Revered President Maharaj will be visiting Baghbazar Math, Kolkata, from 29 April to 8 May. He is keeping well.
Swami Gautamananda ji is in Delhi and is scheduled to return to Chennai Math on 5 April. He will be visiting Mumbai and Nagpur from 17 to 29 April. He is keeping well.
Swami Suhitananda ji will be visiting Patna, Chapra and Muzaffarpur from 1 to 11 April, and Baghbazar Math, Kolkata, from 20 to 25 April. He is keeping well.
Swami Bhajanananda ji is at Belur Math. He is keeping well.
Swami Girishananda ji is at Omkareshwar and is scheduled to return to Belur Math on 4 April. He will be visiting Bardhaman and Asansol from 9 to 15 April, and Barisha Math, Kolkata, from 20 to 22 April and again from 25 to 30 April. He is keeping well.
As announced in December 2022 Bulletin, the Headquarters acquired the sacred and historical Alambazar Math in Kolkata. To mark this acquisition, a formal programme was held at Alambazar Math on 18 March in which Swami Gautamanandaji, Swami Suhitanandaji, Swami Bhajananandaji, Swami Girishanandaji, the General Secretary, and a few other dignitaries spoke.
Smt. Droupadi Murmu, President of India, paid a visit to Belur Math on 28 March. Sri C.V. Ananda Bose, Governor of West Bengal, accompanied the President on her visit.
Germany centre moved to its new premises in Berlin on 28 February. The address of the new premises is “Vedanta Gesellschaft, Marienfelder Allee 73, 12277 Berlin, Germany”.
Kanpur centre has changed its website address from <www.rkmkanpur.org> to kanpur.rkmm.org
The following centres conducted programmes mentioned against their names:
Dehradun: A state-level youths’ convention was held on 28 March in which 425 students from 14 colleges and universities took part. The concluding session was presided over by the Governor of Uttarakhand Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Gurmit Singh.
Jalpaiguri: Two discourses were delivered on 23 and 26 February; a total of 290 devotees attended.
Lumdung: A photo gallery was inaugurated on 11 March.
Madurai: A parents’ meet was held on 25 March in which 130 parents took part.
Rajkot: A spiritual retreat was held on 12 March in which 300 devotees took part, and a public meeting on 23 March in which Swami Suhitanandaji addressed a gathering of 300 people.
Ranchi Morabadi: A devotees’ convention was held at the centre on 12 March with the participation of 270 devotees. Another convention in Barwatoli village was held on 13 March, attended by 200 villagers.
The General Secretary inaugurated the newly built kitchen and dining hall block, named Annapurna Dham, at Vrindaban centre on 3 March.
Swami Gautamanandaji and the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Sri Pema Khandu inaugurated the newly developed secondary school campus of Lumdung centre on 10 and 11 March. Sri Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister for Law and Justice; Sri Mama Natung, Arunachal Pradesh Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs; Sri Taba Tedir, Arunachal Pradesh Minister for Education and Cultural Affairs; eight MLAs of Arunachal Pradesh, and other dignitaries attended the inauguration. In the first phase of the development of the campus, an academic block, a laboratory-cum-activity block and an administrative block have been constructed and a statue of Swamiji has been installed.
The newly built Sri Ramakrishna Temple on the Sitanagaram campus of Vijayawada centre was consecrated on 22 March, the Telugu New Year, with special worship, homa and a public meeting. About 2000 devotees and 50 monks attended the programme.
On 24 March, Chennai Math held the concluding function of the centenary celebration of Sri Ramakrishna Vijayam, the Tamil monthly published by the Math. The day-long function consisted of public meetings, a youths’ convention, a women’s convention and symposiums on literary forms and music.
The 125th anniversary of Chennai Math was grandly celebrated with a two-day programme on 25 and 26 March. Swami Gautamanandaji, the General Secretary and several eminent people and monks took part in the celebration. There were special sessions devoted to discussions on Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Ramakrishnananda and the Ramakrishna Order. Bhajans and Harikatha performances enthralled the audience.
