Personalia
Revered President Maharaj is at Belur Math.
Swami Suhitanandaji is at Belur Math.
Swami Bhajananandaji is at Belur Math.
Swami Girishanandaji will visit Bardhaman from 2 to 4 October.
Swami Divyanandaji is scheduled to return to Cossipore Math from Ranchi on 3 October. Subsequently, he will visit Kamarpukur from 7 to 12 October, and Patna from 29 October to 4 November.
Swami Vimalatmanandaji is at Kankurgachhi Math.
All of them are keeping well.
News of Branch Centres in India
Sri H D Kumaraswamy, Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Steel, visited Basavanagudi centre, Bengaluru, on 6 September.
Hyderabad Math observed the 25th foundation day of its Institute of Human Excellence by holding a youths’ convention on 10 September. Swami Suhitanandaji along with Sri Jishnu Dev Varma, Governor of Telangana, addressed the gathering of 1200 youths and devotees.
Aalo centre inaugurated an auditorium-cum-indoor stadium on 14 September.
Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, visited Kamarpukur centre on 18 September.
Students of our Jhargram school participated in different cultural competitions at the state level Eklavya Model Residential School Cultural and Literary Fest and Kala Utsav held in Kolkata on 19 September and bagged the following prizes: six first prizes, four second prizes and five third prizes. Besides, the school received a trophy and a cash prize of 51,000 rupees.
Sri Pema Khandu, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, inaugurated an oxygen plant and a few other facilities in Itanagar hospital on 24 September.
Sri Kaiwalya Trivikram Parnaik, Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, visited Aalo centre on 26 September.
Students of Narainpur school secured the following prizes in different sports events conducted at the state level by the School Games Federation of India (SGFI): First and second prizes in kho-kho and volleyball, and a third prize in table tennis. They also secured 2 gold medals, a silver and a bronze medal in running; a silver medal in javelin throw and a bronze medal in long jump.
A student of Shilpavidyalaya (ITI), Saradapitha, Belur, received a medal and a certificate for his performance at the IndiaSkills competition conducted by the National Skill Development Corporation in New Delhi in May.
On 5 September, the Government of Tripura conferred the Best School Award to our school in Viveknagar, Agartala, for achieving the best results at the state level in the class-10 and class-12 examinations conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
Two local scented varieties of rice, developed by the scientists of Divyayan Krishi Vigyan Kendra of Ranchi Morabadi centre, have been recognized and certified by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
The headmaster of our higher secondary school in Kamarpukur received the Best Principal Award at the district level from the Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF).
News of Branch Centres outside India
Sri Kirti Vardhan Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, Government of India, visited Malaysia centre on 14 September. He was accompanied by Sri B N Reddy, the High Commissioner of India to Malaysia.
Dinajpur centre, Bangladesh, concluded its centenary celebration (1923−2023) on 20 September. Several dignitaries, monks and 250 devotees participated in the celebration.
Universal Brotherhood Day (11 September) Celebrations
(Commemoration of Swami Vivekananda’s First Address at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago, USA, in 1893)
The following centres observed Universal Brotherhood Day with different events:
India:
Asansol: (i) A cultural competition from 1 to 11 September, in which 100 students took part. (ii) A drama performance on 11 September, attended by students, devotees and guardians.
Chandigarh: Essay-writing and elocution contests on 11 September in which 165 students from 27 colleges participated.
Chennai Math: A public meeting on 11 September attended by 200 people.
Chennai Mission Ashrama: A programme on 11 September attended by the students of all the four schools of the Ashrama.
Chennai Students’ Home: Cultural competitions in which 663 students participated.
Coimbatore Mission: (i) Oratorical and quiz competitions, both in online and offline modes, on 11 September in which a total of 1099 students participated. (ii) A yoga camp on 11 September where 1463 students performed 108 rounds of Surya Namaskar.
Davanagere: A speech competition on 11 September in which 100 students participated.
Hyderabad: (i) A youths’ seminar on 11 September attended by 1300 youths and devotees. (ii) A sampriti walk on the same day, in which 500 students, devotees and well-wishers walked a distance of 2 km.
Kalady: A special talk on 11 September attended by 700 students of the ashrama’s schools.
Lucknow: An interfaith conference on 11 September.
Mangaluru: Three symposiums––for students of professional courses on 11 September, for students of postgraduate courses on 12 September, and for undergraduate students on 13 September. In all, 1750 youths participated in these symposiums.
Mumbai: An interfaith conference on 18 September attended by 200 persons.
Narottam Nagar: A public meeting on 11 September in which Sri Pasang Dorjee Sona, Education Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, and others spoke.
