The Order on the March

News & Notes from Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission

Headquarters The birthday (janma-tithi) of Sri Ramakrishnawas celebrated at Belur Math on Friday, 8 March, with spiritual fervour and delight. Cooked prasad was served to about 35,000 devotees. Swami Vishwanathananda presided over the public meeting held in the afternoon. As part of the celebration, Devotees’ Conventions were held on 13 and 14 February in which about 2500 devotees participated on each day. The annual Public Celebration in connection with Sri Ramakrishna’s birthday was held at Belur Math on Sunday, 17 March. More than one lakh people visited Belur Math in the course of the day. Cooked prasad was served to about 40,000 people. Due to unavoidable circumstances, the fireworks display was cancelled this year.

125 th Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s Addresses at the World’s Parliament of Religions

The following centres of the Order held various programmes for school students, youth, teachers, and devotees: Baranagar Math: 4 lectures (264 students and 30 teachers); Coimbatore Mission: cultural competitions (507 students); Hatamuniguda: Quiz (140 students), 2 youth conventions (350 youth), lectures (400 students); Hyderabad: 4 youth conventions (3000 youth); Malda: youth convention (470 youth); Mangaluru: lectures (2750 students); Mysuru: 5 workshops (1044 youth); Naora: lecture (1200 devotees); Pune: 5 lectures (1077 tribal youth); Srinagar: cultural competition (60 orphanage girls); Vadodara: essay-writing (1159 students); Vijayawada: lecture (670 students and 60 teachers); Colombo, Sri Lanka: 3 lectures (6500 devotees); Mymensingh, Bangladesh: lecture (100 devotees).

News of Branch Centres (India)

Lucknow centre inaugurated the year-long golden jubilee celebration of its Vivekananda Polyclinic and Institute of Medical Sciences. Rajkot centre brought out a commemorative volume to mark the 125th anniversary of Swamiji’s visit to Gujarat . Chennai Math distributed buttermilk and sharbat to about 20,000 people on 17 and 18 March on the occasion of the annual Ratha Yatra celebrations of Sri Kapaleeshwarar Temple, Chennai. The Math devotees and students of Ramakrishna Mission, Students’ Home cleaned the streets around the temple after the celebration. Srimath Swami Vagishananda Ji inaugurated the extension to the prayer hall at Gadadhar Ashrama, Kolkata, on 24 March, the birthday of Swami Yogananda. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) awarded the highest grade of A++ to Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute (RKMVERI deemed university), Belur, for five years in the first cycle of its assessment. The Cumulative

Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.66 (out of 4) secured by RKMVERI is the second highest CGPA obtained so far by the universities accredited as per the Revised Accreditation Framework of NAAC.

Shraddha Tyaga Nirbhaya Jiva Seva Desha Bhakti Values Education Programmes

The following centres conducted several outreach programmes: Baranagar Mission: programmes in 4 colleges for 304 students and 118 staff; Delhi: students’ convention for 820 students, 9 workshops in Delhi, Ernakulam, Chandigarh, Gurugram and Visakhapatnam for 676 teachers and 169 students, 110 LED projectors to government schools in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan; Gurap: lectures for 320 youth; Medinipur: workshops in 7 institutions for 2814 students and teachers; Rajkot: 2 programmes for 160 primary school students; Vadodara: programmes in 21 schools for 5170 students.

Medical Relief: 51 people donated blood at a blood camp held by Kailashahar centre. Pala centre held two

Mysuru

medical camps; 298 patients were treated and given free medicines. Porbandar centre held a cancer detection and awareness camp where 69 patients were examined. Salem centre held a medical camp and treated 733 patients. 13 centres of the Order conducted Eye Camps where 7825 were treated, 991 given spectacles, and 1759 operated. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Mangaluru A s h r a m a conducted the following activities in February: (i) five cleanliness drives in Mangaluru involving 1850 volunteers, (ii) awareness campaigns for 24 days in which volunteers reached out to nearly 1250 households in different parts of Mangaluru city, spreading awareness about cleanliness, and (iii) ten seminars in colleges covering 3560 youths.

