History of Ramakrishna Math, Viveknagar
History of Ramakrishna Mission, Viveknagar |
On 25 March 1985 the Governing Body of Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, West Bengal, took over the management of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Sevashrama, Gangail Road, Agartala, hitherto a privately-run Ashrama established on 29 May 1950, at the request of the latter. However, it’s imperative to mention that the first service activity of the Mission in Tripura dates back to 1949 when the Mission conducted a major relief work at Anandanagar, near Agartala. The said Ashrama renamed as ‘Ramakrishna Mission, Gangail Road,’ started functioning since then as a branch centre of the Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, West Bengal. Till 28 May 1989 this centre was the hub of Ramakrishna Mission’s activities in Tripura. It conducts and provides the following services: |
Activities of the Math Centre: |
Daily Worship, Regular Religious discourses, Residential and Day-long Spiritual Retreats, , Gurupurnima, Durga Ashtami, Shorodhi Puja, Ratha Yatra, and the Anudhyan Shibir/Residential and Day-long Spiritual Retreats celebrations of the birthdays of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda, and other religious luminaries Sarada Anna Bhandar a regular welfare Activity for the footpath dwellers Medical Services. |
Activities of Ramakrishna Mission, Viveknagar Centre: |
Educational Services:
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Religious and Cultural Activities of Gangail Road City Centre: |
Medical Services
Welfare and Relief Activities
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After the establishment of Ramakrishna Mission Educational Complex at Viveknagar on 29 May 1989, which became the hub of Mission’s activities, this centre started functioning as the sub-centre of Viveknagar centre. |
The service activities of the Mission gathered momentum in Tripura with the establishment of Ramakrishna Mission Educational Complex as a branch centre of the Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, West Bengal, in the year 1989 at Viveknagar – then known as ‘Amtali’ – a rural area located about 9 k.m. away from Agartala, capital town of the State of Tripura. The development of this Educational Complex has an important history which deserves special mention. In 1989, a Peace Accord was executed between the Governments (Govt. of India and Govt. of Tripura) and Tripura National Volunteers, the then prominent local extremist group, and following the said Peace Accord, Ramakrishna Mission Educational Complex was established at Viveknagar on 29 May in 1989, on the land measuring about 62 acres handed over to Mission by the Government of Tripura, with the infrastructure gradually developed with the funds from the Government of India. The Government of Tripura also handed over to the Mission Authorities a plot of land measuring about 5 acres in Dhaleswar area of Agartala on 29 May 1989 with the request to develop there a complex consisting of educational, cultural and medical units. It took about 7 years to start the said complex at Dhaleswar. On 11 September 1996, the historic day of Swami Vivekananda’s legendary appearance in the well-known Parliament of Religions at Chicago in 1893, Viveknagar centre started developing the Dhaleswar complex as one of its sub-centres to fulfill the wishes of the Government of Tripura mentioned above. |
Thus the activities of Ramakrishna Mission in Tripura started in full swing from 1989 from Gangail Road Unit and Viveknagar centre along with the contiguous Math centre at Viveknagar, with the objectives of uplifting the masses, especially the local tribes and fostering the idea of national integration and tribal and non-tribal amity, and the central focus being the development and uplift of the tribal and poor people of Tripura particularly in the area of education, culture, self-employment, health and hygiene, and cultural and spiritual enrichment of the people of Tripura in general. From September 1996 onwards Viveknagar Centre started functioning on a broader scale with its two sub-centres at Gangail Road and Dhaleswar in Agartala. Over years the people of Tripura in general have been highly appreciative of Mission’s activity. |
Ramakrishna Math, Viveknagar had its humble beginning on 29 May 1989 through taking over the Assets and Properties including about 15 acres of land, donated by erstwhile ‘Sri Ramakrishna Sevashrama’ Amtali, that was organized by Swami Paramananda (a monk not belonging to the Ramakrishna Order attached to Ramakrishna Math, Belur), since 13 December 1966. It is 9 km to the south of Agartala, the capital town of Tripura. Since its inception the new Math complex was renamed ‘Viveknagar’ as per official records of the Govt. of Tripura, and the name ‘Viveknagar’ is in regular use by the people of the area now. An Extra-Departmental Post Office for the locality is located at Viveknagar. |