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==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Math Campus.JPG|Sri Ramakrishna Math Campus
File:Universal Temple 3.JPG|Universal Temple of Sri Ramakrishna Math Chennai
File:Universal Temple Gopuram.JPG|Universal Temple Gopuram
File:Old Shrine Prayer Hall.JPG|Prayer Hall in Old Temple
</gallery>



== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 09:14, 31 January 2011

Ramakrishna Math is a monastic organization for men brought into existence by Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886), the great 19th century saint of Bengal. The motto of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission is: "For one's own salvation, and for the welfare of the world". [1] Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai is the first branch center of Ramakrishna Order in Southern India. It was started in the year 1897 by Swami Ramakrishnananda, one of the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. Besides Swami Ramakrishnananda, the Math was blessed by the visits of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Brahmananda, Swami Shivananda, Swami Abhedananda, Swami Premananda, Swami Niranjanananda, Swami Trigunatitananda and Swami Vijnanananda [2]

File:Universal Temple 2.JPG
Universal Temple 2

History

Origin

In February 1897, Swami Vivekananda returned to Calcutta from the West. At Madras, when devotees requested Swamiji to start a permanent center, Swamiji had said, 'I shall send you one who is more orthodox than the most orthodox Brahmins of the South and who is at the same time incomparable in performing worship, scriptural knowledge and meditation on God.'[3] He meant Swami Ramakrishnananda, who was sent in March 1897.

Ice House

The Ice House (now Vivekanandar Illam), otherwise known as Castle Kernan and situated in the Triplicane sea-beach, is a three storeyed structure owned then by a prosperous advocate, Sri Biligiri Iyengar. It was there that Swami Vivekananda had stayed on his return from the West when he was given a historic reception by the citizens of Madras. Sri Iyengar who was a good devotee, now placed the ground floor at the Swami's disposal. Swami Ramakrishnananda moved to Ice House and started his activities. He set up a shrine for Sri Ramakrishna and would do regular worship there. While at the Ice House, Swami Ramakrishnananda started an orphanage for the destitute children which has now grown into a large institution called Ramakrishna Mission Students Home, Mylapore.[4] The Ice House served as the first monastery of the Ramakrishna Movement in South India for 9 years [5]

Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore

File:Rkmadras.jpg
Sri Ramakrishna Math Madras in 1907

Biligiri Iyengar , the owner of the Ice House, passed away in 1902. Owing to financial problems the proprietors of the Ice House building decided to auction it in 1906. After the Ice House was sold out, Swami Ramakrishnananda shifted to a outhouse in the rear portion of the Ice House. He spent almost an year in that small room, until the new Math building was built at Mylapore, on a piece of land donated by a devotee.

The Swami moved into the new building on 17 November 1907. This Math building constructed by Swami Ramakrishnananda no longer exists. It was unfortunate that within 2 years after its construction, extensive cracks developed in the roof of the building. One of the cracks was above the Shrine Room, and when there was sudden rainfall one night, Swami Ramakrishnananda held an umbrella over the Master's photo in the Shrine for the whole night. Soon after Swami Ramakrishnananda left Madras and Swami Sharvananda took charge in 1912, this building was demolished and the present two-storeyed building with a spacious front hall was constructed by 1917.[6]

The Universal Temple

Sri Ramakrishna Math completed 100 years of its service in 1997. The shrine of Sri Ramakrishna set up in 1917 was too small to accommodate the growing number of devotees. The idea of universal temple was conceived and Swami Bhuteshanandaji Maharaj, the 12th president of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, laid the foundation stone for the Universal Temple on December 01 1994. On February 07 2000 the temple was dedicated by Swami Ranganathananda Maharaj, the 13th president of the Ramakrishna Order. [7]

