 212 shirts, 188 frocks and 600 buckets;

b)     Guwahati: 400 saris, 130 dhotis and 40 vests;

c)     Ichapur: 89 saris, 30 adults’ garments, 28 children’s garments and 5 bed-sheets;

d)     Koalpara (Jayrambati): 900 saris;

e)     Kothar: 310 saris and 310 dhotis;

f)      Midnapore: 131 saris and 30 dhotis;

g)     Sarisha: 75 kg rice, 8 kg dal (pulses), 145 children’s garments and 38 adults’ garments;

h)     Sikra-Kulingram: 479 saris, 49 children’s garments, 48 adults’ garments, 4 umbrellas, 1400 notebooks, 120 nail-cutters, 120 soap-bars and 120 packets of biscuits;

i)       Vrindaban: 400 kg rice, 400 kg wheat flour, 100 kg dal (pulses), 100 kg mustard oil, 200 kg salt, 50 kg sugar and 200 packets of biscuits.

Bangladesh: Dinajpur centre distributed 155 T-shirts among poor people.

Swami Tyaganandaji, Head of Boston (USA) centre, visited India from 3 to 29 January.

Swami Baneshanandaji, Head of Germany centre, arrived at Belur Math on 11 January on a seven‑week visit to India.

Swami Sarvatmanandaji, Head of Amstelveen (Netherlands) centre, visited India from 20 to 31 January.

Chennai Math organized competitions on the quotations of Swami Vivekananda in which about ten lakh (one million) students from 3000 educational institutions of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu participated.  In all, 15,000 students, the first three winners in each group, received the prizes.

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 Mission, Belgaum, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chapra, Chengalpattu, Coimbatore Math, Coimbatore Mission, Cooch Behar, Dehradun (Kishanpur), Delhi, Deoghar, Gadadhar Ashrama, Garbeta, Ghatshila, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jalpaiguri, Jayrambati, Kadapa, Kalady, Kanchipuram, Kanpur, Kochi, Limbdi, Madurai, Malda, Manasadwip, Mangalore, Midnapore, Mumbai, Muzaffarpur, Nagpur, Patna, Ponnampet, Port Blair, Pune, Puri Mission, Raipur, Rajkot, Ranchi Morabadi, Ranchi Sanatorium, Salem, Sargachhi, Sarisha, Seva Pratishthan, Shillong, Sikra-Kulingram, Silchar, Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House, Tiruvalla, Thiruvananthapuram, Vadodara, Vijayawada and Vrindaban.

Type A (Classroom-based) Programme:  Under this programme, value education classes, based on prescribed books, are given to students in their schools twice a week.

Type B (Non-formal) Programme: This programme is conducted in our centres / other institutions. It includes prayer, meditation, devotional singing, chanting of Swamiji’s Swadesh Mantra, moral lessons, question‑answer session, audio-visual session, yogasanas, etc.

The latest progress report of the programmes is as follows:

* A batch of 30 to 50 students is considered as one unit.

In all, 1131 teachers have been trained to conduct the programmes.

University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, has instructed all the higher educational institutions in India (colleges, universities, etc) to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda befittingly with various events throughout the year.

Ministry of Culture, Government of India, organized the inaugural function of Swami Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary celebration at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, on 12 January.  Sri Pranab Mukherjee, President of India; Smt Sonia Gandhi, UPA Chairperson; Sri A K Antony, Union Defence Minister; Smt Chandresh Kumari Katoch, Union Culture Minister, and Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, addressed the gathering.  Commemorative coins of Rs. 5 and Rs. 150 denominations were released by Sri P Chidambaram, Union Finance Minister, and four commemorative postage stamps (one of Rs. 20 denomination and three of Rs. 5 denomination) were released by Sri Kapil Sibal, Union Communication Minister.

Sri Pranab Mukherjee, President of India, inaugurated Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission’s celebration of Swami Vivekananda’s 150th Birth Anniversary at Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House, Kolkata, on 18 January.  Sri M K Narayanan, Governor of West Bengal; Sri Jawhar Sircar, CEO of Prasar Bharati; Swami Smarananandaji and Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-Presidents of Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, and Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary of the Math & Mission, addressed the gathering.  About 400 people, including monks and distinguished guests, attended the function.

As a sequel to the above function, a daylong programme, highlighting the “Relevance and Significance of the Life and Message and Work of Swami Vivekananda in the Present-day World” was held at Belur Math on Sunday, 20 January.  The first two sessions were presided over respectively by Swami Smarananandaji and Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-Presidents of Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission.  Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, presided over the last session in which Smt Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, and Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary of the Math & Mission, addressed the gathering.  Nearly 15,000 people, including monks, nuns, delegates and invitees, attended the programme.

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.)

Bangalore: Essay competitions on Swami Vivekananda in 83 high schools in which 5700 students took part.

Belgaum: Devotees’ convention, public meeting and cultural programmes on 13 January which were attended by about 1000 people.

Chandigarh: Twenty value education programmes for 3700 students and six value education workshops for 175 teachers in the months of October, November and December.

Chengalpattu: Processions, devotional music and film shows on Swami Vivekananda at Pazhavur, Kollathanallur, Mampattu, Vetrampakkam, Kendrachery, Andimadam and Cheyyur on 22, 23, 29 & 30 December, and 5, 6 & 13 January respectively.

Spiritual retreat at Kolathur on 25 December which was attended by 115 people.

A seven-foot fibreglass statue of Swami Vivekananda was installed in the boys’ school on 11 January.

Swami Vivekananda’s visit to Chengalpattu was celebrated at Chengalpattu railway station on 12 January.

Chennai Mission Ashrama: Tournaments in badminton, chess, cricket, football and volleyball from 12 to 28 January in which 995 students from 75 schools in Chennai participated.

Coimbatore Mission: A youth convention from 10 to 12 January in which 1023 youths of Tamil Nadu participated.

Delhi: Public meeting and devotional singing on 11 January which was attended by about 400 people.

The five winners of All India GenNext Leader Discovery Contest, conducted by the centre, were given prizes on 12 January.

A musical mono-act performance on 13 January which was attended by nearly 900 people.

On 24 and 25 January, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), in association with Delhi centre, held a two‑day programme comprising a workshop on value education, screening of a short film on Swami Vivekananda made by Delhi centre, and handing over CBSE’s Vivekananda School of Excellence Awards to 40 schools, including six of our schools affiliated to CBSE.

Hyderabad: The centre conducted Vivekananda Youth Leadership Award Event for high school and junior college students in November-December in which about 300 students participated.

A seminar for college students on the theme “Relevance of Swamiji’s message to solve the problems of the youth” on 15 December which was attended by nearly 600 youths.

National youth festival from 7 to 12 January in which about 1200 students and teachers participated daily in processions, interactive sessions and cultural programmes.

Jammu: The centre held a seminar on the theme “Unity in Diversity” on 8 and 9 January.  Dr Karan Singh, Member of Parliament, delivered the keynote address in the inaugural session and Sri N N Vohra, Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, spoke in the valedictory session.  About 400 people attended the programme.

A meeting at Jammu Sanskrit College on 12 January attended by nearly 450 students and staff.

Jamshedpur: Regional level youth convention on 19 and 20 January in which about 3000 youths from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal participated.

Kalady: Regional tribal conference from 28 December to 1 January in which 877 delegates belonging to various tribal communities from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu participated.  Sri Oomen Chandy, Chief Minister of Kerala, addressed the gathering on 29 December.

A meeting on 21 January attended by nearly 1000 students and teachers.

Kanchipuram: Speeches and cultural competitions in three schools on 5 & 13 December and 7 January in which altogether 1300 students took part.

Kankurgachhi: On 6 January, Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated at Belur Math “Shashwata Bharata”, a mobile tableau with fibreglass statues of Swami Vivekananda, prepared by the centre. The tableau will be journeying throughout West Bengal to create awareness among the general public about the spiritual and cultural heritage of India.  More details are available at <www.shashwatabharata.in>.

The centre held a talk on Swami Vivekananda, followed by a sitar recital, on 12 January.  About 800 people attended the programme.

A spiritual retreat was conducted on 27 January in which nearly 450 devotees took part.

Kanpur: Speeches at 11 places in and around Kanpur in the month of January which were attended altogether by about 7000 persons, including 6000 students and 400 teachers.

Karimganj: A devotees’ conference on 1 January in which about 1000 devotees participated.

A youth conference on 2 January in which nearly 1200 people, including students, teachers and dignitaries, took part.

Lucknow: Two-day state level conference on “Unity in Diversity” on 12 and 13 January which was addressed by Sri B L Joshi, Governor of Uttar Pradesh, and several other distinguished speakers, and attended by about 1000 people.

Madurai: Essay competitions in which 25,400 students from 294 institutions took part.

Malliankaranai: A programme on 11 January in which nearly 150 students of three colleges participated.

Mangalore: A seven-day programme from 11 to 17 January, comprising a youth convention (attended by 1100 youths), a procession of 9000 youths, cultural programmes (attended by 800 people), a value education programme for teachers (attended by 500 teachers), a workshop for youths (attended by 750 youths), and a teachers’ convention (attended by 480 teachers).

Nagpur: Cultural competitions in which 8207 students from 100 schools of 48 villages took part.  Prizes were given on 12 January.

A symposium on 12 January.

