The Order on the March

News & Notes from Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission

Branch centres

The Residential College of Narendrapur Ashrama held the inaugural function of its diamond jubilee. Srimat Swami Smarananandaji Maharaj, President of the Order, Swami Suviranandaji, the General Secretary, former Secretaries and Principals of the college, teachers and others spoke on the occasion through video conferencing.

The Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Karimganj, presented Chief Minister’s Best Community Action Award for Development to Karimganj centre on 15 August, Independence Day.

Health

Mumbai, Rajkot, Manasadwip and Khetri centres conducted eye camps where 1309 patients were checked, and among them 299 operated and 533 given spectacles.

Flood Relief

Owing to incessant rains, many areas in the state of Assam, most parts of Muzaffarpur district in Bihar, many areas of Rajkot in Gujarat, and many areas in Kozhikode district in Kerala were flooded. Ramakrishna Math/Mission centres in Guwahati, Muzaffarpur, Rajkot and Koyilandy provided relief in the form of cooked food to 2500 people and groceries, food grains, and clothes to 320 families.

Coronavirus Relief

Salem centre in Tamil Nadu, Darjeeling and Sarisha centres in West Bengal, Bagerhat, Habiganj, and Narayaganj centres in Bangladesh, Durban, and Phoenix centres in South Africa, Lusaka centre in Zambia, and the centre in Fiji, continued to provide relief by providing cooked food to 21590 people and distributing food grains, groceries, etc., among 3223 families,

Cyclone Relief

Belgharia, Gadadhar Ashrama, Manasadwip, and Sarisha centres in West Bengal continued the relief work begun in the wake of the severe Amphan cyclone and provided grocery items to 250 families, 407 solar lights, and building material to rebuild their homes.

Covid Relief, Lusaka

Covid Relief, Rajamahendravaram

Flood Relief, Guwahati

Flood Relief, Koyilandy

Sri Ramakrishna Math, Thanjavur, Village Centre

SRI RAMAKRISHNA MATH THANJAVUR

The city of Thanjavur in the Cauvery delta, the erstwhile capital of the great Chola Empire, especially known for the world famous 1000-year old Brihadeeshwara Temple and the indigenous Thanjavur painting is a glorious example of Indian heritage. The dawn of the Ramakrishna Movement in this historic land began when a large crowd gathered at the Thanjavur railway station on 3 February 1897 to honour Swami Vivekananda who was travelling from Ramanad to Chennai on his triumphant return to India after The Parliament of Religions in Chicago. Two other direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Ramakrishnananda and Swami Abhedananda sanctified the city with their visit in 1906. They arrived on 11 July and left the city on 13 July. On 12 July they visited the Brihadeeshwara temple and the palace library and in the evening Swami Abhedananda delivered a lecture on “Vedanta in the West” in Besant Hall. Again, sometime between 1902 and 1904, Swami Paramananda, a disciple of Swami Vivekananda spent three weeks in this town immersed in spiritual practices. He experienced a special divine realisation and later said that the place was very spiritually awakened.

The Ramakrishna Movement was later fostered in the city by a devotee Sri K. V. Pakkirisamy Munayathiriyar, the owner the Vetrivel Press. He had a small shrine of Sri Ramakrishna in his press and hosted sannyasis of the Order during their pilgrimage. The next wave of awakening came in 1978 when Srimat Swami Vireswarananda Ji Maharaj, the 10 th President of the Ramakrishna Order exhorted Dr. T. Indira, a college lecturer, who was newly posted to Thanjavur with these words: “Indira, do something for Sri Sri Thakur in Thanjavur…” Dr. Indira organised satsangs and study-circles in her own residence, houses of other devotees and also in Sri Guru Joliram Goswami Math on Ellaimman Koil Street, Thanjavur Town. With this initial momentum a state level devotee’s conference under the guidance of the sannyasis of the Ramakrishna Order, especially Srimat Swami Smaranananda Ji Maharaj, the then President of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai and the present President of the Ramakrishna Order, was held in December 1993. The success of the conference and revered Maharaj’s inspiration led to the formation of Sri Ramakrishna Vivekananda Samiti on 04 January 1994, the auspicious occasion of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi’s Jayanti. The Samiti conducted satsangs regularly once in a week. Eventually Sri Ramakrishna Vivekananda Educational Trust was formed in 1998. The trust received a donation of a plot of land from a farmer on the idyllic banks of the Vadavar river near the famous Punnainallur Mariamman Kovil, which is some 6-7 Kms away from the city. A small temple dedicated to Sri Ramakrishna was built there and consecrated on 09 January 2002 by Srimat Swami Smaranananda Ji Maharaj, the then General Secretary of the Order.

This trust was affiliated to Belur Math and became a sub-centre of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai on 01 August 2019. To reach out to more people, the Math acquired a plot of land in the Thanjavur city just a kilometer away from the Brihadeeshwara Temple. This city centre with a Prayer Hall and other facilities was inaugurated on 22 August 2020, the sacred Ganesh Chaturthi, with the special worship of Sri Ramakrishna, Ganapati Homam, Bhajans, a traditional paddy seed distribution ceremony to farmers etc. Srimat Swami Gautamananda Ji, the Adhyaksha of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai and one of the VicePresidents of the Order gave benediction through online video conferencing. Nearly 250 devotees and 15 monastics participated in the programme. Annadanam was given to more than 500 people.

Vol.107. No.10 The Vedanta Kesari (English Monthly) October 2020. Regd. with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under No.1084 / 1957. Postal registration number: TN / CH (C) /190 / 2018-2020. Licensed to Post without prepayment TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-259 / 2018-2020. Date of Publication: 24 th of every month

Dare to be free, dare to go as far as your thought leads, and dare to carry that out in your life. — Swami Vivekananda

Lavino-KapurCottons Pvt Ltd

100% Export Oriented Unit *Star Export House BUREAU VERITAS–ISO 9001:2008 certified (Manufacturers of Absorbent Cotton Products)

TARAPUR PLANT:

H-1, MIDC, Tarapur Industrial Area Taps Post, Boisar–401 504 District–Thane. Maharashtra Tel: 02525-2722 90/91/92

REGD. OFFICE:

121-122, Mittal Chambers, Nariman Point, Mumbai–400 021 Tel: 91 22 6632 5141 (30 Lines) Fax: 91 22 6632 4979 / 6632 4421 / 2282 0577 E-mail: info@lavinokapur.com Website: www.lavinokapur.com