Swami Girishananda ji unveiled a bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda and inaugurated a lecture hall at our Bhopal school on 25 March.
Swami Gautamananda ji inaugurated Maa Sarada Sevalaya at Dehradun centre on 29 March. The building has two operation theatres, general wards, a diagnostic lab, and departments of ENT and dentistry.
National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) awarded A++ grade to the Vivekananda Centenary College of Rahara centre.
A student of the girls’ secondary school run by Sarisha centre won a silver medal in snap shooting in All India Thal Sainik Camp conducted by NCC and was also adjudged the best cadet of the 2 Bengal Girls Battalion.
Jhargram centre conducted a district-level football tournament from 11 to 26 February. Two men’s teams and two women’s teams from each of the eight blocks in Jhargram district took part in the tournament.
Three STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) laboratories set up by Chennai Math, Chennai Students’ Home and Coimbatore Mission centres at their respective schools were inaugurated on 21 and 27 March.
Thanjavur Math distributed buttermilk among 400 devotees on 27 March on the occasion of a temple festival in Thiruthuraipoondi, Tiruvarur district.
Swami Gautamanandaji dedicated a four-dimensional animation show installed in the Vivekananda Exhibition of Delhi centre on 30 March. The show is based on the mythological story found in Kathopanishad.
The General Secretary inaugurated a lecture hall, named “Turiyananda Hall”, at the RKMVERI deemed university’s main campus in Belur on 30 March.
Colombo centre, Sri Lanka, and its sub-centre in Batticaloa, held public meetings on 5 and 6 March in commemoration of the 125th anniversary of Swamiji’s visit to that country. Sri Gopal Baglay, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, and other dignitaries attended the function at Colombo centre. Two compilations of Swamiji’s lectures, translated into Sinhalese and Tamil languages, were also released on the occasion.
At Batticaloa sub-centre, Inclusive Resource and Training Centre for visually challenged persons was inaugurated on 6 March, and Vivekananda Centre for Human Excellence on the Karaitivu campus of the sub-centre was inaugurated on 7 March.
Durban centre, South Africa, celebrated the 80th anniversary of its foundation on 5 March with a public meeting and a classical music concert. A commemorative brochure was released in the function.
The following centres held programmes mentioned against their names:
Basavanagudi, Bengaluru: A retreat for autorickshaw drivers on 26 February; 280 of them took part.
Chennai Math: Eight workshops on life skills at Vivekananda Cultural Centre for students of a college from 8 February to 3 March.
Coimbatore Mission Vidyalaya: Three youths’ conventions – one in an engineering institute in Coimbatore and two at the polytechnic college of the Vidyalaya – from 28 February to 24 March which were attended by a total of 258 students.
Delhi: Nine workshops on values education in offline mode and two in online mode from 27 January to 26 March; in all, 680 school teachers from different parts of India participated.
Medinipur: Two values education programmes at two educational institutions in West Medinipur and East Medinipur districts on 14 and 19 March in which 800 students and 50 teaching faculty participated.
Raipur: A personality development camp at a college in Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon district, on 3 March, attended by 150 students and 10 teachers.
Rajkot: Three values education programmes at three schools in Rajkot district on 28 February and 15 March in which around 450 students in all took part.
Yadadri Bhuvanagiri: Two values education programmes on 10 and 11 March which were attended by a total of 235 students and a few teachers.
The following centres conducted medical camps. A summary of the services provided by them is given below.
Aurangabad: A medical camp from 13 to 15 March at Paithan, the birthplace of Sant Eknath in Aurangabad district, on the occasion of Nath Shashthi Mela. In all, 2990 patients were treated in the medical camp.
Bankura: Eye camps from 28 February to 25 March in which a total of 580 eye patients were screened, 112 were operated on and 26 were given spectacles.
