Revered President Maharaj is at Belur Math.
Swami Gautamanandaji will be visiting Belgharia (in Kolkata) from 5 to 7 November, Kamarpukur and Jayrambati from 8 to 18 November, Belur Math from 19 to 24 November, and Vrindaban from 25 to 28 November.
Swami Prabhanandaji is at Belur Math.
Swami Suhitanandaji went to Sargachhi on 23 October and is staying there. He is scheduled to return to Belur Math in the third week of November.
All of them are keeping well.
Durga Puja was celebrated at Belur Math from 12 to 15 October with due solemnity. As in the previous year, the Puja was held in Sri Ramakrishna Temple. On account of the pandemic situation, Belur Math remained closed to devotees and visitors on the Puja days. The live telecast of the Puja over the television and Belur Math YouTube channel was watched by thousands of devotees.
Rajarhat Bishnupur centre has discontinued its telephone number: 272203. It has an additional mobile telephone number: 81005 30371.
Gretz centre, France, has now an email id on the RKMM domain: [email protected]
Jalpaiguri centre has launched a website with the address: www.rkmjalpaiguri.org.
The following 28 centres celebrated Durga Puja (with puja performed in the image) from 12 to 15 October: Antpur, Asansol, Barasat, Bilaspur, Contai, Cooch Behar, Dhaleswar, Digboi, Ghatshila, Guwahati, Jalpaiguri, Jamshedpur, Jayrambati, Kailashahar, Kamarpukur, Karimganj, Kasundia (Howrah), Lucknow, Malda, Medinipur, Mumbai, Patna, Port Blair, Rahara, Shella (under Sohra), Shyamsayer (Bardhaman), Silchar and Varanasi Advaita Ashrama.
Guwahati centre inaugurated a two-storey multipurpose building on its campus on 6 October, the sacred Mahalaya and birthday of Swami Akhandanandaji Maharaj.
Khetri centre built a small shrine of the Holy Mother in the precincts of the famous Savitri Temple at the top of a hill in Pushkar, Rajasthan, in memory of the Holy Mother’s visit to the temple in 1897. The shrine was consecrated on 8 October.
Shilpavidyalaya (ITI) of Saradapitha, Belur, held an online programme on 9 October to mark the inauguration of its centenary celebrations. Swami Gautamanandaji and others including the General Secretary spoke in the programme.
The newly built classrooms on the second floor of the Higher Secondary School (South) of Chennai Mission Ashrama were inaugurated on 20 October. Swami Gautamanandaji presided over the inauguration ceremony.
Swami Gautamanandaji inaugurated the new extension to the Girls’ Higher Secondary School of Chennai Math on 27 October. This new building secured ‘Gold’ rating under Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) Green Schools Rating System.
A class-6 student of our Kozhikode school secured the third prize in a painting competition conducted by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Thiruvananthapuram. Another class‑12 student of the same school received Gold Award in the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition conducted by the Royal Commonwealth Society, London.
The off-campus centre of RKMVERI (deemed university) at Coimbatore Mission Vidyalaya held the 16th convocation on 20 October. As many as 221 students were awarded certificates and degrees. The General Secretary addressed the students through a recorded video message.
The renovated school building and dispensary building at Malliankaranai centre were inaugurated on 26 September.
The new bookstall at the Punkunnam sub-centre of Thrissur Math was opened on 6 October.
Vrindaban hospital moved its Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to a more spacious location and added additional facilities to it. The upgraded NICU was inaugurated on 20 October.
Asansol centre held a programme to mark the Vigilance Awareness Week on 27 October which was attended by 155 students. In the elocution competition held on that day 22 students took part.
Delhi centre conducted 10 online workshops on values education from 27 September to 23 October. In all, 827 teachers and parents participated in these programmes.
Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House, Kolkata, held four workshops on values education from 26 June to 23 October at nearby places in which 339 police personnel and students took part. The centre also conducted online cultural competitions in August and September in which 3244 students and youths took part. The award ceremony was held on 27 September and was addressed by the General Secretary via a recorded video message.
The following centres conducted medical camps and provided medical service mentioned against their names:
Asansol: An eye camp on 2 October in which 52 patients were treated.
Bankura: 1723 eye patients were treated, 117 were operated on and 66 were given spectacles from 28 August to 27 October.
Delhi: Eye operations for 26 patients and distribution of spectacles to 8 patients in September.
Kamarpukur: 332 eye patients were treated and 82 were operated on in October.
Lucknow: 5602 eye patients were treated and 279 were operated on and given spectacles in October.
Manasadwip: Cataract surgeries for 30 patients on 16 September, in association with another institution.
Mumbai: Two health camps at Shiroshi and Kalamvihira villages of Palghar district on 29 August and 17 October. In all, 624 patients were treated in the camps. Subsequently, 14 eye patients were operated on in Mumbai.
Naora: An eye camp on 2 October in which 12 patients were treated.
Porbandar: An eye camp on 8 October in which 43 patients were treated and 30 were operated on for cataract.
Rahara: A medical camp at Hingalganj, North 24 Parganas, on 29 September in which 619 patients were treated.
Rajamahendravaram: 111 eye patients were treated, 14 were operated on and 34 were given spectacles in September.
