News Bulletin : 01 April 2024

The sad news of the mahasamadhi of our dear and revered President Srimat Swami Smarananandaji Maharaj on Tuesday, 26 March, at 8.14 pm was communicated to our centres the same night by email.  The news was soon posted on the Belur Math website and published in several newspapers the following morning.

Revered Maharaj went on a visit to Kamarpukur and Jayrambati in September last year.  While in Jayrambati, his health deteriorated on account of a chest infection and he was admitted to Peerless Hospital in Kolkata on 27 September.  After two months, he was discharged from the hospital and taken to Narendrapur Ashrama.  His health gradually improved over the next few weeks.  However, on 18 January, he developed a fever and there was a fall in blood pressure.  He was immediately admitted to the Peerless Hospital again.  From there he was moved to Seva Pratishthan on 29 January.  After six weeks his condition became critical and, despite the best available medical treatment, he finally passed away on 26 March at 8.14 pm.  He was 94.

The body of Revered Maharaj was brought to Belur Math late in the night and was kept in the Cultural Hall next to President Maharaj’s quarters.  A large number of our monastic brothers from branch centres, and thousands of disciples, devotees, admirers and friends thronged the Math premises throughout the night and the next day to pay their last respects and homage.  Sri C V Ananda Bose, Governor of West Bengal, and many other dignitaries also paid visits.  On the 27th at 8.20 pm, the body of Revered Maharaj was taken in a procession to the courtyard in front of the Math Office and kept on a high platform in a decorated pandal till 8.45 pm.  It was then carried in a procession to Holy Mother’s ghat where it was given a ceremonial bath amidst Vedic chanting.  The cremation rites which started at 9.35 pm were over by 12.45 am.  A large number of monks and devotees stayed till the end of cremation.

Condolences were received from many dignitaries, including the following: Smt. Droupadi Murmu, President of India; Sri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India; Sri C V Ananda Bose, Governor of West Bengal; Sri Amit Shah, Union Home Minister; Ms Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal; Sri Pema Khandu, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh; Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party; Sri Mohan Bhagwat, Chief of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh; and Sri Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition, West Bengal.

Special worship and bhandara in memory of Revered Maharaj will be held at Belur Math on Sunday, 7 April.  All our branch centres are requested to observe this day suitably with special puja of Sri Ramakrishna.

Swami Smarananandaji was born in village Andami in the district of Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, on 25 December 1929.  He came in contact with Mumbai centre when he was 20 years old.  Inspired by the ideals of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, he joined the order at Mumbai centre in 1952 at the age of 22.  Swami Shankaranandaji Maharaj gave him mantra diksha in the same year.  He also received from his guru brahmacharya vows in 1956 and sannyasa vows in 1960.

From Mumbai centre, he was transferred in 1958 to the Kolkata branch of Advaita Ashrama.  He served at both Mayavati and Kolkata centres of the Advaita Ashrama for 18 long years.  For a few years he was the Assistant Editor of Prabuddha Bharata.  He also enthusiastically worked to improve the standard of publications of the Advaita Ashrama.

He was posted to Saradapitha centre as its Secretary in 1976.  During his long tenure of more than 15 years there, educational and rural welfare work of Saradapitha saw tremendous development.  When West Bengal was struck with devastating floods in 1978,  he took up extensive relief operations along with his monastic assistants.  From Saradapitha he was posted to Chennai Math as its Head in December 1991.

He was appointed a Trustee of the Ramakrishna Math and Member of the Governing Body of the Ramakrishna Mission in 1983.  In April 1995, he joined the Headquarters as an Assistant Secretary, and after two years, he took charge as the General Secretary of the twin organizations.  As the General Secretary, he steered the worldwide Ramakrishna Movement for ten long years until May 2007 when he was elected a Vice-President of the Order.  He became the President of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission in July 2017.

He travelled extensively in India and different parts of the world, visiting many branches of the Math and Mission and also unaffiliated centres, spreading the message of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda and Vedanta among a vast number of people.  He also gave mantra diksha to thousands of spiritual seekers.

Revered Maharaj was a voracious reader and a deep thinker.  He contributed a number of articles to various journals of the Ramakrishna Order.  Collecting his articles and talks, a few books have been brought out: Smriti-Smaran-Anudhyan and Chintan-Manan-Anushilan in Bengali, and Musings of a Monk in English.

Swami Smarananandaji was loved and respected by all for his wisdom, simplicity, unassuming nature, sense of humour and spiritual fervour.  His mahasamadhi has left a huge void that is difficult to fill.

Swami Gautamanandaji has been elected ‘President for the interim period’ of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, until the new President is elected.  He is presently in Belur Math and is scheduled to return to Chennai on 8 April.  He will be in Belur Math again from 23 April onwards.

Swami Suhitanandaji is in Sargachhi.  He is scheduled to return to Belur Math on 6 April. He will visit Limbdi, Rajkot and Vadodara from 16 to 22 April.