Chennai Math: Two eye camps, one in Salur village, Chengalpattu district, through Chengalpattu centre, on 19 February, and the other at Meyyur, Tiruvallur district, on 19 March, in which a total of 183 patients were checked, 34 were operated on, and 67 spectacles were distributed.
Coimbatore Mission: Ten medical camps (1 cancer, 1 cardiology, 1 dental, 1 ENT, 1 eye, 1 orthopaedics, and 4 general camps) in rural and tribal areas of Coimbatore district from 26 February to 26 March in which a total of 664 patients were treated.
Delhi: Eye operations on 72 patients and distribution of spectacles to 27 patients in January and February.
Gurap: Eye camps in January and February in which altogether 75 patients were checked; 15 of them were operated on at an eye hospital.
Hatamuniguda: A TB awareness programme on the centre’s school premises on 24 March, the World TB Day.
Kanpur: Two medical camps in Kanpur city and a village in Unnao district on 26 February and 19 March respectively in which a total of 258 patients were treated.
Lucknow: Eye camps in February in which a total of 9654 eye patients were checked and 648 were operated on and given spectacles.
Madurai: An eye camp on 19 February – 208 patients were screened, 49 underwent cataract surgery and 27 were given spectacles.
Manasadwip: (i) Conducted an eye camp on 26 March in which 167 patients were treated, and (ii) Arranged cataract surgery for 29 patients on 2 March in association with another institution.
Mumbai: (i) A medical camp at Sakhalipada village in Palghar district on 19 March in which 133 patients were treated; 49 patients were given spectacles, and (ii) An eye camp in Sudkoli village in Raigad district on 5 March: 160 patients were treated and 98 spectacles were given.
A total of 16 patients underwent cataract surgery from 1 February to 20 March.
Nabadwip: A blood donation camp on 5 March in which 60 people donated blood.
Nagpur: An eye camp in Pachgaon village, Nagpur district, on 12 March in which 145 patients were treated, 29 were operated on for cataract, and 114 spectacles were given.
Naora: Eye operation camps on 2, 23 & 30 March in which a total of 44 people were operated on.
Porbandar: An eye camp on 10 March: 38 patients were treated and subsequently 12 were operated on for cataract.
Rahara: Two medical camps at 2 villages in North and South 24 Parganas districts on 27 November and 11 December respectively. A total of 1283 patients were treated.
Rajamahendravaram: Eye camps in February and March in which 360 patients were treated, 51 were operated on and 72 were given spectacles.
Ramharipur: (i) Conducted several eye camps from 2 April last year to 20 March this year, in which 976 patients were treated, and (ii) Arranged cataract surgery for 60 patients from 15 May last year to 1 March this year in association with another institution.
Salem: (i) Eye camps on 26 February and 12 March: 310 patients were checked, and subsequently 46 were operated on and 71 were given spectacles, (ii) Three medical camps on 26 February, 5 March and 12 March attended by 1559 patients in all.
Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata: A day-long medical camp at Belur Math on 26 February, the day of the annual Public Celebration of Sri Ramakrishna’s birth anniversary; 405 patients were treated.
Thanjavur: (i) An awareness camp on 4 March for the parents of children afflicted with autism and other disabilities, (ii) A general medical camp at the Ashrama’s rural centre on 19 March in which 46 patients were treated, and (iii) Two dental camps at a hostel and a school in Thanjavur district on 25 and 30 March in which a total of 198 students underwent check-ups.
Vadodara: Several eye camps from 1 February to 20 March in which a total of 1484 patients were treated; 111 of them were operated on for cataract at a hospital.
We record with sorrow the demise of Swami Janeshwarananda (Haripada) on 26 March at 2.05 pm at our hospital in Varanasi. Initiated by Swami Atmasthanandaji Maharaj, he joined the order in 2004 at Belgharia Students’ Home and received sannyasa diksha from his guru in 2014. He served the order at Belgharia, Bhubaneswar, Kamarpukur, and Narendrapur centres. In him, the order has lost a dedicated and austere member.