Narottam Nagar: A programme on folk art and tribal culture on 27 January which was attended by about 500 persons, mostly young students and local tribals.

Port Blair: State level youth convention on 17 January at a local college in which 750 university students participated.

Pune: A residential youth camp on 24 and 25 December which was attended by 40 boys from rural areas.  Prizes were given on 12 January.

Youth convention and inauguration of Swami Vivekananda Ratha Yatra on 12 January; 1500 people attended the programme.

Youth convention on 13 January which was attended by nearly 1500 boys and girls.  On the same day a cycle rally was organized in which around 100 youths participated.

Cultural competitions in which 1100 students from 60 schools took part.

Puri Mission: Cultural competitions from 6 to 8 January.

Seminar on “The Relevance of Swami Vivekananda in the Present Era” on 13 January.

District level youth conventions in all the 30 districts of Odisha from September 2012 to January 2013 in which nearly 14,000 students took part.

State level youth convention on 27 January in which about 1000 delegates from various districts of Odisha took part.  Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, presided over the meeting.

Raipur: Youth convention on 6 January in which 300 students participated.

Seminars on 12 and 13 January in which Dr Raman Singh, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, and Sri Shekhar Dutta, Governor of Chhattisgarh, participated.

Rajkot: Residential zonal youth convention on 26 and 27 January in which about 3000 youths from Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan participated.

A daylong classical music programme on 28 January in which eminent musicians from different parts of India performed.  Nearly 2000 people attended the programme.

Ranchi Morabadi: Spiritual retreat on 27 January in which around 300 devotees took part.

Ranchi Sanatorium: Football tournament for rural youths from 16 December to 13 January in which 32 teams participated.

Seva Pratishthan: Speeches, a cultural competition and a music performance on 13 January.

Silchar: Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated the three-day celebration held from 12 to 14 January. Public meetings, seminar, tribal cultural programme, devotional music, drama and film-show formed part of the celebration, which was attended by 6000 people in all.

Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House:The centre conducted 13 lectures, seminars and public meetings at different places in and around Kolkata during December and January.  Altogether 5400 people attended the programmes.

Tiruvalla:The centre held the following programmes in and around Tiruvalla from 8 September to 13 January:

Speeches, devotional music, drama and film-show on 8 September.

Youth camp on 24 October.

Public meetings on 23 November and 6, 11 & 13 January.

Cultural meet on 10 January.

Thiruvananthapuram:A youth camp at Nettayam sub-centre on 6 January.

Vadodara: A state level essay competition on “The Problems of Modern Youth & Swami Vivekananda” in which 995 students of 125 colleges in Gujarat participated.

Laser shows on Swami Vivekananda at Vadodara and Ahmedabad on 2 and 6 January which were attended by 5000 people in all.

Visakhapatnam: A programme consisting of speeches, video-show and dance‑drama on 6 January which was attended by 800 delegates.

Outside India:  On the initiative of our Dhaka (Bangladesh) centre, a programme was held in collaboration with the Governments of Bangladesh and India at the National Museum, Dhaka, on 12 January.  Dr Dipu Moni, Foreign Affairs Minister of Bangladesh, inaugurated the programme.  Sri Pankaj Sharan, High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh; Swami Balabhadrananda, Assistant Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, and several other distinguished persons addressed the gathering.  About 1400 people attended the event.

On the initiative of our Florida (USA) centre, the island nation Trinidad and Tobago (one of the West Indies countries), celebrated Swami Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary on a grand scale from 10 to 17 January.  Public meetings, exhibition, screening of film on Swamiji, a play on Swamiji’s life, and various service activities involving youths formed part of the programme.  Swamiji’s biography and complete works were distributed to many educational institutions and public libraries.  People from all walks of life such as President, Prime Minister, political leaders, intellectuals, religious leaders and social workers participated in these events.  Swami Ishtanandaji, Head of the Vedanta Center of St Petersburg, Florida, USA, participated as the chief guest on their main event held on 14 January.

Chittagong (Bangladesh): Procession, public meeting and cultural programme on 11 January.  About 3000 persons participated in the procession.

San Francisco (USA): Workshop on Raja Yoga, talks on Karma Yoga, and reflections by students of different religious faiths on 26 January.

Rahara College celebrated its golden jubilee from 6 to 12 January with seminars, exhibitions and cultural programmes.  Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inauguratedthecelebration.  Prof. Bratya Basu, Higher Education Minister, Government of West Bengal, several other dignitaries and about 5000 students, teachers and guests participated.

Sri H R Bharadwaj, Governor of Kerala and Karnataka, visited Kalady centre on 8 January.

Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House & Cultural Centre did not have a direct access from Vivekananda Road.  So, on our request, Kolkata Municipal Corporation acquired an adjacent five Katha plot for the Centre.  Smt Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, handed over the deed for the free lease of the plot for 999 years to Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, in a function held at the Centre on 11 January.

On 11 January, the Booksellers’ and Publishers’ Association of South India (BAPASI) honoured the publication department of Chennai Math by presenting the department with a citation and a shield at the 36th Chennai Book Fair for its yeoman service as one of the leading publishers in Tamil Nadu, especially for its publication of subsidized books of about one crore rupees on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

At the initiative of Kadapa centre, a statue of Swami Vivekananda was installed at Shilparamam, a prominent cultural centre in Kadapa, on 12 January.

Ulsoor Math has put up a bookstall at Swami Vivekananda Road Metro Station in Bangalore.  It was inaugurated on 12 January.

On the occasion of Gangasagar Mela, Manasadwip centre organized a camp at the Mela area from 12 to 16 January.  In all, 1014 pilgrims were provided with free board and lodging at the camp and the Ashrama.  Besides, free meals were served to about 200 non-resident pilgrims daily.  Discourses and devotional singing were also arranged in the camp.

Institute of Culture, Kolkata, celebrated its 75th Foundation Day on 29 January.  Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, delivered the address of benediction, Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, addressed the gathering, and Sri M K Narayanan, Governor of West Bengal, presided over the meeting.

Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, laid the foundation stone for the proposed centenary memorial building at Baranagar Mission Ashrama on 30 January.

Baranagar Mission Ashrama held the concluding phase of its centenary celebration in the month of January with a procession, public meetings, teachers’ convention, youth convention, devotees’ convention, exhibition and cultural programmes.

Ranchi Morabadi centre organized five regional kisan melas (farmers’ fairs) in January.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has created a UNESCO Chair in Vivekananda University in the area of Inclusive Adapted Physical Education and Yoga which is the first of its kind in this area in any higher education institution in the entire Asia.

At the initiative of Dehradun (Kishanpur) centre, the Mussourie Diversion Circle has been renamed ‘Swami Vivekananda Circle’ and the Baorie Shiva Temple, where Swami Vivekananda stayed for some time with Swami Turiyanandaji and Swami Akhandanandaji, has been declared as a heritage centre by the Government of Uttarakhand.

Lucknow centre held an interfaith goodwill meet on 1 January in which representatives of various faiths took part.

Medinipur centre conducted a medical camp on 26 January at Kalshibhanga, a predominantly tribal area under Salboni block in Paschim Medinipur district.  Ten doctors (which included child specialists, gynecologists and dentists) examined 1078 patients, all of whom were given free medicines.

Lucknow Sevashrama provided Vitamin A capsules to 1503 underprivileged children of four schools in Lucknow district and free glasses to 85 children with refractory errors in the month of January.

Muzaffarpur centre has got telefax facility with number 0621-2272127.

E-mail ID: Kalady centre has got an additional email id <srkaakalady@gmail.com>.

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

Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President,is scheduled to stay at Narendrapur from 8 February to 5 March.  He is in good health.

Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-President,will be visiting Rajarhat Bishnupur from 6 to 9 February and Sargachhi from 17 to 24 February.  He is keeping well.

On the occasion of the 150^th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Math (Yogodyan) Kankurgachi, Kolkata – 54 is  launched a unique mobile tableau named“Shashwata Bharat” (depicting Indian Spiritual & Cultural Heritage from Vedas to Sri Ramakrishna) to spread the eternal message of Swami Vivekananda throughout West Bengal.

Most Revered Srimat Swami Atmasthanandaji Maharaj, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission  inaugurated the theme “Shashwata Bharat” on Sunday the 6^th January, 2013 a.m. at Belur Math.

Also a new website on the project  inaugurated by Most Revered Srimat Swami Atmasthanandaji Maharaj, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission. Website address : www.shashwatabharata.in

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.

Moreover, the following centres distributed winter clothing to the poor and needy as per details given below:

2. Distress Relief: The following centres distributed various items, shown against their names, to needy people:

Baghbazar (Kolkata) centre also served cooked food to 33 poor persons daily from 22 August to 28 December (total 4257 meals), and provided, under Build Your Own House scheme, building materials (cement, sand, stone chips, iron rods, etc) to two poor people.

Swami Nirmalatmanandaji returned to Sao Paulo (Brazil) after a four-week visit to India.

Swami Shantarupanandaji returned to Portland (USA) after a six-week visit to India.

Swami Yogatmanandaji returned to Providence (USA) after a five-week visit to India.

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.)

Aurangabad: Lecture on 7 December attended by 400 college students.

Public lectures on 7 and 8 December attended by 300 people on each day.

Spiritual retreat on 8 December attended by 100 people.

Youth awareness programme on 9 December attended by 550 youth.

Baranagar Mission: Value education programmes at two girls’ schools in December which were attended by 290 students in all.

