Personalia
Revered President Maharaj will be visiting Kamarpukur and Jayrambati from 15 to 30 September.
Swami Gautamanandaji will be visiting Lucknow, Shyamlatal, Mayavati and Almora from 1 to 15 September; and Vadodara, Limbdi, Rajkot and Porbandar from 25 September to 2 October.
Swami Suhitanandaji will be visiting Dinajpur and Rangpur in Bangladesh from 5 to 17 September, and Baganchra from 27 to 30 September.
Swami Bhajananandaji is at Belur Math.
Swami Girishanandaji will be visiting Darjeeling from 6 to 11 September, Swamiji’s Ancestral House (Kolkata) from 17 to 21 September, and Silchar, Shillong and Sohra from 23 September to 2 October.
All of them are keeping well.
Headquarters
Sri Ram Nath Kovind, Former President of India, visited Belur Math on 6 August.
Sri Arup Roy, Minister for Cooperation Department, Government of West Bengal, visited Belur Math on 20 August.
New Math Sub-centres
A sub-centre of Ramakrishna Ashrama, Thiruvalla, has been started in Pathanamthitta. The address of the sub-centre is “Ramakrishna Math, Vallicode, Dist. Pathanamthitta, Kerala 689648”, phone number: 90748 86002 and email id: <[email protected]>.
Swami Gautamanandaji dedicated the newly constructed ashrama building comprising a prayer hall, monks’ quarters and an office on the recently acquired premises at Basti (near Ayodhya) on 31 August, the sacred birthday of Swami Niranjananandaji Maharaj. About 500 devotees and 32 monks attended the programme. This new ashrama will function as a sub-centre directly under the supervision of the Math Headquarters. Its address is “Ramakrishna Math, Village Bhuwanpur, P.O. Kothwa, Dist. Basti, Uttar Pradesh 272124”, phone numbers: 94738 50675 & 86010 85999 and email id: <[email protected]>.
Commemoration of the 125th Anniversary of the Ramakrishna Mission
Delhi centre held a seminar on ‘Contribution of Ramakrishna Mission in ushering in global peace and harmony’ on 4 August. The General Secretary presided over the seminar in which Dr Karan Singh (a renowned statesman), monks and scholars spoke before an audience of 1000 people.
News of Branch Centres in India
Swami Gautamanandaji inaugurated two new buildings at Meyyur rural development centre of Chennai Math on 23 August.
The General Secretary inaugurated the Vivekananda Study Centre at Raipur Ashrama on 13 August and addressed a gathering of 500 students and devotees.
Three tribal girls of our Jhargram school secured third position in an international karate championship held in Kolkata on 30 July. They received prizes from Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, at a programme held in Jhargram on 9 August which is observed as the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The Chief Minister also felicitated two students of the same school for their excellent performance in the higher secondary exam this year.
Swami Suhitanandaji consecrated the newly built Sri Ramakrishna Temple at Rajarhat-Bishnupur centre, situated at the birthplace of Swami Niranjananandaji Maharaj, on 31 August, the sacred birthday of Swami Niranjananandaji Maharaj. Special worship, homa, a public meeting, devotional songs and cultural programmes were held in this connection which were attended by about 7000 devotees and 275 monks.
The General Secretary inaugurated the newly built annexe to the monks’ quarters at Bolpur Math on 31 August, in the presence of Sri Chandranath Sinha, West Bengal Minister for the Department of MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) and Textiles; Sri Pradip Bhattacharya, a former Member of Parliament, and other dignitaries.
The high school of Malda centre was awarded Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar (District Level Award) from the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education, Government of India. Also, a class-10 student of the school secured the first position at the state level in the Talent Search Test on Geography conducted by Bangiyo Bhugol Mancha, Kolkata.
The under-14 and under-17 football teams of Narainpur school won the state-level Subroto Cup Football Tournament, thereby qualifying for the international tournament to be held in October.
The Chairperson of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has commended our Viveknagar school, Agartala, for being an exemplary CBSE school. In an official communication dated 7 August received in this regard, the Chairperson has appreciated the holistic education provided to the students by the school.
Coimbatore Mission centre held state-level tournaments in adapted badminton, cricket, kabaddi, football, table tennis and volleyball on 14 and 15 August. A total of 61 teams consisting of 529 differently-abled persons from 25 districts of Tamil Nadu participated in the tournaments.
Sri Sanjay Vijaykumar Gangapurwala, Chief Justice of Madras High Court, visited Chennai Math on 13 August.
