Belur Math which had remained closed since 22 April due to the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, was opened to devotees and visitors on 18 August. The entry is restricted however to those who have received the vaccination or tested negative for Covid. To streamline the Order’s activities among the youth, the headquarters conducted an online orientation programme on 22 August in which 79 heads and monastic youth coordinators from 52 centres in West Bengal took part. Official relations between UNESCO and the Ramakrishna Mission which were established in 2015 have been renewed for a further period of five years until 2026. Ranchi Morabadi Ashrama launched Prabuddha Gram, a quarterly magazine on agriculture and rural development, on 21 July. With the publication of this bilingual magazine in Hindi and English, the centre has discontinued its earlier Hindi monthly Divyayan Samachar. Srimat Swami Smarananandaji, President of the Ramakrishna Order inaugurated the new building for ‘Ma Sarada Charitable Dispensary and Pathology Centre’ of Baghbazar centre through virtual mode on 15 August. In a programme to mark Indian Independence Day (15 August), Sri Pushkar Singh Dhami, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, presented a certificate to Vivekananda Netralaya of Dehradun centre in recognition of the medical services provided during the Covid-19 pandemic. In similar programmes held on that day, local government authorities honoured Delhi, Shivanahalli (Bengaluru) and Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu) Ashramas for their relief activities during the pandemic. Ramakrishna Math Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu which was functioning for the last one year as a sub-centre of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai has now become a full-fledged branch centre of the Order. At the Math’s village centre, which is sunctionig for the last 26 years, Sri Ramakrishna’s temple was renovated and its Kumbhabhishekam held on Ganesha Chaturthi, 10 September 2021 in the presence of Srimat Swami Gautamanandaji, one of the Vice-presidents of the Ramakrishna Order. This was followed by a public meeting and Nama Sankeerthanam by Govindapuram Sri Vittaldas Maharaj. 250 devotees and 20 sannyasis participated maintaining Covid restriction protocols. In 1906, Swami Ramakrishnanandaji, one of the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, started a primary school in Chennai’s Mint area to educate the children of poor daily wagers, fishermen and other such backward communities. Known as Ramakrishna Math National School, this institution continues to
October 2021
News & Notes from Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission
45 The Vedanta Kesari
PA G E D O N O R : S M T. A N U R A D H A B H AT TA C H A R YA , M U M B A I
The Order on the March