A parents’ conference on 19 December which was attended by 68 parents.

On 23 December, the Ashrama held an Annakut and served its cooked prasad to 3000 slum-dwellers.

Belgaum: Interschool cultural competitions between 12 and 18 December in which nearly 2500 students took part.

Bhubaneswar: A state-level seminar on Harmony of Religions on 30 November which was attended by about 500 delegates, mostly college students from the different districts of Odisha.

Calicut: A devotees’ convention on 16 December in which nearly 200 devotees participated.

Chandigarh: Quiz competitions on the life and message of Swami Vivekananda in which altogether 8897 students from 32 schools of Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh participated.

Chengalpattu: Processions, devotional music and film shows on Swami Vivekananda at Kavadhur, Dimmavaram, Mel Silawattam, Pulikkundram, Kurampirai, Mariputhur, Adavilagam and Kilapakkam on 24 & 25 November and 1, 2, 8, 9, 15 & 16 December respectively.

Cooch Behar: A value education seminar at a local girls’ school on 17 December which was attended by nearly 400 students.

Delhi: A laser show titled ‘Swamiji’, made by Sri Manick Sorcar, a renowned laserist of USA, on 9 December.  About 1500 people watched the show.

Institute of Culture, Kolkata: A seminar on Significance of the Ideas of Swami Vivekananda in the Modern Age from 14 to 16 December in which 134 distinguished scholars participated.

Itanagar: A regional tribal cultural programme at Naharlagun on 23 November which was attended by about 500 people.

Kanpur: Speeches in five colleges and two schools in Kanpur which were attended altogether by 4773 students and 171 teachers.

Limbdi: Cultural competitions from 26 to 29 December in which 372 students from 20 schools took  part.

Lucknow: A workshop on Youth Counselling and Positive Thinking on 13 December which was attended by 300 parents and teachers.

Mangalore: All-Karnataka youth convention on 22 and 23 December in which about 1800 delegates from 22 districts of Karnataka participated.

Nine district-level youth conventions, one each in the following districts of Karnataka: Bellary (1 Dec), Raichur (2 Dec), Davanagere (3 Dec), Chikmagalur (4 Dec), Shimoga (5 Dec), Uttara Kannada (6 Dec), Gadag (7 Dec), Bagalkot (8 Dec) and Bijapur (10 Dec). In all, about 11,500 youths attended these conventions.

Muzaffarpur: Cultural competitions from 3 to 29 December in which nearly 5400 students took  part.

Nattarampalli: A youth convention on 7 December which was presided over by Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, and attended by about 1500 students.

Vivek Youth Torch Relay, an event in which a torch was carried to 150 villages in and around Nattarampalli, covering 150 km in 5 days.  In all, 150 youths participated in the event.

A spiritual retreat on 9 December in which nearly 1000 devotees took part.

Pune: Residential youth camp on 24 and 25 November for 50 rural boys.

Japa Yajna on 11 November and 9 December for 150 devotees.

Spiritual retreat from 30 November to 2 December for 350 delegates.

Raipur: A programme comprising speeches, recitations, debate, drawing competition, etc in which nearly 800 students participated.

Rajkot: Cultural competitions from 26 to 29 December in which about 1000 students of 80 schools took part.

Ramharipur: A spiritual retreat on 23 December which was attended by about 2700 devotees.

Ranchi Morabadi: Five conferences for the ex-trainees of Divyayan on 5, 7, 11, 14 and 17 December in which altogether 390 ex-trainees took part.

Salem: Discourses and competitions at 18 places in Namakkal district on 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12 and 13 December which were attended altogether by 2902 students.

Sargachhi: A two-day workshop on Vivekananda’s idea of education and its implementation in emerging education system on 14 and 15 December which was attended by about 450 teachers and parents.

Sinthi: Six parents’ conferences from 29 November to 20 December which were attended by 509 parents.

Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House: A public meeting on 1 December which was attended by about 800 persons.

Cultural programmes on 1 and 11 December which were attended by nearly 400 youths in all.

Outside India: Netherlands: Spiritual retreats, including talks on Swami Vivekananda, on 16 & 17 June and 18 November.

The 103rd Annual General Meeting of the Ramakrishna Mission was held at Belur Math on Sunday, 16 December.
It was chaired by Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Mission.

Click here to get detailed report

Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated the newly constructed hostel building “Swami Shivananda Students’ Home” at Nattarampalli centre on 8 December.

Dr K Rosaiah, Governor of Tamil Nadu, unveiled the newly installed life-size statue of Swami Vivekananda at Nattarampalli Ashrama on 8 December.

Nattarampalli centre launched a mobile bookstall-cum-exhibition on 8 December.

Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated the newly constructed dining-hall of Vidyarthi Bhavan hostel at Sargachhi Ashrama on 14 December.

Koalpara Ashrama (sub-centre of Jayrambati Math) celebrated its centenary from 15 to 17 December.  Special worship, homa, public meeting and cultural programmes were conducted and a commemorative volume was released.  Besides, the newly built first floor of the monks’ quarters was inaugurated on this occasion.

At Narainpur centre, Swami Gautamanandaji inaugurated on 20 December (i) extension to boys’ hostel building ‘B’, (ii) extension to girls’ hostel building, (iii) a building with kitchen store and honorary workers’ quarters, and (iv) farmer trainees’ hostel building.

Vadodara centre felicitated 50 gold medalists of Maharaja Sayajirao University on 23 December.

A class-IX student of our Narottam Nagar school stood first in Arunachal Pradesh in the National Talent Search Examination 2012 conducted by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi.

A class-VIII student of Viveknagar (Tripura) school received the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement for the year 2012 in the field of singing from the President of India on 14 November at Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.  The award, instituted by the Government of India, carried a certificate, a silver medal and a sum of Rs. 10,000/-.

Students of Narendrapur Blind Boys’ Academy secured the following positions in the 12th National Paralympic Swimming Championship held at Chennai from 4 to 9 December:

An MA (Sanskrit) 2nd year student of Vidyamandira college (Saradapitha, Belur) secured first position at the regional level in two competitions held by Rashtriya Sanskrit Samsthanam, New Delhi, on 27 November at a Sanskrit College in Kolkata.

On the initiative of Khetri centre, the second Khetri Virasat Divas (Khetri Inheritance Day to commemorate the gala welcome given to Swami Vivekananda on 12 December 1897 by the then ruler of Khetri, Ajit Singh Bahadur, and the people of Khetri) was celebrated on 12 December.  In the morning, there was a procession of about 1000 school children and in the afternoon a tableau of Raja Ajit Singh bringing Swami Vivekananda in a horse carriage was positioned in a huge procession.  The prominent spots of the town were illumined.  A drama on Swamiji’s life was enacted in front of a gathering of about 1000 people.  Besides, there were folk songs and dance performances.

Narottam Nagar centre organized medical camps at the Ashrama and Deomali on 1 and 2 December respectively.  In all, nine specialist doctors treated 351 patients, all of whom were given free medicines.

Vrindaban Sevashrama conducted a urology camp from 7 to 11 December in which 8 specialist doctors performed 98 surgeries and checked 200 patients free of cost.

On the initiative of Sargachhi Ashrama, a cooperative society of farmers, namely Swami Vivekananda Samabay Krishi Unnayan Samity Limited (Swami Vivekananda Cooperative Agriculture Development Society Limited),was established by the farmers residing in and around Sargachhi.

Medinipur centre conducted a medical camp on 23 December at Deuldanga, a predominantly tribal area under Midnapore block in Paschim Medinipur district.  Eight doctors (which included child specialists, gynecologists and dentists) examined 825 patients, all of whom were given free medicines.

SREI Foundation, Kolkata, conferred Swami Vivekananda SREI Samman 2013on Vidyamandira College (Saradapitha, Belur) in a programme held at Kolkata on 29 December 2012.  The award carried a plaque and a purse of Rs. 51,000/-.

* Through Chengalpattu centre

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

Vedanta Society of New York (USA) has got an additional email ID <mail@vedantany.org>.

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

Swami Smarananandaji,Vice-President,returned to Belur Math on 30 December after his stay at Bangalore and Narendrapur.  He is keeping well.  He is scheduled to visit Gol Park and Balaram Mandir centres from 9 to 30 January.

Swami Prabhanandaji,Vice-President, is keeping well at Belur Math.  He will be visiting Silchar from 5 to 13 January, and Rahara from 25 January to 1 February.

Photo Gallery
(Friday, 4th January, 2013)

LIVE Webcasting of the Holy Mother’s Birthday Celebration
Please visit again on the Celebration Day

 Christmas Eve Celebration Photo Gallery at Belur Math : 2012

Phase 1: In all, 51,500 plates of cooked food were served among 10,250 affected people in 12 villages from 2 to 5 November.  Children were served with milk and biscuits too.

Phase 2:  2208 towels, 1104 saris and an equal number of dhotis, bed-sheets and mats were distributed among 1104 affected families in Madappuram, Padugai, Kalathidalkarai, Semberi and Keezhapidagai villages on 5 and 6 November.

Phase 3:  1000 saris and an equal number of dhotis, towels, bed-sheets and mats were distributed among 1000 affected families in Mylapore, Vadapathi, Kovilpathu, Thensarai, Kodiyalathur, Karai Nagar, Prathabharamapuram, Thamaraikulam and Kaikatti villages from 9 to 11 November.