Swami Bhajananandaji is at Belur Math.

Swami Girishanandaji is in Gaya, and is scheduled to return to Belur Math on 4 April.  He will be visiting Delhi, Almora, Mayavati and Shyamlatal from 8 to 21 April, and Batanagar from 26 to 28 April.

All of them are keeping well.

The birthday (janma-tithi) of Sri Ramakrishna Dev was celebrated at Belur Math on Tuesday, 12 March, with spiritual fervour and delight.  Khichuri prasad was served to 30,000 devotees.  The General Secretary presided over the public meeting held in the afternoon.

The centenary of Swami Brahmananda Temple at Belur Math was celebrated on 13 and 14 March with special worship, musical programmes and two public meetings.  Swami Suhitanandaji and Swami Bhajananandaji chaired the meetings respectively on the first and second day of the celebration. (Watch Videos : Centenary of Swami Brahmananda Temple )

The centenary of Swami Vivekananda Temple at Belur Math was celebrated on 15 March with special worship, Vedic chanting and cultural events.  Swami Girishanandaji presided over the public meeting held in the afternoon. (Watch Videos : Centenary of Swami Vivekananda Temple )

The erstwhile Headquarters building at Belur Math, situated opposite Sri Ramakrishna Temple, has been named Swami Subodhananda Memorial.  Swami Gautamanandaji unveiled two plaques on 16 March with the new name and a brief history of the building inscribed on them.

The annual Public Celebration in connection with Sri Ramakrishna’s birthday was held at Belur Math on Sunday, 17 March, with religious discourses, cultural events and mela (fair).  Lakhs of people visited Belur Math on that day.  Khichuri prasad was served to 45,000 devotees and visitors.

Sri Lakshman Prasad Acharya, Governor of Sikkim, visited Belur Math on 19 March.

Governor of Tripura Sri Indrasena N Reddy inaugurated the mela at Viveknagar centre, Agartala, on 16 March held in connection with Sri Ramakrishna’s birthday celebration.

Sri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of Jal Shakti, visited Limbdi centre on 5 March.

Students of our Jhargram school won four medals (1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze) at the West Bengal State Judo Championship conducted in Kolkata on 20 and 21 March.

The General Secretary inaugurated the new monks’ quarters at Shyamsayer centre on 24 March.

The General Secretary laid the foundation stone for a school building for the higher secondary section at Asansol centre on 25 March.

Hollywood centre, USA, installed a plaque at a nearby intersection on 22 February.  The plaque reads “Vedanta Square – Commemorating the message of peace, harmony, and oneness brought to Los Angeles by Swami Vivekananda in 1899.” (Watch on YouTube : Dedication of Vedanta Square)

To commemorate the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda and Vedanta’s arrival in Los Angeles, the centre held two meetings on 24 February—one in Hollywood and another in South Pasadena. (Watch on YouTube : Celebrating 125th Anniversary of Vivekananda’s Visit to Los Angeles )

The 75th anniversary of the Ramakrishna Monastery in Trabuco Canyon was celebrated on 25 February with a symposium on monasticism. (Watch on YouTube : Special Program Commemorating 75th Anniversary at Ramakrishna Monastery )

Sri Senthil Thondaman, Governor of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, attended Sri Ramakrishna’s birthday celebration at Batticaloa sub-centre of Colombo centre on 12 March.

Phone Numbers:

Barasat centre has discontinued its phone number: 2562 6272.

Silchar centre has discontinued its phone numbers: 266789 and 267789.  It has a new landline phone number: (3842) 796560.

Somsar centre has discontinued its phone number: 97320 77647.  It has a new mobile telephone number: 98305 28773.

Websites:

Barasat centre has discontinued its website: <www.rkmbarasat.org> and Kathmandu centre, Nepal, has discontinued its website: <rkmnepal.org>.

Somsar centre has launched a website with address: somsar.rkmm.org

The following centres held programmes mentioned against their names:

Porbandar: Several values education programmes from August to February which were attended by a total of 492 students and 20 teachers from 10 schools and colleges.

Gurugram: A session on values education at the National Progressive Schools’ Conference, Delhi, on 21 February, attended by 250 principals.

Raipur: Three personality development camps in Raipur and Durg districts on 4, 11 and 19 March attended by 421 students and 63 teachers in all.

Rajkot: (i) Two values education programmes at the ashrama and 5 programmes in schools and colleges from 29 January to 20 February in which altogether 3740 students took part. (ii) A state-level written quiz competition in which 42,096 students from 516 schools in 33 districts of Gujarat took part; the toppers were awarded prizes on 3 March.

Ranchi Morabadi: Youth awakening programmes in two remote areas in Jharkhand on 5 and 7 March which were attended by 565 youths in all.

Thanjavur: Two values education programmes on 13 and 20 March in Amaravathiputur and Thanjavur in which a total of 575 students took part.

The following centres conducted medical camps.  A summary of the services provided by them is given below.