Winter Relief:

Through 26 centres in India the Order distributed 31251 sweaters, 19500 jackets, 4848 blankets, 306 mufflers, and 1000 coats. Dinajpur centre in Bangladesh distributed 1200 blankets. Distress Relief:

Through 28 centres in India the Order distributed 64234

Baghbazar

shirts, 47160 trousers, 1248 saries, 8010 tops, 1249 dhotis, 119 school bags, 1086 shoes, 577 umbrellas, and 7334 notebooks. Dinajpur centre in Bangladesh distributed 60 saris and Lusaka centre in Zambia distributed 40 T-shirts.

Flood Relief & Rehabilitation:

Continuing relief services to families affected by the severe floods of Aug 2018, Tiruvalla centre distributed 23,588 notebooks, 115 geometry boxes and 516 T-shirts among 3816 students. The headquarters has undertaken construction of 8 anganwadis (childcare centres) in Alappuzha district through the Kochi centre. Fire Relief & Rehabilitation:

Aalo centre in Arunachal Pradesh, and Saradapitha centre in West Bengal helped a family each with relief material after their houses were burnt down. Contai centre in West Bengal helped a family to rebuild their house destroyed in fire.

Kochi Economic Rehabilitation:

Guwahati centre distributed 11 tantsals (weaving instruments) and 20 sewing machines. Rahara centre distributed 6 tricycles and 2 wheelchairs. (Continued on page 54...)

Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Smriti Mandir, Khetri

It is unknown to many that Raja Ajit Singh, king of Khetri from 1870 to 1901, and an ardent patron of fine arts, science, and technology, played an important role in the life of Swami Vivekananda. The two came in contact at Mount Abu in 1891 when Swamiji reached there as a parivrajaka. Very soon, the raja became Swamiji’s close friend and disciple. This unique relationship between the king and the sannyasi became the golden chapter in the

Raja Ajit Singh & his son

Ajit Vivek Museum

Swami Vivekananda as a wandering sannyasi, 1891

history of Khetri. Swamiji was in close touch with the Raja until the latter’s untimely death in 1901.

Swamiji visited Khetri three times – twice in 1891, and once in 1893 and altogether stayed there for 95 days. He stayed as the royal guest in ‘Fatteh Billass’, the palace built in 1866 by Raja Fatteh Singh. Raja Bahadur Sardar Singh, the grandson of Raja Ajit Singh gifted this palace to the Ramakrishna Mission in 1958. In 1959, the palace began to serve the people of Khetri as Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Smriti Mandir.

As part of the golden Jubilee celebrations, this heritage building, which is a unique example of the art

and architecture of the Shkehawti region of Rajasthan, has been restored to its pristine glory. The Diwankhana, the outhouse of the palace has been converted into the Ajit-Vivek Museum. The 3000 sq.feet, 4-floor multi-media museum, designed by National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, showcases the life and teachings of Swamiji.

Swami Suvirananda, the General Secretary of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated the Ajit-Vivek Museum in a 2-day function on 30th and 31st March 2019. Over 800 devotees and 50 sannyasis participated in the lectures and cultural events held during the two days.

Pilgrimage

Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai is for over 30 years rehabilitating Leprosy Cured but Deformed Persons (LCDPs). As part of this programme, the LCDPs were, in the last three years, taken on a pilgrimage first to Kanyakumari, and then to Kashi, Prayag, Ayodhya and Gaya. As a pilgrimage to Kashi is complete only with a pilgrimage to Rameshwaram, the LCDPs went on a 5-day yatra from 11 March 2019 to Sri Rangam, Rameshwaram and Madurai. Before leaving, Kalaimamani Smt Gowri Rajagopal conducted a Kathakalakshepam and explained the significance of the three pilgrim centres. The yatra team included 36 LCDPs, 10 family members, 7 volunteers and a doctor. Special abhishekam was performed to Lord Rameshwara with the Ganga water that the yatris had brought from Kashi. The Order on the March (Continued from page 51...)

NOTICE: Swami Vrajamohanananda, whose pre-monastic name is Prashanta, has recently left the Ramakrishna Order attached to Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math. He is not eligible, therefore, to raise funds or seek other help from our devotees and general public on behalf of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. —General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission

Vol.106. No.5 The Vedanta Kesari (English Monthly) May 2019. 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; Posted on 26 April 2019

When you are doing any work, do not think of anything beyond. Do it as worship, as the highest worship, and devote your whole life to it for the time being. —Swami Vivekananda

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