Ootacamund: An essay competition on Swamiji’s teachings on 31 August in which 210 students from 8 schools took part.
Port Blair: A public meeting at a local college on 11 September in which 250 students participated.
Raipur: A personality development camp at Gariaband, Chhattisgarh, on 11 September attended by 785 students.
Ramanathapuram: A programme on 11 September attended by 385 students.
Rourkela: A drawing and storytelling competition on 22 September in which 200 students from various local schools took part.
Swamiji’s Ancestral House: Two national level recitation competitions in both online and offline modes, in which 2275 students across the various states of India took part.
Thanjavur: Six values education programmes for students and teachers from 11 to 25 September, and sports competitions for disabled students on 13 September. A total of 1990 students and 120 teachers participated in all these events held at the ashrama and nearby schools and colleges.
Vadodara: A lecture series from 11 to 27 September in and around Vadodara in which altogether 3200 students from 20 schools and colleges took part.
Visakhapatnam: An essay-writing competition for college students, in which 5000 students from 11 districts participated.
Viveknagar, Agartala: A public meeting attended by 450 people.
The following centres held youths’ conventions. The programmes included bhajans, guided meditation, prayer, special talks by eminent personalities, group discussions, physical exercises and games.
| Sl. | Centre | Participants |
| 1. | Chandipur | 40 |
| 2. | Contai | 500 |
| 3. | Dhaleswar, Agartala | 700 |
| 4. | Jhargram | 350 |
| 5. | Medinipur | 170 |
| 6. | Rajamahendravaram
(2 conventions) |
750 |
| 7. | Rajkot | 520 |
Outside India:
Kathmandu, Nepal: A public meeting on 21 September, which was attended by 200 people.
Singapore: A public meeting on 11 September attended by 100 people.
Communication Addresses
The Postal Index Number (PIN) of Basavanagudi centre, Bengaluru, has been changed to 560004.
Jayrambati centre has discontinued its landline telephone numbers: 244214, 244910 and 244911. It has new mobile numbers: 94764 48487, 74075 09050 and 70472 79449. The high school of the centre has also discontinued its landline telephone number: 244764. It has a new mobile number: 99074 82448. Koalpara (sub-centre of Jayrambati Ashrama) has discontinued its landline telephone number: 241436. It has a new mobile number: 96476 21968.
Kalady centre has discontinued its landline telephone number: 2462345. It has a new mobile number: 89210 25557, instead of 94457 38065.
Gurugram centre has launched a website with the address viva.rkmm.org, and Thirumukkudal centre with the address thirumukkudal.rkmm.org
Values Education and Youth Programmes
The following centres held programmes mentioned against their names:
India:
Basavanagudi, Bengaluru: A two-day symposium on meditation on 21 and 22 September attended by 650 devotees and well-wishers.
Coimbatore Mission: Five day-long values education programmes at colleges in and around Coimbatore from 21 August to 12 September, attended by a total of 495 students.
Dhaleswar, Agartala: A youths’ convention on 1 September in which 350 students from 15 institutions participated.
Gurugram: (i) Forty-one workshops for teachers on values education in different parts of the country from 27 July to 23 August, attended by 1754 teachers in all. (ii) Eight online values education programmes for teachers from 3 July to 24 August in which altogether 254 teachers took part. (iii) An orientation workshop for principals in Jamshedpur on 9 August which was attended by 60 principals and heads of institutions. (iv) A meditation and spiritual workshop for senior citizens in New Delhi on 22 August in which 47 participants were in attendance.
Jhargram: District-level cultural competitions from 12 to 30 August in which 1304 students from 88 schools participated.
Kanpur: A youths’ meet on 31 August in which 120 students from various local schools and colleges took part.
Karimganj: A youths’ convention on 31 August in which 431 students from 21 institutes participated.
Kathamrita Bhavan: A values education programme on 1 September attended by 40 participants.
Mumbai: A three-day residential youths’ camp from 20 to 22 September in which 39 students from 10 colleges participated.
Raipur: A personality development camp in Mahasamund district, Chhattisgarh, on 20 September attended by 868 students and 57 teachers.
Rajamahendravaram: Seven values education programmes in Rajamahendravaram, Kakinada, and Narasapur from 19 to 23 September in which a total of 1520 students from 10 educational institutions took part.
Ramanathapuram: Two values education programmes for students on 2 and 3 September in which 394 students from different schools and colleges participated.
Ranchi Sanatorium: A youths’ convention on 7 September which was attended by 125 students.
Salem: (i) Inter-school cultural competitions from 21 to 29 August in which 1680 students from 24 schools took part. (ii) A two-day youths’ camp at a local women’s college on 3 and 4 September which was attended by 248 students.
Thanjavur: A motivational programme for teachers on 4 September at a school in Kumbakonam attended by 60 teachers.
Viveknagar, Agartala: (i) An orientation programme for teachers, in collaboration with the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Tripura, from 12 to 21 September which was attended by 480 teachers from 100 schools in Tripura. (ii) A youths’ camp at Belonia, South Tripura district, on 15 September, attended by 254 youths.
Yadadri Bhuvanagiri: Five values education programmes, one at the ashrama and four at nearby schools, from 1 to 21 September in which altogether 450 students took part.
Outside India:
Batticaloa (a sub-centre of Colombo branch), Sri Lanka: Four personality development programmes from 5 to 28 September in which a total of 550 students were in attendance.
Eye Camps and other Healthcare Services
The following centres conducted medical camps. A summary of the services provided by them is given below.
India:
Bankura: Eye camps from 30 July to 28 September in which a total of 701 eye patients were screened, 83 were operated on and 51 were given spectacles.
Chennai Math: An eye camp at Veeranakunnam village in Kanchipuram district, with the help of Chengalpattu centre, on 8 September in which 114 patients were checked, 32 were referred for eye surgery, and 45 were given spectacles.
Coimbatore Mission: Seven medical camps around Coimbatore from 25 August to 15 September, in which 427 patients were treated in total.
Digboi: (i) A cataract detection camp, in collaboration with a hospital in Dibrugarh, on 25 August in which 29 people were checked and 15 of them were referred for surgery. (ii) Two medical camps on 8 and 15 September, in which 55 patients were treated in total.
Gurap: Three eye camps from July to September in which a total of 144 patients were checked; subsequently, 37 of them were operated on at an eye hospital.
Khetri: An eye camp on 22 September where 63 patients were checked; 28 of them were operated on at an eye hospital.
Lucknow: 3710 eye patients were checked and 197 were operated on and given spectacles in August.
Medinipur: A medical camp at a college in Ramgarh, Paschim Medinipur, on 16 September in which 307 patients were treated.
Mumbai: A medical camp on 15 September at Palghar district in which 213 patients were treated. Twenty-four patients were screened for cataract and referred for surgery at the centre’s hospital.
Nattarampalli: An eye camp on 15 September in which 231 patients were checked; subsequently, 54 were operated on for cataract in an eye hospital, and 47 were given spectacles.
Ponnampet: A medical camp in association with another institution on 21 September attended by 52 patients with issues related to speech and hearing.
Porbandar: An eye camp on 13 September in which 28 patients were checked and later 8 were operated on for cataract in an eye hospital.
Rahara: A medical camp on 8 September at Minakhan Block, Dist. North 24 Parganas, in which 694 patients were treated.
Rajamahendravaram: (i) A medical camp on 15 September at Rampachodavaram, Dist. Alluri Sitaramaraju, in which 15 specialist doctors treated 378 patients. (ii) Eye camps from July to September in which a total of 470 patients were checked; subsequently 58 were operated on in an eye hospital and 135 were given spectacles.
Ranchi Morabadi: 549 eye patients were checked, 16 were operated on and 33 were given spectacles in September.
Salem: Three medical camps from 25 August to 8 September at different places in and around Salem, in which a total of 635 patients were checked.
Silchar: An eye camp at Amraghat, Dist. Cachar, on 29 August: 86 patients were checked and 18 of them were operated on.
Somsar: A blood donation camp at the Indas sub-centre on 15 September; 39 people donated blood.
Thanjavur: (i) A medical camp at the village centre on 22 September in which 44 patients were treated. (ii) Two dental camps at a local school where 485 students were checked.
Thirumukkudal: (i) Four medical camps from 5 to 21 September at nearby places in which a total of 71 patients were treated. (ii) An eye camp on 22 September in which 130 patients were checked, 18 of them were operated on for cataract and 44 were given spectacles.
Outside India:
Batticaloa (a sub-centre of Colombo branch), Sri Lanka: Medical camps at Kiran, Sittandy and Kudumimalai in September in which altogether 621 patients received medical aid.
Obituary
We record with sorrow the sudden passing away of Swami Antarlokananda (Sajal), aged 66 years, at Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai, on 16 September at 12.49 pm. An initiated disciple of Swami Vireshwaranandaji Maharaj, he joined the order in 1981 at Rahara centre and received sannyasa diksha from Swami Bhuteshanandaji Maharaj in 1990. He rendered services at Rahara centre for a long period of 36 years and at Swamiji’s Ancestral House for 5 years. The swami had a pleasant nature and calm composure.