Visakhapatnam: (1) Four eye camps in Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts from August to October in which 418 patients were treated and 27 eye operations were performed. (2) Two medical camps in Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts in August and October in which 250 patients were treated.
Durga Puja (in the image) was performed at Durban (South Africa) centre, Lusaka (Zambia) centre, Mauritius Ashrama, and 15 centres in Bangladesh, namely Baliati, Bagerhat, Barisal, Chandpur, Chittagong, Comilla, Dhaka, Dinajpur, Faridpur, Habiganj, Jashore, Mymensingh, Narayanganj, Rangpur and Sylhet, and at the Narail sub-centre of Jashore Ashrama.
We record with sorrow the passing away of six of our brother monks.
Swami Ameyanandaji (Amulya Maharaj), former head of Jayrambati and Dhaka centres, breathed his last on 17 October at 8.25 pm at Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata. He was 90 and had been suffering from various ailments for some years.
The news of his passing away was published in several newspapers the following morning. In her condolence message, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid a rich tribute to the swami. The body was brought to Belur Math on 18 October at 3 pm and kept in the Cultural Hall (Sanskriti Bhavan). Monastics and devotees paid their last respects and homage. It was then taken in a procession for the last rites of cremation which started at 9.30 pm and were completed after two and a half hours.
Special worship and bhandara in his memory were held at Belur Math and Jayrambati and Dhaka centres on 29 October.
Initiated by Swami Shankaranandaji Maharaj, Swami Ameyanandaji joined the order in 1955 at Patna centre and received sannyasa diksha from Swami Vireshwaranandaji Maharaj in 1967. He served the order at Patna, Deoghar and Vrindaban centres as an assistant, Jayrambati centre first as an assistant and then as the head for two decades, and Dhaka centre as the head for three years. He also participated in relief operations at different times. He started his spiritual ministration by giving mantra diksha (spiritual initiation) to devotees in Bangladesh in 2011. After relinquishing the headship of Dhaka centre in 2014, he continued to give mantra diksha to the devotees in Bangladesh, staying at Dhaka centre itself. In October 2019, he returned to Belur Math and remained there till the end. He has left behind thousands of initiated disciples in Bangladesh. Diligent and kindhearted by nature, he endeared himself to all who came in contact with him.
Swami Sudhiranandaji (Ramesh Maharaj) expired in our Vrindaban hospital on 2 October at 8.15 am. He was 92 and had been suffering from diabetes, hypertension and other old-age ailments for some years. Initiated by Swami Virajanandaji Maharaj, he joined the order in 1946 at Vrindaban centre and received sannyasa diksha from Swami Vireshwaranandaji Maharaj in 1970. He spent his entire monastic life at Vrindaban centre, continuing to stay there even after retiring in 2000. The swami was known for his austere habits and loving nature.
Swami Raghaveshwarananda (Balaram of Sarisha centre) passed away on 22 October at Omkareshwar. He was 44. He had gone to Omkareshwar on 21 October for a short visit. On the next day, he went to take a bath at the confluence of Narmada and Kaveri rivers along with a few brother monks. While bathing, he was unfortunately carried away by the swift current of water, and his dead body was found two days later at a place quite a few kilometres away from the confluence. An initiated disciple of Swami Ranganathanandaji Maharaj, he joined the order at Belur Math in 2001 and received sannyasa diksha from Swami Atmasthanandaji Maharaj in 2011. He served the order at Antpur and Sarisha centres with dedication. In him the order has lost a jovial and energetic young member.
Swami Kedaranandaji (Mrinmoy Maharaj) expired at Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata, on 26 October at 12.15 am. He was 76 and had been suffering from diabetes, hypertension and other old-age ailments for some years. An initiated disciple of Swami Madhavanandaji Maharaj, he joined the order at Mumbai centre in 1966 and received sannyasa diksha from Swami Vireshwaranandaji Maharaj in 1976. He served the order at Mumbai, Narendrapur and Delhi centres as an assistant and Kanpur centre as the head. He had been living a retired life at Narendrapur centre since 2012. The swami had a calm demeanour and amiable nature.
Swami Vyomanandaji (Shukul / Lakshman Maharaj) breathed his last at Varanasi Advaita Ashrama on 29 October at 9.40 am due to cardiac arrest. He was 96 and had been suffering from diabetes and renal problems for several years. Initiated by Swami Virajanandaji Maharaj, he joined the order in 1947 at Nagpur Math and received sannyasa diksha from Swami Shankaranandaji Maharaj in 1957. He served the order at Nagpur Math as an assistant and Delhi, Prayagraj and Rajkot centres as the head. He had been living a retired life at Varanasi Advaita Ashrama for the last three decades. The swami was known for his administrative acumen.
Swami Sumangalanandaji (Sanat Maharaj) passed away on 31 October at 7.10 am at Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata. He was 84 and had been suffering from old-age ailments for several years. Initiated by Swami Vireshwaranandaji Maharaj, he joined the order at Chennai Math in 1966 and received sannyasa diksha from his guru in 1977. He served the order at the headquarters and at Chennai Math, Mumbai, Saradapitha, Mauritius, Jalpaiguri, Patna, Rahara and Narendrapur centres. He also participated in relief operations at different times. He had been living a retired life at Belur Math since 1997. The swami was frank and simple by nature.