New STEM laboratories were inaugurated at the schools run by Aalo centre (on 4 July), Chengalpattu centre (on 16 August), Kadapa centre (on 17 August), Medinipur centre (on 9 August), Nattarampalli centre (on 16 August) and Vijayawada centre (18 August). (STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.)
Batticaloa sub-centre of Colombo branch, Sri Lanka, served refreshments to 1800 devotees who visited Sri Pechi Amman Temple during the annual festival on 20 August.
Communication Addresses
Mangaluru centre has discontinued its telephone number: 2419097.
Sinthi (Beni Pal Udyan) Math has discontinued its telephone number: 93300 44705. It has two new telephone connections: 2556 4224 and 74393 51095.
Values Education and Youth Programmes
The following centres held programmes mentioned against their names:
India:
Basavanagudi, Bengaluru: A teachers’ convention on the topic ‘Role of teachers in nation building’ on 5 August attended by 625 teachers.
Halasuru, Bengaluru: A values education workshop for youths on 4 August attended by 500 students, and a workshop for parents on 5 August attended by 85 people.
Jhargram: Values education programmes in 10 schools in Jhargram district in July which were attended by 2530 students and 128 teachers.
Khetri: A teachers’ and parents’ convention on 19 August which saw the participation of 254 people.
Madurai: A teachers’ training programme from 25 to 27 August in which 45 teachers from 14 schools took part.
Medinipur: Four values education programmes in different schools and colleges from 4 to 23 August in which a total of 1050 students and 65 teachers participated.
Raipur: Five personality development camps at four schools in Raipur and Mahasamund districts on 5, 7 and 12 August which were attended by 873 students and 49 teachers.
Rajkot: (i) A seminar on ‘National Education Policy and Values Education’ on 20 August in which educationists, principals, teachers and students numbering 500 participated, and (ii) Seventeen values education programmes at the centre and eight programmes in different schools and colleges from 18 July to 21 August in which 5698 students in all took part.
Ranchi Morabadi: (a) A three-day training camp for teachers of non-formal education centres from 18 to 20 July in which 44 teachers took part. (b) Youth awareness programmes in 8 schools and colleges from 12 to 24 August in which a total of 2654 students participated.
Thanjavur: (i) A lecture at a school in Tiruvarur on 9 August attended by 100 students, and (ii) Three lectures for students and one for teachers of a higher secondary school in Kumbakonam on 21 August attended by a total of 500 students and 60 teachers.
Yadadri Bhuvanagiri: Three values education programmes at three nearby schools on 13, 16 and 18 August in which altogether 390 teachers and students took part.
Outside India:
Batticaloa (a sub-centre of Colombo branch), Sri Lanka: (a) Workshops at Bandarawela and Hali-Ela in August in which a total of 150 teachers of Sunday religious schools were given training. (b) Personality development programmes in August in which 140 students participated.
Youth Conventions
The following centres held youths’ conventions. The programmes included guided meditation, prayer, special talks by eminent personalities, group discussions, physical exercises and games.
| Sl. | Centre | Dates of conventions | Participants | Remarks |
| 1. | Basavanagudi, Bengaluru | 12 & 19 Aug | 1160 | — |
| 2. | Chennai Math | 11 Aug | 220 | Held on Vivekananda House campus. |
| 3. | Chennai Mission Ashrama | 8 & 9 July | 155 | — |
| 4. | Coimbatore Mission | 27 July to 26 Aug | 834 | In all, 6 conventions were held – 3 at the centre and 3 at other places. |
| 5. | Cuttack | 06 Aug | 112 | — |
| 6. | Gadadhar Ashrama, Kolkata | 13 & 20 Aug | 95 | — |
| 7. | Garbeta | 29 July | 120 | — |
| 8. | Guwahati | 26 Aug | 260 | Held at a school in Amlighat, Dist. Morigaon, Assam |
| 9. | Ichapur | 05 Aug | 80 | — |
| 10. | Kadapa | 20 Aug | 270 | — |
| 11. | Kalady | 09 Aug | 200 | — |
| 12. | Kalyani | 15 Aug | 125 | — |
| 13. | Kankurgachhi | 20 Aug | 56 | — |
| 14. | Kanpur | 19 Aug | 180 | — |
| 15. | Karimganj | 26 Aug | 410 | Participants came from 20 schools and colleges. |
| 16. | Kasundia | 26 Aug | 200 | — |
| 17. | Khetri | 18 Aug | 733 | Participants came from 12 educational institutions |
| 18. | Madurai | 2 & 18 Aug | 358 | — |
| 19. | Malliankaranai | 28 Jul | 300 | — |
| 20. | Mumbai | 4 to 6 August | 50 | It was a residential camp. Participants came from 15 colleges spread all over the state. |
| 21. | Ponnampet | 29 Aug | 330 | — |
| 22. | Rajkot | 4 to 6 August | 46 | It was a residential camp attended by youths coming from 5 districts. |
| 23. | Ramanathapuram | 10 Aug | 52 | — |
| 24. | Sakwar | 13 to 15 August | 130 | It was a residential camp. |
| 25. | Somsar | 30 Jul | 236 | — |
Eye Camps and other Healthcare Services
The following centres conducted medical camps. A summary of the services provided by them is given below.