India:

Chennai Math: An eye camp at Meyyur village, through Chengalpattu centre, on 10 March in which a total of 84 patients were checked; 17 were referred for eye surgery.

Bankura: Eye camps from 28 February to 28 March in which a total of 409 eye patients were screened, 201 were operated on and 17 were given spectacles.

Coimbatore Mission: Seven medical camps (1 dental, 1 ENT, 1 eye, 1 orthopaedic and 3 general camps) in and around Coimbatore from 3 to 23 March in which a total of 415 patients were treated.

Cuttack: An eye camp on 23 March: 102 patients were treated and 50 spectacles were given.

Goa: Ayurveda and physiotherapy camps on 10 February and 2 March attended by 50 patients in all.

Gourhati: Three eye camps from 26 December to 27 February – altogether 157 patients were treated; 19 were operated on in an eye hospital.

Gurap: Two eye camps on 19 February and 18 March in which a total of 91 patients were checked; 21 of them were operated on at an eye hospital subsequently.

Hatamuniguda: An orthopaedics camp on 10 March; 31 patients were treated.

Jammu: (i) Two cataract surgery camps on 20 February and 14 March in which altogether 16 patients were operated.  (ii) A neurology camp on 16 March in which 14 doctors treated 455 patients.

Jamshedpur: (i) Two eye camps on 24 January and 14 March in which a total of 138 patients were screened and 80 were operated on.  (ii) Spectacles were distributed to 33 patients operated on at the eye camp held on 24 January.

Kalyani: A medical camp on 17 March with 9 doctors.

Kanpur: An eye camp on 28 February in which 80 patients were treated and 30 were given spectacles.

Lucknow: 7101 eye patients were checked and 526 were operated on and given spectacles in February.

Madurai: An eye camp on 4 March in which 572 students were screened.

Manasadwip: Conducted four eye camps from December to March in which a total of 458 patients were treated. Also, the centre arranged cataract surgery for 105 patients in association with another institution during the same period.

Mumbai: An eye camp at Borli village in Raigad district on 25 February: 159 patients were treated; 89 of them were given spectacles; and 17 were operated on.

Nagpur: An eye camp in Gumthala village, Nagpur district, on 25 February in which 137 patients were checked.  Subsequently, 38 were operated on for cataract at an eye hospital and 90 spectacles were given.

Naora: (i) Six medical camps (4 ayurvedic and 2 general) in January and February: altogether 966 patients were treated.  (ii) Three eye camps in January and February: a total of 47 patients were operated on.

Nattarampalli: An eye camp on 17 March where 401 patients were checked, 99 were operated on for cataract in an eye hospital, and 53 were given spectacles.

Ponnampet: A medical camp in association with another institution on 16 March attended by 103 patients with issues related to mental health, addiction and dementia.

Porbandar: An eye camp on 9 March: 23 patients were treated and subsequently 9 were operated on for cataract in an eye hospital.

Rajamahendravaram: (i) A medical camp for epilepsy patients on 10 March in which 607 patients were treated.  (ii) A medical camp in a tribal hamlet of Alluri Sitharama Raju district on 24 March in which 12 specialist doctors treated 352 patients.  (iii) Eye camps from January to March in which a total of 330 patients were checked; subsequently 45 were operated on and 87 were given spectacles.

Rajkot: A medical camp on 18 February in which 119 patients were treated.

Salem: (i) An eye camp on 17 March: 230 patients were checked, 50 were operated on for cataract in an eye hospital, and 37 were given spectacles.  (ii) Three medical camps from 25 February to 3 March: in all, 1624 patients were treated.

Silchar: An eye camp at Srikona on 29 February: 74 patients were checked and 14 of them underwent cataract operation.

Thanjavur: Two medical camps (1 dental and 1 general) on 10 March in which a total of 45 patients were treated.

Outside India:

Batticaloa (a sub-centre of Colombo branch), Sri Lanka: Medical camps at Kiran, Kudumimalai and Vaharai in March in which a total of 780 patients received medical aid.

Durban, South Africa: A medical camp in Pietermaritzburg on 24 March in which 459 patients were treated.

We record with sorrow the passing away of Swami Nityatmananda (Gitendu) at Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata, on 30 March at 10.10 am. He was 74. Initiated by Swami Vireshwaranandaji Maharaj, he joined the order in 1974 at Guwahati centre and received sannyasa diksha from his guru in 1984. He served the order at Guwahati, Narottam Nagar, Baghbazar, Rajkot, Sikra Kulingram, Cossipore, Lucknow, Jaipur, Cooch Behar, Sarisha, Barisha, Thiruvananthapuram, Sohra, Bajepratappur, Dibrugarh and Silchar centres. Owing to his failing health, he came to Belur Math in May 2022 and was put up at Arogya Bhavan. He spent the last year and a half in Seva Pratishthan. He has authored a few booklets. The swami was jovial and sociable by nature.