Personalia
Revered President Maharaj will visit Baghbazar Math, Kolkata, from 16 to 23 August.
Swami Vagishananda ji will be visiting Asansol from 9 to 15 August, and Kamarpukur and Jayrambati from 29 August to 8 September.
Swami Gautamananda ji will visit Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur and Belagavi from 1 to 11 August, and Kochi, Kalady and Thrissur from 17 to 23 August.
Swami Prabhananda ji is scheduled to visit Bankura and Purulia from 14 to 26 August.
Swami Shivamayananda ji will visit Siliguri, Guwahati and Bilasipara from 13 to 23 August.
Swami Suhitananda ji is scheduled to return to Belur Math on 5 August after his visit to Cooch Behar. He will be visiting Bardhaman and Sargachhi from 12 to 27 August.
All of them are in good health.
Headquarters
Vivekananda Veda Vidyalaya celebrated its silver jubilee with a public meeting and cultural programmes on 30 June and 1 July. Revered President Maharaj presided over the meeting on the first day.
A bronze statue of Sister Nivedita installed at the initiative of the headquarters at her family cemetery in Great Torrington, United Kingdom, was unveiled on 27 July. The Government of West Bengal funded the project, and our devotees and admirers in the UK extended support for this endeavour. Among others, the function was attended by Swami Sarvasthananda, head of Bourne End centre, UK, and Swami Sarvapriyananda, head of the Vedanta Society of New York, USA.
Communication Addresses
Phone Numbers: Belur Math has discontinued its telephone connections: 2654 1144 and 2654 1180.
Dibrugarh centre has a new telephone connection: (0373) 7960110.
Rishikesh Math has discontinued its telephone connection: 94470 51231. It now has these two new telephone connections: (0135) 2437222 and 98494 67222.
Email ID: Netherlands centre has a new email id: [email protected].
Commemoration of the 125th Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s Chicago Addresses
The following centres held programmes mentioned against their names:
In India
Almora: (i) A statue of Swami Vivekananda was unveiled at Kakrighat on 15 July, followed by a public meeting. The programme was jointly held by Almora centre and Vivekananda Seva Samiti, Kakrighat. (ii) A statue of Swami Vivekananda was unveiled at Vivekananda Corner, near Almora centre, on 16 July. The programme was jointly organized by Almora centre and the Nagar Palika Parishad. (iii) On 16 July, prizes were awarded to the winners in the cultural competitions that the centre had conducted earlier. About 400 people attended the programme.
Baranagar Math: Four lecture programmes between 25 May and 12 July which were attended by about 400 students in all.
Coimbatore Mission: Cultural competitions at 8 schools and colleges in and around Coimbatore from 21 March to 20 July. In all, 1338 students took part in the competitions. At all the venues, the competitions were followed by a talk, an awards ceremony and a skit.
Guwahati: A devotees’ convention on 29 June attended by 167 people.
Lucknow: A public meeting on 4 July in which Sri Ram Naik, Governor of Uttar Pradesh, addressed the gathering.
Mangaluru: Lecture programmes in 4 colleges in the month of July which were attended by 2560 youths in all.
Shyamla Tal: A motivational workshop on 29 June which was attended by 46 students and others.
Silchar: Lecture programmes at 10 places in Cachar district from 17 June to 2 July which were attended by about 5000 students and 100 teachers from 30 schools and colleges.
Taki: Lecture programmes in 7 schools in the month of July which were attended by a total of 1029 youths.
Tamluk: Cultural competitions in 27 schools of Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur districts from January to July in which nearly 3000 students took part. Following the competitions, public meetings were held in each school and were attended by about 11,000 students and teachers in all. On 10 July, the final round of the competitions was held and the winners were awarded prizes.
Outside India
Dhaka, Bangladesh: A public meeting in Mirpur, Dhaka, on 7 July which was attended by 1000 people.
Durban, South Africa: Six devotees’ conventions and three music programmes between 23 May and 7 July, which were attended by 732 people in all.
News of Branch Centres (in India)
On the sacred occasion of Ratha Yatra on 4 July, Puri Math conducted a medical camp from 4 to 12 July in which 1103 patients were treated. The Math also served lemonade to about 13,000 pilgrims.
Puri Mission Ashrama served lemonade to 12,200 pilgrims during the Ratha Yatra festival. A medical camp was also set up in which about 200 patients received medical aid.
The 14th foundation day celebration and the annual convocation of RKMVERI (deemed university) were held on the university’s Belur campus on 4 July. The General Secretary, who is also the Chancellor of the university, presided over the programme and conferred the degrees and diplomas to the successful candidates.
In another welcome development, the UGC has categorized RKMVERI as a Grade-1 institution. This categorization facilitates the university’s initiatives such as opening off-campus centres and starting distance-learning programmes.
Kamarpukur centre recently purchased a portion of the sacred ‘mango orchard of Manik Raja’ in Kamarpukur, a place frequented by Sri Ramakrishna in his childhood days. In a programme held on 4 July to mark the acquisition of the land, a number of mango saplings were planted there.
Swami Gautamanandaji inaugurated the second floor of the boys’ hostel of Jhargram school on 4 July.
