History of Viveknagar Centre

🌸 Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Viveknagar, Agartala, West Tripura

Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are twin organizations that form the core of a worldwide spiritual movement. They aim at the harmony of religions, harmony between the East and the West, harmony between the ancient and the modern, spiritual fulfillment, all-round development of human faculties, social equality, and peace for all humanity—without any distinctions of creed, caste, race, or nationality.

The service activities of the Ramakrishna Mission in Tripura began in 1949 with a relief operation conducted at Anandanagar, near Agartala, by the Ramakrishna Mission under its headquarters. Eventually, a privately-run Ashrama was established on 29th May 1950. The Governing Body of the Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, West Bengal, took over the management of the Sri Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Gangail Road, Agartala on 25th March 1985. Following this takeover, the Ashrama was renamed Ramakrishna Mission, Gangail Road, and since then it has functioned as a branch centre of the Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, West Bengal.

In the late 1980s, to establish peace in the state of Tripura, a Peace Accord in the form of a tripartite agreement was executed among the Government of India, the Government of Tripura, and the Tripura National Volunteers (TNV). Following the execution of this agreement, there arose a strong need to provide true education and promote amity between the children of indigenous communities and those of the general population for the all-round development of the state.

It is indeed a matter of pride that the Ramakrishna Mission was invited to undertake the responsibility of implementing this noble project, which ought to be nurtured with care and affection—no less than that of a loving mother. The objective of the project was to establish an Educational Complex in Tripura where children from both tribal and non-tribal communities could receive value-based education and lessons in sharing the common national heritage of brotherhood, under the loving guidance of dedicated monastics and preceptors. Accordingly, on 29th May 1989, the Ramakrishna Mission Educational Complex was established at Viveknagar on land measuring about 62 acres, handed over to the Ramakrishna Mission by the Government of Tripura. The infrastructure was gradually developed with financial support from the Government of India.

The activities of the Ramakrishna Mission in Tripura gathered momentum from 1989 onward through its Gangail Road Unit and Viveknagar centre, along with the contiguous Math centre at Amtali, Viveknagar. The objectives have been to uplift the masses—especially the local tribes—and to foster national integration and amity between tribal and non-tribal communities. The central focus has been the development and upliftment of the tribal and poor people of Tripura, particularly in the areas of education, culture, technical education, self-employment, health and hygiene, as well as the cultural and spiritual enrichment of the people of Tripura in general.

The twelfth President of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission laid the foundation stone of this Educational Complex on 29th May 1989 at Viveknagar, West Tripura District, to foster amity and cooperation between the tribal and non-tribal people of Tripura. On 11th September 1990, the then General Secretary of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission inaugurated and declared the commencement of the journey of this unique Educational Complex in the presence of the then Governor and Chief Minister of Tripura. The Foundation Day, i.e., 11th September, is significant because on the very same day in 1893, Swami Vivekananda delivered his historic address at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago.