Both the Math and the Mission centres lay emphasis on the dissemination of the spiritual and cultural ideals of India. Through various types of activities, they try to give a practical shape to the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, especially that all religions are true. The centres establish real points of contact among people of different faiths through a large number of libraries, lectures, seminars, symposiums, youth camps, Balak Sanghas, regular classes, public celebrations, occasional exhibitions, screening films on religious and cultural values, etc. During the year, the Math and Mission centres organized several classes/lectures, the details of which are given below.
| Preaching / Lecture | No. of Classes | Attendance |
| Classes / Lectures | 27,359 | 31,98,878 |
| Retreats | 656 | 1,57,914 |
| Celebrations / Public Meetings | 1,692 | 15,77,340 |
Besides, many of our centres served rural folks by spreading spiritual and cultural ideas among them through mobile units such as Jnana Vahini. Educative and religious film shows, lectures, exhibitions, guided meditation, personality development classes and sale of our literature were organized in many interior parts of the country. Many centres are running institutions like VIVEC (Vivekananda Institute of Value Education and Culture) or Human Excellence centres to impart values education to people in general. Several centres provide values education as well as guidance for self-reliance to the inmates of different prisons.
The Math and Mission screened values education films in rural and urban areas; details are shown below.
| Audio-Visual Units (in Rural & Urban areas) | No. of
Units |
Films screened | Villages
covered |
Schools
visited |
Beneficiaries |
| 12 | 305 | 210 | 211 | 1,01,685 |
During the year, 5,65,284 people participated in various programmes conducted by 3,298 cultural units of the Math and Mission such as Balak Sanghas, Yuvak Sanghas, Jnana Vahinis, Viveka Murasu, and Institutes of Human Excellence
Apart from this, 251 libraries were run by our Math and Mission centres; most of these libraries had reading rooms facility also. Details are shown below:
| Libraries &
Reading Rooms (in Rural & Urban areas) |
No.
of Units |
No.
of Books |
Newspapers | Periodicals | Books
Issued |
Attendance |
| Public Libraries | 123 | 18,69,432 | 525 | 8,456 | 6,08,041 | 10,62,784 |
| School / College Libraries | 128 | 13,30,227 | 273 | 1,422 | 3,36,296 | 6,90,580 |
Centres of the Math and Mission published several books and 16 journals in different languages. The centres at Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata (Advaita Ashrama, Baghbazar & Gol Park), Mysuru, Nagpur, Rajkot and Thrissur have to their credit a considerable number of publications. Details are as follows:
| Book Publication Centres | New Titles in 2019-20 | Reprints in 2019-20 | Titles in Circulation |
| 20 | 105 | 1,097 | 4,678 |
| Periodical
Publication Centres |
Periodicals | Languages | Subscribers |
| 15 | 16 | 13 | 3,99,416 |
A sum of Rs. 20.01 crore was spent on publication work during the year.
Started in 1993, Vivekananda Veda Vidyalaya at Belur Math has been functioning, as envisioned by Swami Vivekananda, for the promotion and propagation of Sanskrit learning, with particular reference to Vedic studies. The students reside and study in an atmosphere similar to the ancient gurukula system.
The Math and Mission centres maintained temples and prayer halls and held lectures, retreats and devotees’ conventions. Thousands of people were inspired to accept higher values of life by coming into contact with the different centres and received guidance in their spiritual pursuits.
It is noteworthy that the member Ashramas (numbering around 1000) of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Bhava Prachar Parishads (there are 35 Parishads functioning in different parts of the country, under the guidance of Ramakrishna Math) undertook charitable activities and conducted various programmes especially to inspire the youth, and spread moral values and culture.