Swami Gautamanandaji inaugurated the following two halls at Chennai Math on 26 July: (i) Swami Yatishwarananda Hall attached to the library, and (ii) Swami Tapasyananda Hall for conducting welfare programmes among leprosy-afflicted persons.
Agartala centre conducted a blood donation camp on 17 July in which 29 persons donated blood. Sri Jishnu Dev Varma, Deputy Chief Minister of Tripura, inaugurated the camp.
Chandipur Math held a medical check-up camp for cleft-lip patients on 7 July in which 28 patients were examined.
Guwahati centre conducted a medical camp at Hajo in Kamrup district of Assam on 26 July in which 450 patients were treated.
In a commendable achievement, a tribal student of our Jhargram school who passed the higher secondary examination this year has secured admission in the Indian Institute of Technology, Patna.
Rahara Boys’ Home held two multidisciplinary medical camps in North 24 Parganas and East Bardhaman districts on 9 and 23 June. In all, 1324 patients were treated in the camps.
The following centres conducted eye camps:
| Sl. No. | Centre | Dates of camps | Patients
checked/treated |
Specs given | Surgeries | |
| no. | performed at | |||||
| 1. | Bankura | 27 June to 28 July | 525 | 62 | ‒ | ‒ |
| 2. | Chennai Math* | 21 July | 117 | 68 | 15 | An eye hospital in Chennai |
| 3. | Kamarpukur | July | 701 | 130 | 98 | Our eye care centre in Kamarpukur |
| 4. | Khetri | July | 104 | ‒ | 34 | An eye hospital in Jaipur |
| 5. | Lucknow | July | 5760 | ‒ | 179 | Our Lucknow hospital |
| 6. | Madurai | 21 July | 222 | 7 | 62 | An eye hospital in Madurai |
| 7. | Porbandar | 13 July | 35 | ‒ | 12 | An eye hospital in Virnagar |
| 8. | Rajamahendravaram | April to June | 471 | 111 | 26 | A hospital in East Godavari Dt. |
| 9. | Rajkot | July | 186 | ‒ | 60 | Our eye care centre in Rajkot |
| 10. | Ranchi Morabadi | 29 June to 18 July | 1306 | 106 | ‒ | ‒ |
| 11. | Salem | 30 June to 28 July | 511 | 57 | 134 | An eye hospital in Salem |
| 12. | Seva Pratishthan | June | 109 | 16 | 16 | Our Seva Pratishthan hospital |
| 13. | Vadodara | 25 June | 285 | ‒ | 30 | A hospital in Vadodara Dt. |
*through Chengalpattu centre
Further, Delhi centre conducted 18 eye surgeries in its clinic and gave 10 spectacles to patients in June. All the patients were selected from the eye camp held by the centre in April. In the eye camp held on 15 and 17 June, 111 patients were examined.
Swachchha Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign)
Mangaluru Ashrama conducted the following activities in June: (i) four cleanliness drives in Mangaluru involving 1850 volunteers, (ii) awareness campaigns for 23 days in which volunteers reached out to 1350 households in different parts of Mangaluru city, spreading awareness about waste management, (iii) cleanliness drives in 182 villages of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, (iv) magic shows on the cleanliness theme in 42 schools in Udupi district, and (v) cultural competitions on the cleanliness theme in 130 schools in which 13,100 students took part.
Values Education and Youth Programmes
Barisha centre held a values education programme on 13 July which was attended by 36 school students.
Delhi centre conducted 41 values education workshops in 18 towns and cities spread all over India between 27 June and 27 July which were attended by a total of 2111 teachers and 72 principals.
Gadadhar Ashrama held three students’ conventions at three schools in Hooghly district on 1, 2 and 3 July, which were attended by about 500 students in all.
Haripad Math conducted a values education camp at a school in Thrissur on 8 July which was attended by 118 students.
Medinipur centre held a values education workshop on 21 July in which 370 students and teachers from 12 educational institutions took part.
Rajkot Ashrama conducted 22 values education programmes in the Ashrama, and 28 values education programmes at schools in Amreli, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Kutch and Rajkot districts from 2 to 25 July which were attended by 10,521 students.
Vadodara centre held 6 values education programmes on its campus and another 10 programmes at schools in Vadodara and Panchmahal districts from 3 to 27 July. In all, 2668 students participated in these programmes.
News of Branch Centres (outside India)
Netherlands centre launched an online monthly magazine named Vedanta Vani. It can be accessed on the website vedantavani.com
Obituary
We record with sorrow the passing away of Swami Ashokatmananda (Pranab) at Varanasi Home of Service on 17 July at 3.40 p.m. He was 67 and had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease and other ailments for some years. Initiated by Swami Vireshwaranandaji Maharaj, he joined the order in 1982 at Vrindaban centre and received sannyasa diksha from Swami Bhuteshanandaji Maharaj in 1992. He served at Vrindaban Sevashrama, Belur Math (as an assistant to the Principal of Training Centre) and Kalady, Barasat and Kankhal centres. Due to his ill-health, he moved from Kankhal to Varanasi Home of Service in March of this year. Austere, diligent and amiable by nature, he endeared himself to all by his loving service.