Activities

Celebrations

The Birthdays (according to tithi) of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda and Swami Ramakrishnananda are celebrated in a grand manner every year. The Birthdays of Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ, Sri Sankara, Sri Ramanuja and Sri Chaitanya are also celebrated every year. The birthday celebrations are marked with special Puja, Homa, Chanting, Bhajans, Musical programmes and Lectures. Special puja is also performed on Guru Purnima, Rama Navami, Ganesh Puja, Shivratri, Krishna Janmashtami, Navaratri, Kali Puja, Durga Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Saraswati Puja and other auspicious days. [8]

Publication

The Madras Math is today the largest publication house of the Ramakrishna Order. The Math currently publishes 292 titles in English, 333 in Tamil and 17 in Sanskrit/English [9]

The Math published its first major book - Swami Vivekananda's Inspired Talks, in 1908. In the same year was published Swami Ramakrishnananda's Universe and Man. In 1909 came his next book Krishna: Pastoral and King-maker followed by The Soul of Man in 1910.

In 1912 was published a translation of the first volume of the Bengali Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita under the title The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. About a decade later Swami Ashokananda translated the second volume. Swami Sharvananda translated eight principal Upanishads and the series become most popular. In 1920 he translated the first part of Swami Saradananda's Sri Sri Ramakrishna Leeelaprasanga. Its English title was Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master

The complete text of the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, translated by Swami Nikhilananda was published in 1944 and of Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master, translated by Swami Jagadananda in 1952. Swami Tapasyananda translated into English a great many sanskrit texts, including Srimad Bhagavata published in 4 volumes in the year 1980. Another of his books, The Bhakti Schools of Vedanta (1990), has been much acclaimed by scholars.

The Math publishes 2 monthly journals: The Vedanta Kesari in English and Sri Ramakrishna Vijayam in Tamil. The Vedanta Kesari was started in 1914 and has over the years built up a good reputation for its authenticity and scholarship. Sri Ramakrishna Vijayam, started in 1921, has today the largest circulation among religious journals in Tamil.

Educational Work

The Math's educational activities were initiated by Swami Ramakrishnananda even during the Ice House days. Moved by the pitiable condition of a few boys who had lost all their relatives in plague epidemic, Swami Ramakrishnananda felt that something must be done for the relief and rehabilitation of this type of orphans. With the meager means at his command he had already given shelter in the Math to two orphan students. He exhorted two of his young and earnest devotees, Sri Ramaswami Iyengar and Sri Ramanujachari to take up the responsibility of running an orphange. A humble beginning was made on 17 February 1905 with seven inmates housed in a small rented house on Kesavaperumal Southward street at Mylapore. Thanks to the dedicated labor of Ramu and Ramanuju, aided by a band of selfless workers and sympathetic public, the orphanage was soon able to take in more boys. It changed its quarters five times before shifting to a plot of land gifted by Sri S.G. Srinivasachariar. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Swami Brahmananda on 16 May 1917 and the orphanage moved to its new building in May 1921. In 1922 a residential high school was started so that the orphans could study within the campus itself.

Swami Ramakrishnananda was also the inspiration behind the National Girls School, George Town. The Math took over its management in 1921. In 1932 a school for boys was started at T.Nagar. The Girls High School, Sri Sarada Vidyalaya, at T.Nagar was taken over by the Math in 1938, and additional wings like an elementary school, a training school and hostels were incorporated. In June 1946 was started the Vivekananda College at Mylapore.

Since the educational activity has expanded enormously, the institutions have been divided into separate Ramakrishna Mission centres for facilitating efficient administration. Under the Madras Math's direct control there are at present:

  • Sri Ramakrishna Math Vivekananda Centenary Girls Higher Secondary School with 670 students [10]
  • Sri Ramakrishna Math National School Chennai – 79 with 520 students [11]
  • A public library with 32,000 books and 300 periodicals [12]
  • A Book bank providing academic books for 300 engineering students

Medical Service

  • A charitable allopathic-cum-homeopathic dispensary with general, dental, eye, ENT, surgical, X-ray, ultrasound scanning, pediatrics, ECG, gynecology, physiotherapy and laboratory sections, and clinics for TB and diabetes. About 2,20,000 cases are treated annually. [13]
  • A weekly mobile medical unit, which treats 10,000 cases annually [14]
  • Prevention of Disability (POD) and rehabilitation camps for 300 Leprosy Affected Persons (LAPS)
  • Regular eye camps in nearby villages