2.   Earthquake and Tsunami Relief: Japan: Our Japan centre continued its relief work among the families affected by the devastating earthquake and the ensuing tsunami which had struck Japan in March 2011.  The following items were distributed among the victims: (a) 1200 bottles (500 ml each) of Oolong tea and 1200 bottles (270 ml each) of dishwashing soap in September-October 2011, (b) 20 sewing machines, 30 irons, 50 ironing boards, 120 frying pans, 510 cooking pots, 240 pairs of rain-boots, 7992 diapers and 200 tubes of toothpaste in May 2012, and (c) 300 kg rice, 500 boxes of tissue paper and 540 rolls of toilet paper in September 2012.
3.   Winter Relief: 750 blankets were distributed through the following centres among poor people: Chandipur – 250, Jamtara – 250, Lucknow – 250.
4.   Distress Relief: The following centres distributed various items, shown against their names, to needy people:

In India:

Agartala: 955 children’s garments in October,

Antpur: 406 saris and 14 dhotis on 19 October,

Cooch Behar: 358 saris, 34 dhotis and 10 lungis on 11 November,

Gadadhar Ashrama: 100 saris, 50 pants, 50 shirts and 50 frocks in October,

Sarisha: 1609 saris, 20 frocks, 20 shirts and 20 pants from 15 October to 4 November.

In Bangladesh:

Dinajpur: 576 saris, 300 dhotis, 120 kg flour, 120 kg suji, 120 kg sugar and 120 kg cooking oil in October.       

Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, laid the foundation stone for the proposed temple at Jessore (Bangladesh) centre on 27 November.

Swami Supriyanandaji, Head of Malaysia centre, visited India from 1 to 30 November.

Swami Aparokshanandaji, Head of Fiji centre, arrived at Chennai on 2 November on a five-week visit to India.

Swami Jyotirupanandaji, Head of Moscow (Russia) centre, reached Kolkata on 9 November on  a three-month visit to India.

Swami Shantarupanandaji, Head of Portland (USA) centre, arrived at Mumbai on 13 November on a six-week visit to India.

Swami Yogatmanandaji, Head of Providence (USA) centre, reached Delhi on 17 November on a five-week visit to India.

Swami Medhasanandaji returned to Japan after a four-week visit to India.

Jagaddhatri Puja (in image) was celebrated at Bagerhat and Mymensingh centres in Bangladesh.

India:  Baranagore Mission: A parents’ conference at Harit, Hooghly, on 11 November, in which 104 parents participated.

Chengalpattu: Processions, devotional music and film shows on Swami Vivekananda at Pazhavanur, Periya Venmani, Pudur, Vazhaipattu, Arundhadhipalayam, Ecchankaranai, Silavattam, L N Puram, Samandhipuram and Onampakkam 20, 21, 27 & 28 October and 3, 4, 9, 10, 16 & 17 November respectively.

Delhi: A two-day workshop, as the final stage of GenNext Leader Discovery Contest, on 3 and 4 November, in which 30 students took part.

Shanmukha Concert, a fusion of rhythm and melody by six musicians on different instruments, on 25 November, which was attended by nearly 400 people.

Hyderabad: On 18 November, the centre conducted a spiritual retreat for 150 sweepers, garbage cleaners and drivers working under Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.  At the end of the retreat, each participant was presented with fruits, a woollen blanket, some of our books, and one year subscription to the monthly Telugu journal, Sri Ramakrishna Prabha.

Lucknow: A seminar on Role of Yoga towards Personal Development on 3 November, which was attended by about 150 people.

Mangalore: A cultural festival on 6 and 7 October, which was attended by about 1800 people.  The programme included Yakshagana and Hindustani classical vocal & instrumental music.

Seven district-level youth conventions, one each in the following districts of Karnataka: Haveri (9 Oct), Dharawad (10 Oct), Hassan (17 Nov), Bidar (26 Nov), Gulbarga (27 Nov), Tumkur (29 Nov) and Chitradurga (30 Nov).  In all, about 5000 youths attended the conventions.

Narainpur: A public meeting on 7 November which was addressed by Sri Pranab Mukherjee, President of India; Sri Shekhar Dutt, Governor of Chhattisgarh; Dr. Raman Singh, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, and a few other dignitaries.  Nearly 5000 people attended the meeting.

Ramharipur: A public meeting and a music concert at Durgapur on 25 November, which was attended by about 1300 people.

Salem: Discourses at a school in Salem on 17 November, which were attended by about 350 students, teachers and parents.

Swamiji’s Ancestral House, Kolkata: Talks on Swami Vivekananda at two organizations, at Durgapur and Salt Lake (Kolkata), on 1 and 16 November, which were attended by nearly 650 people in all.

Thiruvananthapuram: A youth camp for nurses on 18 November, in which 116 nurses participated.

Vijayawada: A youth convention from 16 to 18 November, in which about 3500 youths took part.

Outside India:

Jessore (Bangladesh): A programme, inaugurated by Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, on 27 November.  Discourses, procession and musical performances formed part of the event which was attended by about 6000 people.

Seattle (USA): The centre held a day-long programme at its retreat, Tapovan, on 7 October.  About 300 people attended the programme comprising a talk on Swami Vivekananda, devotional music and releasing of the newly published Spanish translation of a book on Yoga.

A sub-centre of Nadi (Fiji) Ashrama has been started at Suva, Fiji.  The sub-centre, named ‘Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre’, is located at 24 Lekutu St, Samabula, Suva, Fiji, and its email id is <suva.rkmfiji@gmail.com>.  For the time being, its postal address will be the same as that of our Nadi centre, i.e. PO Box 716, Nadi, Fiji, South Pacific.

Chhattisgarh Government selected our Narainpur centre for Dr Bhanwar Singh Porte Memorial Award for Tribal Service for the year 2012.  Sri Pranab Mukherjee, President of India, handed over the award, comprising a citation, a memento, a shawl and a purse of Rs. 2,00,000/-, on 6 November at a public function held in Raipur.

Swami Gautamanandaji consecrated the new temple, with a marble image of Sri Ramakrishna, at Kadapa centre on 22 November, Jagaddhatri Puja day.  An elaborate homa, special worship, discourses, procession and cultural programmes formed part of the four-day programme held from 20 to 23 November.  About 170 monastics (including 24 from unaffiliated centres) and 4000 devotees attended the programme.

Vidyamandira College (Saradapitha) has started M.Sc. course in Applied Chemistry from the current academic year (2012-13).

Sikshanamandira College (Saradapitha) has started M.Phil. course in Education from the current academic year (2012-13).

Our Shivanahalli school has been awarded the Accreditation Certificate by NABET (National Accreditation Board for Education and Training), a wing of the QCI (Quality Council of India).  Ours is the first free rural school to get this certificate.

The 21st Session of the Indian Art History Congress, in collaboration with the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, organized a three-day seminar on “Indian Art and Religion: An Interactive Approach” from 23 to 25 November.  Sri MK Narayanan, Governor of West Bengal, delivered the inaugural address.  Eminent scholars participated in the seminar which was attended by about 250 delegates.

Jagaddhatri Puja (in image) was celebrated at the following centres: Bhopal, Jayrambati, Ranchi Sanatorium and Saradapitha (Belur).

* Through Chengalpattu centre

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

Jessore (Bangladesh) centre has got email facility with id <rkmjess@gmail.com>.

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

Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, reached Bangalore on 17 November for medical check-up and treatment.

Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-President, is scheduled to return to Belur Math on 1 December after his visit to Jessore (Bangladesh).  He will be visiting the Institute of Culture, Kolkata, from 4 to 26 December.  He is keeping well.

Baranagar Math: 490 saris, 25 dhotis and 245 children’s garments on 15 October;

Belgharia: 1437 shirts, 1124 pants, 500 dhotis, 430 lungis, 1039 saris, 231 sets of salwar-kameez, 473 frocks, 133 woollen garments and 580 blankets among 1015 poor families from June to October;

Cherrapunjee: 500 saris from 14 to 30 October;

Jalpaiguri: 300 saris, 50 dhotis and 150 children’s garments on 14 October;

Karimganj: 200 saris and 81 dhotis in the month of October;

Malda: 110 saris, 90 dhotis and 400 children’s garments;

Vrindaban: 1425 kg rice, 1425 kg wheat flour, 450 kg pulses, 325 kg mustard oil, 400 kg salt and 162 kg sugar among 525 poor widows in Vrindaban on 15 October.

—o—

At Dhaka centre, Ms Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh; Dr Mahiuddin Khan Alamgir, Home Minister; Dr Kamal Hossain, former Foreign Minister; Sri Pankaj Sharan, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, and several other distinguished persons attended the Durga Puja celebration.

The Sunday Religious School of Colombo (Sri Lanka) centre celebrated its diamond jubilee on 23 September with various programmes.  About 1500 people attended the programmes.

Swami Medhasanandaji, Head of Japan centre, reached Delhi on 10 October on a four-week visit to India.

Swami Nirmalatmanandaji, Head of Sao Paulo (Brazil) centre, reached Kolkata on 30 October on a four-week visit to India.

India:  Bangalore: Vivekananda retreat for 200 children of an orphanage on 2 October.

Baranagar Mission: State-level cultural competitions from 25 to 28 October, in which 127 students from all the 19 districts of West Bengal participated.