India:
Aalo: A medical camp at a remote village named Dasi Negi on 19 July in which 29 patients were treated.
Asansol: A bone mineral density check-up camp on 4 August attended by 68 ITI students.
Bankura: Eye camps from 29 July to 30 August in which a total of 461 eye patients were screened, 53 were operated on and 43 were given spectacles.
Coimbatore Mission: Ten medical camps (1 cardiology, 2 dental, 1 eye, 1 orthopedics, 1 ENT and 4 general camps) in rural and tribal areas of Coimbatore district from 22 July to 26 August in which a total of 570 patients were treated.
Contai: A medical camp at Aladarput in Purba Medinipur district on 15 August in which 7 specialist doctors treated 115 patients.
Cuttack: Two eye camps on 29 July & 26 August: 194 patients were treated and 99 spectacles were given.
Digboi: A cataract screening camp on 27 August in which 20 people were checked and 11 of them were shortlisted for undergoing operation.
Hatamuniguda: A tobacco awareness programme on 3 August attended by 300 students.
Jammu: A medical camp on 19 August in which 250 patients were treated.
Kamarpukur: 707 eye patients were checked, 121 were operated on and 80 were given spectacles in August.
Khetri: A total of 44 eye patients were screened and 11 were operated on for cataract in August.
Lucknow: 6882 eye patients were checked and 264 were operated on and given spectacles in July.
Madurai: An eye camp on 20 August: a total of 124 patients were screened, 34 underwent cataract surgery and 16 were given spectacles.
Medinipur: A medical camp at Konyai, a tribal and backward area in Paschim Medinipur district, on 15 August in which 450 patients were treated.
Porbandar: An eye camp on 11 August: 92 patients were treated and subsequently 51 were operated on for cataract in an eye hospital.
Ranchi Morabadi: An eye camp in August in which 192 patients were checked and 3 were operated on for cataract.
Salem: (i) Eye camps on 23 July and 30 July: 269 patients were checked, 46 were given spectacles and 83 were operated on in an eye hospital, and (ii) Two medical camps in Thathayangarpatti and Mallamooppampatti on 23 July and 6 August respectively attended by 1037 patients in all.
Silchar: An eye camp at a nearby village, Silcoorie, on 24 August: 231 patients were checked/ treated and 47 of them were shortlisted for undergoing cataract operation.
Thanjavur: Five medical camps (2 dental, 1 cardiac, 1 eye check-up and 1 general) in Thanjavur from 1 to 27 August in which a total of 519 patients were treated.
Viveknagar, Agartala: An eye camp on 26 August in which 48 patients were screened for cataract operation.
Outside India:
Batticaloa (a sub-centre of Colombo branch), Sri Lanka: Medical camps at Kiran, Sittandy and Vaharai in August in which a total of 675 patients received medical aid.
Durban, South Africa: A medical camp and a blood donation camp in Ladysmith on 20 August in which 614 patients were treated and 14 units of blood were collected.
Obituary
We are sorry to announce the passing away of Swami Amritanandaji (Virupaksha/Shastri Maharaj) at Tirupati centre on 6 August at 6 am. He was 90. Initiated by Swami Yatishwaranandaji Maharaj, he joined the order in 1962 at Kamarpukur centre and received sannyasa diksha from Swami Vireshwaranandaji Maharaj in 1971. He served the order at Kamarpukur centre, Chennai Vidyapith (first as an assistant and later as the head for more than two decades) and Visakhapatnam centre (as the head for fifteen years). After relinquishing the headship of Visakhapatnam centre, he came to live in Belur Math in June 2014. During his stay at Belur Math, he used to give scriptural classes for monastics. In 2018, he moved to Halasuru centre, and from there to Tirupati centre last year. A scholar in Sanskrit language and scriptures, he has translated some Vedic hymns and Sanskrit compositions. He was respected for his monastic qualities and scholarship.