Relief and Rehabilitation

The history of the Ramakrishna Order’s relief services is as old as that of the Mission itself. Besides their multifarious permanent constructive works, from their very inception, the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission have been ever ready to promptly organize ameliorative and healing services whenever the nation has been faced with sudden calamities caused by freaks of nature, follies of men, or scourges of epidemics. Its relief activities have also extended well beyond Indian borders. [15]

For the 1897 famine in Bengal, Swami Ramakrishnananda appealed for funds in the Brahmavadin and sent a substantial amount for the relief work. In 1928 and, twenty later, in 1948, when some huts caught fire at Mylapore, the Math organized propmpt aid and relief. The Math created a colony for the 100 affected families with the help of plot of land given by the Government. It was named Ramakrishnapuram. [16]. The following are the major relief activities undertaken by the Math.

Month/Year Affected Villages/District Relief Type
1924 Coimbatore, Bhavani, Sathyamangalam and Other districts Flood relief
1927 Nellore Cyclone relief
1932 Chengalpattu and Thanjavur Flood relief
1941 Thanjavur District Cyclone relief
1955 Thanjavur and Ramnad districts Flood relief
1957 Ramnad district Riots
Nov 1957 Sulurpet in Nellore District Flood relief
1961 Thirukattupalli and Thiruvaiyaru in Thanjavur District Flood relief
1962 Lalgudi in Trichy Fire relief
1965 Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi Cyclone relief
1972-73 Bhavani in Coimbatore district Flood relief
Nov 1977 Thanjavur, Trichy and Pudukottai Flood relief
Nov 1985 Vyasarpadi, Triplicane, Velachery, Kotturpuram and Perambur Flood relief
Jan 1993 8 Villages in Kanyakumari District Flood relief
Sep 1993 Puduveetuvilai, Keelmadichal & Kanchinagar villages in Kanyakumari District Cyclone relief
Dec 1993 47 villages across TamilNadu Cyclone relief
Dec 2004-May 2005 Chengalpattu, Chennai, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Kanchipuram, Villupuram and Kanyakumari District Tsunami relief [17]
2008 Thanjavur and Tiruvarur Districts Flood relief [18]
2010 Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam Districts Flood relief [19]



References

  1. ^ http://www.belurmath.org/home.htm
  2. ^ Holy Mother, Swamiji and Direct Disciples at Madras, p iv
  3. ^ Swami Ramakrishnananda A Portrait In Pictures, 2006, p.25
  4. ^ Vivekanandar Illam The Storyline 60 facts about Vivekanandar Illam, p.14,15
  5. ^ Vivekanandar Illam The Storyline 60 facts about Vivekanandar Illam, p.18
  6. ^ Swami Tapasyananda, Swami Ramakrishnananda The Apostle of Sri Ramakrishna To the South, 2008, p.57,58
  7. ^ Universal Temple, Its Need, Significance and Unique Features, 2001, p.1,2
  8. ^ http://www.chennaimath.org/activities/spiritual/celebrations
  9. ^ http://www.belurmath.org/publication.htm
  10. ^ http://www.chennaimath.org/activities/education/higher-secondary-school
  11. ^ http://www.chennaimath.org/activities/education/primary-school
  12. ^ http://www.chennaimath.org/math-campus/library
  13. ^ http://www.chennaimath.org/math-campus/dispensary
  14. ^ http://www.chennaimath.org/activities/medical/mobile-dispensary
  15. ^ http://www.belurmath.org/relief_news_archives/relief.htm
  16. ^ The Vedanta Kesari December 1997, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai: A Brief History, p.480, 481 & 482
  17. ^ http://www.belurmath.org/tsunami_report.htm
  18. ^ http://www.belurmath.org/relief_news_archives/relief_december2008.htm
  19. ^ http://www.belurmath.org/relief_news_archives/relief_december2010.htm
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