Value education programmes in 4 schools and 1 college in the month of October; altogether 1077 students attended the programmes.

Bhubaneswar: Talks on Swami Vivekananda at the Ashrama on 29 & 30 September, which were attended by about 325 persons on each day.

Meetings, cultural competitions, processions and cultural programmes in 26 schools and 13 colleges in 8 districts of Odisha from 21 August to 18 October, which were attended by about 11,000 students in all.

A talk on Swami Vivekananda on 11 October, which was attended by 25 senior agriculture officers, professors and others.

Chandigarh: The centre conducted 12 programmes in different educational institutions in and around Chandigarh in which altogether 1435 students took part.  Discourses, exhibition, distribution of literature, etc formed part of the programmes.

Delhi: A Digital Learning Centre with interactive smart boards was inaugurated on 12 October.  The facility is being extended to the poor students of the coaching centre of the Ashrama.

The Ashrama held the first two rounds of its All India Online GenNext Leadership Contest for youths from 1 June to 31 August and 15 September to 15 October, in which nearly 27,000 students from about 4500 institutions spanning the entire country participated.

“Harmony through Music”, a programme of Sufi music by a renowned Sufi singer, was conducted on 28 October.

Institute of Culture, Kolkata: Elocution and essay competitions in Sanskrit on 5 September, in which respectively 22 and 25 candidates took part.

A national seminar on “Spirituality and Positive Psychology” on 29 and 30 September, in which 8 papers were presented in the Academic Sessions and 7 speeches were delivered in the Inaugural and Valedictory Sessions.

The Institute held a programme at Science City, Kolkata, on 10 October, in which Kumari Selja, Union Minister of Culture, inaugurated a laser documentary on Swami Vivekananda, made by Sri Manick Sorcar, a renowned laserist of USA.

Kanchipuram: Talks on Swami Vivekananda in 3 colleges in the month of October, which were attended altogether by nearly 1250 students and 50 teachers.

Kochi: Youth camps on 6 & 27 October, in which altogether about 200 youths took part.

Lucknow: An interfaith conference on 11 September, which was attended by about 400 people.

Ooty: The centre conducted the following programmes in collaboration with Coimbatore Mission Vidyalaya:

(a) Cultural competitions, and speeches at a school in Agalar, Dist. Nilgiris, on 12 October,

(b) Procession, public meeting and devotional music at Adigaratty village, Dist. Nilgiris, on 17 October,

(c) Cultural competitions, public meeting, film show and cultural programmes at Aravanakadu, Dist. Nilgiris, on 21 October.

Altogether about 3600 people, including 1000 students, participated in the programmes.

Palai:  Cultural competitions, in which 210 students from 8 schools and 3 colleges took part.

Ponnampet: In collaboration with Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy, Madikeri, the centre organized Kodava Music Festival on 5 and 6 October in which many artistes participated.  Music competitions were held in five categories for different age groups.  Altogether about 2800 people attended the programmes.

Pune: A residential camp for 50 rural youths on 6 & 7 October.

A workshop for 110 B.Ed. students on 13 October.

Japa Yajna on 14 October, in which 127 devotees participated.

Ranchi Sanatorium: A hockey tournament on 2 October in which 16 teams from 16 villages around Ranchi participated.

Salem: Value education programmes in two colleges from 3 to 6 October, in which altogether 400 students took part.

Talk on Swami Vivekananda at a school in Valayapatti (Namakkal district) on 5 October, which was attended by 1150 students and teachers.

Sargachhi: A cycle rally from Sargachhi Ashrama to Swamiji’s Ancestral House from 14 October morning to 15 October evening, in which 150 rural youths participated as cyclists; 11 motor cycles and 2 decorated vehicles accompanied the rally.

Sarisha: Cultural competitions in the month of September, in which 339 students of 38 schools took part.

Sikra-Kulingram: Spiritual retreat on 2 October, in which nearly 400 devotees took part.

Silchar: Youth conventions on 12 & 13 October, in which 635 students participated, and a spiritual retreat on 14 October, in which 580 devotees took part.

Swamiji’s Ancestral House, Kolkata: At the initiative of the centre, seven institutions in Kolkata organized talks on Swami Vivekananda in the month of October, which were attended by nearly 3200 people in all.

Thiruvananthapuram: Sri Hansraj Bhardwaj, Governor of Kerala, performed Bhoomi Puja for the proposed statue of Swami Vivekananda at Kowdiar Park, Thiruvananthapuram, to be installed by the Ashrama.

Vadodara: Talks on Swami Vivekananda at 11 educational institutions in various parts of Gujarat, which were attended by about 2900 students in all.

Three youth conventions, one each in three cities of Gujarat, in which altogether nearly 900 youths took part.

Outside India: Colombo (Sri Lanka): Lectures and a seminar in the month of September, which were attended by about 800 people in all.

New York Vedanta Society (USA): A music programme on the premises of the Society on 28 October.

Swami Atmasthanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated the newly installed lift at the Headquarters Office on 7 October and laid the foundation stone for the proposed extension to Girish Memorial Building (President Maharaj’s Quarters) at Belur Math on 9 October, the birthday of Swami Abhedanandaji.

At Patna centre, Sri Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, attended Durga Puja celebration on 22 October, Mahashtami day.

The circulation of Sri Ramakrishna Vijayam, the Tamil monthly published by Chennai Math, has crossed 1,50,000 copies per month.  To mark this occasion, a function was held at Erode on 23 September, which was attended by about 3500 persons.

The annual convocation of Vivekananda University for the Faculties of Disability Management and Special Education (DMSE) and General & Adapted Physical Education and Yoga (GAPEdY) was held at the University’s Faculty Centre at Coimbatore on 5 October, in which 156 and 131 successful candidates respectively of the above faculties were awarded certificates and degrees from diploma to doctoral levels.  Sri V V Bhat, Member, Atomic Energy Commission, Space Commission and Earth Commission, delivered the convocation address.

The convocation of Vivekananda University for the Faculty of Integrated Rural & Tribal Development and Management (IRTDM) was held at the University’s Faculty Centre located at Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Morabadi, Ranchi, on 15 October.  Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, who is also the Chancellor of the University, presided over the function and awarded the degrees to eight candidates of M.Sc. and nine candidates of B.Sc. in IRTDM.  Dr S Ayappan, Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, was the Guest-in-Chief and delivered the convocation address.  On this occasion, the General Secretary inaugurated the newly constructed four-storey building for the IRTDM Faculty.  He also unveiled and dedicated an eleven‑foot bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda installed in front of the new building.

Bhagwan Mahaveer Foundation, Chennai, selected our Itanagar hospital for the 15th Mahaveer Award for excellence in the sphere of community and social service.  Dr K Rosaiah, Governor of Tamil Nadu, handed over the award, comprising a citation, an image of Bhagawan Mahaveer and a purse of Rs. 10,00,000/-, on 10 October at a public function held in Chennai.

Sri Pranab Mukherjee, President of India, accompanied by Sri Hansraj Bhardwaj, Governor of Karnataka; Sri Jagadish Shettar, Chief Minister of Karnataka, and several other dignitaries visited Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Swami Vivekananda Marg, Belgaum, (sub-centre of Belgaum Ashrama) on 11 October.  The President unveiled a plaque to mark the commencement of the restoration work on Swami Vivekananda Memorial, the house where Swamiji had stayed for 4 days in October 1892.  The President also performed Bhoomi Puja for the proposed Swami Vivekananda Value Education and Cultural Centre on the adjoining plot of land.  Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission; the President of India, and the Governor and the Chief Minister of Karnataka addressed the public meeting organized on this occasion.

Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, laid the foundation stone for the proposed staff quarters of Saradapitha, Belur, on 14 October.

The newly set-up permanent exhibition on Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi at Delhi Ashrama was declared open on 15 October.

The new prayer hall at Port Blair centre was inaugurated on 15 October.

Sri Hansraj Bhardwaj, Governor of Kerala, visited Ramakrishna Ashrama, Nettayam, (sub-centre of Thiruvananthapuram Ashrama) on 29 October.

Rahara college has started M.Sc. course in Botany from the current academic year, West Bengal State University having granted autonomy to the college for the course.

Students of Rahara college secured the following ranks (within the first ten) at the B.Sc. (Honours) final examinations held by West Bengal State University this year: Physics: 4, 5, 7, 9 & 10; Chemistry:  2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 9; Mathematics: 1; Zoology: 3; Botany: 1.

Bhubaneswar centre conducted two health awareness camps—one at Shyamcharanpur (Dist. Dhankanal) on 30 September and the other at Bhuasini Patana (Dist. Khurda) on 7 October—in which altogether 624 patients were treated.

Medinipur centre conducted a free medical camp on 2 October at Kuchakala village of Paschim Medinipur district in which 10 specialist doctors treated 1104 patients.

Thrissur Math conducted a value education programme for parents on 21 October, which was attended by 146 parents.

Baranagar Mission Ashrama conducted a parents’ conference on 3 & 4 October, which was attended by 147 parents.

Swami Tapananandaji (Mihir Maharaj), aged 85, breathed his last on 12 October at 8.05 am at Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata, owing to pneumonia.  Initiated by Swami Virajanandaji, he joined the Order in 1954 at Shillong centre and had Sannyasa from Swami Madhavanandaji in 1964.  Besides his joining centre, he served at the Headquarters and Jamshedpur, Ranchi Sanatorium and Seva Pratishthan centres as an assistant.  He was also the head of Ramharipur and Ranchi Sanatorium centres.  He had been living a retired life for the last fourteen years, mainly at Varanasi Sevashrama and Belur Math.  Meticulous in work and disciplined in personal life, the Swami took keen interest in tribal welfare activities.  He was also a proficient musician, and he enriched himself with the knowledge of the great musical traditions of the Sangha.

Swami Yatishanandaji (Rama Narayan Maharaj), aged 72, expired on 14 October at 10.50 pm at Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata, owing to stomach cancer.  Initiated by Swami Madhavanandaji, he joined the Order in 1963 at Varanasi Home of Service and had Sannyasa from Swami Vireshwaranandaji in 1972.  Besides his joining centre, he served at Belur Math Dispensary and Jalpaiguri, Malda, Narendrapur (Kolkata), Varanasi Advaita Ashrama, Katihar, Mayavati, Bangalore, Manasadwip and Saradapitha (Belur) centres.  He also participated in relief work at some places.  The Swami was lively and jovial by nature.

Swami Swahanandaji (Bipadbhanjan Maharaj), Head of Vedanta Society of Southern California, USA, passed away at a hospital in Hollywood on 19 October at 2.52 pm local time (20 October at 2.22 am Indian Standard Time) owing to a brainstem stroke.  He was 91.  An initiated disciple of Swami Vijnananandaji (a monastic disciple of Sri Ramakrishna), he joined the Order at Saradapitha, Belur, in 1947 and had Sannyasa from Swami Shankaranandaji in 1956.  Besides his joining centre, he served at Chennai Math (where he was the Editor of our monthly English journal Vedanta Kesari for 5 years). He was appointed the Head of Delhi centre in 1962.  In 1968 he was sent to San Francisco (USA) as an Assistant Minister.  After that he served at Berkeley (USA) centre as the Head for 6 years from 1970.  The most noteworthy among his services to the Order is his long and uninterrupted spiritual ministration for 36 years as the Minister-in-charge of Hollywood (USA) centre from 1976.  During this period the centre saw a phenomenal expansion of its activities with several sub-centres coming within its ambit, among which special mention may be made of Ridgely Manor closely associated with Swami Vivekananda’s memory.  The Swami has to his credit several books in English.  He has also translated into English some important Sanskrit scriptural texts, including Chhandogya Upanishad and Panchadashi.  His pleasing manners, wit and humour, affectionate dealings with one and all, and above all contagious positive energy won him the love and admiration of all those who came in contact with him.  In him the Order has lost an enlightened monk and eminent member, and charismatic figure of Vedanta work in the West.

Swami Dhiratmanandaji (Gurupada Maharaj of Ranchi TB Sanatorium), aged 39, met a sudden and untimely death on 26 October at 11 am.  Till 7 am on the 25th he was in quite normal health.  However, when a monk of the Sanatorium went to his room for some work at about 8 am, he found Dhiratmanandaji lying in a semi-conscious state.  He was immediately rushed to a local hospital.  On examination, he was found to have suffered a massive cerebrovascular accident.  On the next morning he breathed his last at the hospital.  An initiated disciple of Swami Bhuteshanandaji, he joined the Order at Saradapitha, Belur, in 1999 and had Sannyasa from Swami Atmasthanandaji in 2009.  Besides his joining centre, he served at Taki, Indore and Ranchi Sanatorium centres.  The Swami was simple and quiet by nature.

The following centres conducted free eye camps:

* Through Chengalpattu centre

Bagerhat (Bangladesh) has got email facility with id <missionbager@gmail.com>.

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

Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, is keeping well at Belur Math.  He will be visiting Hyderabad and Kadapa from 12 to 26 November.

Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-President, is keeping well at Belur Math.  He is scheduled to visit Ramharipur from 16 to 21 November, and Jessore (Bangladesh) from 26 November to 1 December.

www.storyofpuppets.info

Swami Vivekananda was a master storyteller. This art he learnt from none other than his guru, Sri Ramakrishna, who could drive home universal truths, especially the spiritual truths, through touching, vivid stories.

In order to instill moral and spiritual values among the juvenile and young minds, Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, a branch centre of Ramakrishna Mission, located adjacent to the Mission’s headquarters at Belur Math, has produced Putuler Golpo (Story of Puppets), four videos in DVD format spanning about 90 minutes, based on the stories told by Swami Vivekananda. This is a humble tribute to the great Swami Vivekananda on the occasion of his 150^th birth anniversary.

The four stories are: (a) The dog’s curly tail, (b) Each is great in his own place, (c) The golden mongoose, and (d) The three boons.

The first three stories were told by Swami Vivekananda in the course of a series of lectures by the Swami in December 1895 in New York, USA, on Karma Yoga. The last one, namely The Three Boons, was told by Swami Vivekananda to a close group of his disciples in June 1895 at Thousand Island Park, New York, USA.

Directed by Sri Sourav Mondal of Ssoftoons Animation Studio, conceptualized by Swami Hararupananda, Belur Math, scripted jointly by Swami Dhritirupananda of Belur Math and Sri Sourav Mondal, the DVD, which is the first of its kind, has been produced by Swami Divyananda, Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, Belur Math, Howrah-711202, West Bengal, India.

For the time being, the animation videos are available only in Bengali. The Hindi and English versions are in the pipeline.

These four videos are part of the series of animated videos, going to be produced by Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, based on the Ramakrishna‑Vivekananda-Vedanta literature.

Revered Swami Atmasthanandaji Maharaj, President of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, released the animation videos (DVD) on 150 october at Belur Math at 9.30 am.

Story of Puppets is an animated video series based on Ramakrishna Vivekananda and Vedanta literature. Available on DVD

Detail information about Story of Puppets are available at:

www.storyofpuppets.info

Hearty Vijaya Greetings

The worship of the Divine Mother Sri Sri Durga will be celebrated at Belur Math as per programme given below.

Druga Puja will be available  LIVE at www.belurmath.tv

      (ii) Uttarakhand:  Our Dehradun centre continued its flood relief work in Bhatwari area of Uttarkashi district. The centre distributed 708 kg rice, 776 kg dal (pulses), 61 kg salt, 94 litres cooking oil, 152 packets of biscuits, 11 kg milk powder, 88 kg sugar, 1428 matchboxes, 100 blankets and 40 sweaters among 388 families belonging to 7 villages in the affected district from 28 August to 4 September. 

2.   Distress Relief: Our Garbeta centre distributed 55 saris, 250 shirts, 250 pants and 700 assorted garments among 1500 poor and needy people of nearby areas.

Swami Sadrupanandaji (Kini Maharaj) passed away on 10 September at 10 pm at Nagpur Math.  He was 85 and had been suffering from diabetes, hypertension and ischemic heart disease for a few years.  An initiated disciple of Swami Virajanandaji, he joined the Order in 1953 at Nagpur Math and had Sannyasa from Swami Vishuddhanandaji in 1962.  Besides his joining centre, he served at Mumbai Ashrama.  He had been living a retired life at Belur Math and Nagpur centre for the last eight years.  Sweet and affable by nature, the Swami was respected for his sterling sadhu qualities.

Swami Yatindranandaji (Vinay Maharaj) breathed his last on 18 September at 4.55 pm at Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata.  He was 85 and had been suffering from ischemic heart disease, hypertension and diabetes for some years.  Initiated by Swami Virajanandaji, he joined the Order in 1948 at Asansol centre and had Sannyasa from Swami Shankaranandaji in 1958.  Besides his joining centre, he served at Silchar and Taki centres.  He was the head of Taki centre for 23 years.  He had been living a retired life at Belur Math for the last eight years.  The Swami was simple and austere by nature.

Swami Vibudhanandaji (Narasimhaswami Maharaj) expired on 21 September at 5.30 am at Ulsoor Math.  He was 90 and had been suffering from diabetes, hypertension and enlarged prostate for some years.  An initiated disciple of Swami Virajanandaji, he joined the Order in 1951 at Bangalore Math and had Sannyasa from Swami Shankaranandaji in 1959.  Besides his joining centre, he served at Mysore, Almora, Vrindaban, Chennai Mission Ashrama, Ooty, Chennai Math, Kanchipuram and Mumbai centres.  He had been living a retired life at Ulsoor Math for the last seventeen years.  The Swami was known to be meticulous about his monastic routine and habits.

Swami Brahmanishthanandaji (Harekrishna Maharaj) passed away on 28 September at 9 pm at Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata.  He was 50 and had been suffering from Parkinsonism for a few years.  Initiated by Swami Bhuteshanandaji, he joined the Order in 1985 at Balaram Mandir (Kolkata) and had Sannyasa from his Guru in 1995.  Besides his joining centre, he served at Advaita Ashrama (Kolkata), Karimganj, Kamarpukur, Garbeta and Baranagar (Mission) centres.  He had been staying at Belur Math for the last four years.  The Swami was simple and amiable by nature.

Swami Tyaganandaji returned to Boston (USA) on 5 September after a two‑week visit to India.

Swami Vimokshanandaji returned to Durban (South Africa) on 14 September after a three-week visit to India.

Swami Amaranandaji, Head of Geneva (Switzerland) centre, visited India from 6 to 21 September.

Swami Muktirupanandaji, Head of Singapore centre, visited India from 10 to 14 September.

Swami Medhasanandaji, Head of Japan centre, visited India from 10 to 16 September.

Type A (Classroom-based) Programme:  Under this programme, value education classes are given to students in their schools twice a week, and teaching is done based on prescribed books.

Type B (Non-formal) Programme: This programme is conducted in our centres / other institutions. It includes prayer, meditation, devotional singing, chanting of Swamiji’s Swadesh Mantra, moral lessons, question‑answer session, audio-visual session, yogasanas, etc.

The progress report of the programmes is as follows:

* A batch of 30 to 50 students is considered as one unit.

In all, 827 teachers have been trained to conduct the programmes.

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.)

India:  Agartala: Talks on value education in 8 colleges from 4 August to 3 September, which were attended altogether by about 3600 people, mostly students.

Baranagar Mission: Girl students’ convention on 16 September, in which 378 girl students from 21 schools along with 168 parents and 12 teachers took part.

A youth convention at Singur on 8 September in which 705 delegates participated.

Talks on value education in 8 schools and 3 colleges in the month of September, which were attended altogether by 1841 students.

Belgaum: Quiz contests in five schools in the month of September, in which altogether 451 students took part.

Chengalpattu: Processions, devotional music, and film shows on Swami Vivekananda at Kollampakam, Malai-Medu, Vilankadu, Thandalam, Neerpair, Manamai (J V Nagar), Bowndhan-Karanai, Padalam Kutu Road, Elumichampatu, and Anur on 25 and 26 August and 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22 and 23 September respectively.

Chennai Math: On 16 September, the Math launched a 3D website <www.vivekananda3d.org> and a stereoscopic 3D short movie on Swami Vivekananda’s Historic Chicago Address.

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Chennai Mission Centres: The four Mission centres in Chennai (Mission Ashrama, Sarada Vidyalaya, Students’ Home and Vidyapith) jointly held a parliament of religions on the premises of the Matriculation Higher Secondary School of Chennai Mission Ashrama on 11 September.  Nearly 2000 people attended the programme.

Coimbatore Mission: The final round of the oratorical competitions on Swami Vivekananda’s Chicago addresses was held on 10 September, in which 1429 students participated.

 ————————————————————————————————————————-

Delhi: The centre held a ‘World Meet for Peace and Harmony’ on 11 and 12 September.  His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Dr Karan Singh and several other distinguished speakers from different parts of the world addressed the gathering.  About 1300 delegates attended the programme on each day.

The centre also conducted a classical vocal recital by two eminent artistes on 23 September.

__________________________________________________________________________

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Sri Shekhar Dutt, Governor of Chhattisgarh, visited Belur Math on 2 September.

Chandigarh centre launched Viveka Vahini, a mobile bookstall, on 9 September.

At Delhi centre His Holiness the Dalai Lama inaugurated the newly set-up permanent exhibition on Swami Vivekananda on 11 September, and Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated the new 3D theatre and released a 3D stereoscopic animation film on Swami Vivekananda on 12 September.

Vrindaban centre held a four-day programme, from 12 to 15 September, in connection with the 125th anniversary of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi’s visit to Vrindaban and the consecration of Ma Sarada Kutir, popularly known as Kala Babu’s Kunj.  The newly built guesthouse and a permanent exhibition on Holy Mother on the premises of the Kutir were inaugurated on 12 September.  Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, presided over the public meeting held at the centre on the following day.  Discourses and a pilgrimage to nearby holy places were conducted on the last two days.  In all, about 1200 devotees and 150 monastics attended the programme.

Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated the new bookstall at Rajkot centre on 19 September.

The renovated temple, with a newly installed marble image of Sri Ramakrishna, at Coimbatore Math was consecrated on 19 September.  Special worship, public meetings and a spiritual retreat were conducted from 18 to 20 September.  About 90 monastics and 3600 devotees attended the three-day programme.

All the 78 students of Rahara B.Ed. college who appeared in the B.Ed. Examination conducted by West Bengal State University this year passed with first division marks; one of them secured the first rank in the State.

A team of two students of our Vidyamandira college (Saradapitha) won the first prize, comprising a trophy and Rs. 25,000/-, at the West Bengal State Student-Youth Fair 2012 competition held by the Youth Services Department, Government of West Bengal, in collaboration with Birla Industrial & Technological Museum, Kolkata, from 2 to 4 August.

SCERT (State Council of Education and Research Training), Assam, conducted a state level competition in science exhibits on various themes from 3 to 5 September.  Each team consisted of two students.  Among the two teams that stood first on the themes ‘Conservation of Medicinal Plants and its Use’ and ‘Air Pollution and its Control’, three were from our Guwahati students’ home.

A class-X student of our Deoghar Vidyapith participated, as a representative of India, in an International Science Seminar held at Warsaw, Poland, from 14 to 21 September 2012.  He was selected to participate in the Seminar on account of his securing the second rank at the National Science Seminar held in 2011.

Kanpur centre held a medical camp on 19 August, in which 380 patients were treated.

Madurai Math conducted a medical camp on 2 September, in which 12 specialist doctors treated 203 patients.

Porbandar centre organized a free Ayurvedic Camp on 11 September, in which 62 patients were treated.

E-mail ID: Lokashiksha Parishad, Narendrapur, has changed its email ID to <rkmlpndp@gmail.com>.

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

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

Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, is recuperating at the Institute of Culture, Kolkata.  He is scheduled to stay at Narendrapur from 9 October to 21 October.  He is keeping tolerably well.

Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-President, visited Pune from 26 to 29 September.  He will be visiting Jamshedpur from 2 to 11 October.  He is keeping well.

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(b) Our Guwahati centre distributed 55 dhotis, 60 saris and 20 kg Protein powder among 215 flood-affected people in Yogijan area of Nagaon district.

(c) Our Silchar centre conducted medical camps in Barkhola, Silchar, Udharban and Sonai areas of Cachar district.  Nearly 4,00,000 halogen tablets were distributed among 4000 families in the above areas.

(ii) Madhya Pradesh:    Heavy rainfalls and release of water by dams caused heavy floods in and around Omkareshwar in Khandwa district, affecting many poor families.  Our Indore centre distributed 300 blankets, 300 saris, 150 pyjamas (trousers), 150 shirts and 117 water-filters among 150 flood-affected families on 31 August.

(iii) Uttarakhand:In the wake of the recent devastating flash floods caused by sudden cloud bursts, thousands of families have been affected and many lives endangered in the state.  Our Dehraduncentre distributed 7310 kg rice, 2924 kg dal (pulses), 731 litre mustard oil, 365 kg spices, 439 kg salt, 5848 packets of biscuits, 439 kg milk powder, 365 kg tea leaves, 1462 kg gur (molasses), 360 sweaters, 100 mattresses, 1000 blankets,8772 matchboxes and 8772 candles among 1462 flood-affected families in 11 villages of Uttarakashi district.

1234►

(B) Fiji: Our Nadi centre continued its flood relief work in Fiji. The centre further distributed varieties of high-quality imported vegetable seeds among 3515 farmers in 6 districts.

2.       Distress Relief:The following centres distributed various items to needy people. Details are given in brackets.

Baghbazar (200 saris through Gourhati centre, 200 lungis and 100 saris through Naora centre, and medicines and nutritious diet to 7 poor patients and text books to 10 needy students directly by the Baghbazar Ashrama); Bangalore (500 notebooks, 100 school bags and 30 geometry boxes); Garbeta (50 saris and 50 lungison 17 August); Nagpur (1110 school uniforms, 3250 notebooks and 1080 pens to students of 23 schools in 18 villages of Nagpur district from 16 July to 3 August); Naora (400 children’s garments and 100 sarison 16 and 17 August); Vrindaban (92 tumblers, 70 buckets, 80 plates, 42 trunks, 22 bags, 11 cans, 71 LPG cylinders with stoves, 179 cooking vessels, including 109 pressure cookers, among 303 poor widows of Vrindaban from 7 to 11 August).

      Besides, our Baghbazar centre served 4082 meals to poor persons from May to August.

Swami Tyaganandaji, Head of Boston (USA) centre, arrived at Mumbai on 17 August on a two‑week visit to India.

Swami Vimokshanandaji, Head of Durban (South Africa) centre, reached Mumbai on 25 August on a three-week visit to India.

The newly built polygreen house and shade-net house at Sargachhi centre were inaugurated on 10 August.

The renovated Vivekananda Auditorium at Delhi centre was inaugurated on 12 August.

Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated the newly built Nivedita Bhawan, comprising classrooms for Primary Teachers’ Training Institute, at Sarisha centre on 14 August.

Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, declared open Swami Vivekananda Sabhagriha, the auditorium at Kamarpukur school, on 17 August.

Sri Ramakrishna Darshanam, the first ever Tamil feature film on Sri Ramakrishna, produced by GND Vision International (P) Limited, was released and screened on 17 August at Coimbatore Mission centre.

The newly constructed dispensary building at Malda centre was inaugurated on 30 August.

Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated the newly installed dialysis unit at our Mumbai hospital on 20 August.

Cooch Behar Math conducted a spiritual retreat on 25 August in which 355 devotees participated.

Cerebral-palsy-affected children of Ma Sarada Rehabilitation Centre run by Rajkot Ashrama won the following prizes in the ‘Khel Mahakumbh’ sports competition organized by the Government of Gujarat: 1st prize in state level and 2nd and 3rd prizes in regional level.

Vivekananda Rath launched by Rajkot centre was taken to Rauki Village, 7 km away from Rajkot on 2 August.  The entire village of 800 people participated in the programme, which included a procession with Swamiji’s statue, an exhibition on the life and teachings of Swamiji and talks by the monks of the Ashrama.

Chief Educational Officer of Krishnagiri district (Tamil Nadu) has issued orders to conduct Value Education classes in all Government schools in the district.

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.)

Bangalore: Spiritual retreats for college students on 29 July and 5 August, in which altogether 875 students participated.

Belgaum: Quiz contests in the month of August, in which 795 students of 9 schools took part.

Bhubaneswar: Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, released 38 titles on Value Education in Odia language under Value Education Programme for School, College and University Students.

Chengalpattu: Processions, bhajans and film shows on Swami Vivekananda at Kulathur, Jamine-Pudyr, Vilanganur, Minnal-Chithamur, Amanampakkam, Indalur and Karikkanthangal on 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, 18 and 19 August respectively.

Cherrapunji: Value Education Workshop on 10 August, in which 45 teachers from 18 schools participated.

Itanagar: Seminars on 26 & 28 July and 2 & 3 August, in which altogether nearly 950 students took part.

Kanchipuram: Talks on the life and message of Swami Vivekananda in 2 colleges and 10 schools in July and August, which were attended altogether by nearly 4800 students and 150 teachers.

Limbdi: Talks on the life and message of Swami Vivekananda in four educational institutions between 27 July and 25 August, which were attended by nearly 3600 students in all.

Mangalore: Value Education programmes on 22 and 23 August in which altogether about 1300 youths participated.

Rahara: Youth Conventions on 14 and 16 August, which were attended by nearly 1000 students in all; Speeches on India and Swami Vivekananda on 15 August, which were attended by about 900 people.

Rajkot: Eighteen talks, mostly in educational institutions, in July-August, which were attended altogether by nearly 3500 persons.

Ranchi Morabadi: Cultural competitions on the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda between 29 July and 21 August, in which about 1600 students from 3 blocks in Ranchi district participated.

Salem: Cultural competitions from 21 to 28 August, in which 1754 students took part.

Shillong: Cultural competitions in July and August, in which about 2200 students from 75 institutes participated.  Sri Bindoo M Lanong, Deputy Chief Minister of Meghalaya, handed over the prizes to the winners on 11 August.

Dr Mukul Sangma, Chief Minister of Meghalaya, inaugurated Vivekananda Centre for Youth Counselling at the Ashrama’s Vivekananda Cultural Centre on 18 August.

Swamiji’s Ancestral House: Vocal recital of classical Indian music on 30 July, which was attended by 450 people.

At the initiative of the centre, four institutions organized talks on Swami Vivekananda at different places in Kolkata in the month of August; altogether 2700 people attended the programmes.

Thiruvananthapuram: On 14 August, Mr Oommen Chandy, Chief Minister of Kerala, inaugurated the Thiruvananthapuram centre’s state level celebrations, sponsored by the Government of Kerala.  Mr V S Sivakumar, Health Minister of Kerala, launched the website for these celebrations.

Vadodara: Seminars on Value Education for principals and teachers of schools on 21 and 22 August.

Vishakhapatnam: A seminar on Swami Vivekananda’s Message to the Youth on 19 August, in which 130 youths took part.

Release of books on the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda: Sri R S Mooshahary, Governor of Meghalaya, released four books, one each in Assamese, Garo, Hajong and Khasi, at Cherrapunji centre on 28 August.  He also addressed a gathering of more than 1000 people, comprising mostly students and teachers.

Prof Kiran Walia, Minister for Social Welfare, Government of NCT (National Capital Region) of Delhi, released ten books, one each in Adi, Kokborok, Konkani, Maithili, Manipuri, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Tulu and Urdu, at Delhi centre on 12 August.  The programme was followed by a vocal recital by an eminent artiste.

Sri K Sankaranarayanan, Governor of Maharashtra, released a few books in Hindi and Marathi at Mumbai centre on 20 August.  Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, over the programme.

Outside India: As a part of the celebrations in connection with the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, our Frankfurt (Germany) centre conducted the following events in its retreat house at Bindweide: (i) A four-day residential summer camp from 16 to 19 August in which some 40 friends and devotees participated; (ii) The maiden conference of the Heads of our European centres on 21 August in which all the six Heads of our European centres participated.  Swami Shivamayananda attended the conference as the representative of the Headquarters.

In the first phase of the Celebrations, Malaysia centre conducted 150 ‘Arise, Awake’ programmes based on Swami Vivekananda’s life and message at different places in Malaysia: 97 in schools and other educational institutions, benefitting 9000 students, and the remaining 53 for 4000 adults.

At the initiative of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York (USA), the Thousand Island Park Corporation has proclaimed on 28 July that “the place along the shore, near the easterly corner made by St Lawrence Avenue and East Coast Avenue, and overlooking the beautiful St Lawrence River will henceforth be known as Vivekananda Landing”.

The Center organized a number of programmes at Thousand Island Park, which included a concert on 27 July, a sitar recital on 28 July, and an interfaith service and musical offerings on 29 July.

* through Chengalpattu centre

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

* One of these students underwent cataract surgery.

Garbeta centre has got an additional email id <rkmgarbeta@gmail.com>.

Websites: Dhakacentre has changed its website address from <www.rkmdhaka.org> to

Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, launched the website of Kamarpukur school on 17 August; its address is <www.rkmkmps.org>.

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

Swami Smarananandaji, Vice-President, was admitted to Seva Pratishthan in Kolkata on 4 August for the treatment of urinary tract infection.  He was discharged from the hospital on 28 August and is recuperating at the Institute of Culture, Kolkata.

Swami Prabhanandaji, Vice-President, is keeping well at Belur Math.  He will be visiting Tamluk from 3 to 12 September, Narendrapur from 17 to 26 September, and Jamshedpur from 28 September to 7 October.

Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, laid the foundation stone for the proposed Durga Mandap at Dinajpur Ashrama on 27 July, inaugurated the newly constructed monks’ quarters and dispensary building at Baliati centre on 29 July, laid the foundation stone for the proposed Sri Ramakrishna Temple at Narayanganj centre on 29 July, and laid the foundation stone for the proposed students’ home building at Dhaka centre on 30 July.

Swami Suviranandaji, Assistant Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated two new buildings, namely Boys’ Home Study Hall and Sri Sarada Nursery School Building, at the Batticaloa sub-centre of Colombo Ashrama on 25 July.

Pune Math conducted a free medical camp at Pandharpur from 26 to 30 June on the occasion of Ashadhi Ekadashi Yatra; nearly 2500 pilgrims were treated for various ailments.

The renovated building housing the Holy Mother shrine at Mumbai Ashrama was inaugurated on 3 July.

The Vivekananda Centenary Girls’ Higher Secondary School of Chennai Math celebrated its golden jubilee from 20 to 22 July with various programmes such as a procession, speeches, devotional music, cultural programmes, exhibitions, and a film show on Swami Vivekananda.

On 20 July, Limbdi centre felicitated 16 students of Limbdi for their brilliant performance in the Secondary and High Secondary examinations.

The Academy for Competitive Exams set up at Coimbatore Mission Vidyalaya to coach students for job-oriented competitive examinations was inaugurated on 22 July.

Khetri centre shifted its shrine to a new location on the Ashrama premises on 22 July.

National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), an autonomous body under University Grants Commission (UGC), has awarded ‘A’ grade to our Narendrapur College for another five years.

Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, has awarded ‘A’ grade to our Rural Self Employment Training Institute (RSETI), Samaj Sevak Shikshana Mandir, (a unit of Saradapitha) for the year 2011-12.

Two of the Sanskrit students of Vivekananda University successfully cleared the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) in ‘Sanskrit Traditional Subjects’.

Vedanta Society of Portland (USA) conducted an interfaith meeting at the Society’s retreat centre at Scappoose on 4 July.  The programme also included a musical performance, reading from Swami Vivekananda’s writings, and a video presentation on Swami Vivekananda in the West.

Chennai Math celebrated the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Ramakrishnanandaji from 15 to 17 July with various programmes such as retreats, seminars, discourses and devotional music.  Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated the newly built ‘Ramakrishnananda Manadapam’ and released a commemorative volume.  He also launched (i) eBooks and eBooks App for mobile devices and tablets, and (ii) a new eBook-store website <www.vedantaebooks.org>.  Besides, Ramakrishnananda Exhibition and a new bookstall were inaugurated, and nine books on Swami Ramakrishnanandaji and a DVD containing the archives of 92 years of Sri Ramakrishna Vijayam (Tamil monthly) were released.

Vivekananda University held its seventh foundation anniversary celebration and the annual convocation at its Belur campus on 4 July.  Kumari Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, was the Guest-in-Chief and delivered the convocation address.  As a special gesture, she offered a grant of one crore rupees to Vivekananda University for its development.  Sri Bratya Basu, Higher Education Minister, Government of West Bengal, was the Special Guest of Honour.  Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, who is also the Chancellor of the University, presided over the meeting and gave away the certificates, degrees and diplomas to the students who successfully graduated from the Belur and Narendrapur faculties of the University.  The Chief Minister gave away prizes to the toppers.