ABOUT US Ramarkrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission

Belur, Dt Howrah, West Bengal Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are twin organizations which form the core of a worldwide spiritual movement (known as Ramakrishna Movement or Vedanta Movement), which aims at the harmony of religions, harmony of the East and the West, harmony of 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. RAMAKRISHNA MATH is a monastic organization brought into existence by Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886), the great 19th century saint of Bengal who is regarded as the Prophet of the Modern Age. RAMAKRISHNA MISSION is a registered society in which monks of Ramakrishna Math and lay devotees cooperate in conducting various types of social service mainly in India. It was founded by Sri Ramakrishnas chief apostle, Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), one of the foremost thinkers and religious leaders of the present age, who is regarded as 'one of the main moulders of the modern world', in the words of an eminent Western scholar A.L. Basham. The Math and the Mission together have 176 branch centers all over India and in different parts of the world.

Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Coimbatore

Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Coimbatore, is a major educational centre of the Ramakrishna Mission. The Institution was founded by Sri T.S. Avinashilingam in 1930 with an investment of just Rs. 5.75 and with one harijan boy on its roll. Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, laid the foundation stone of the Vidyalaya in 1934 and wished that the students of the Vidyalaya would be intensely patriotic followers of the truth. The Vidyalaya strives to infuse the educational and spiritual ideas of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda into the daily lives of its students. Universal values such as self-reliance, self-control, patriotism, service and dedication to duty area taught in various practical ways. The Coimbatore Centre has been serving the educational field for the last 80 years offering courses from L.K.G. to Ph.D. in a number of faculties and several fields such as General Education, Physical Education, Technical Education, Agriculture Education, Special Education etc. A band of dedicated monks and brahmacharis of the Ramakrishna Order manages the activities of Vidyalaya assisted by a highly professional and dedicated team of teaching and non-teaching staff (approximately 8000 students and 1000 staff members).

Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda needs no introduction, for his is a household name in India. Swamiji was one of the greatest spiritual leaders of the modern world, a great lover of humanity whose unconditional love extended to all people without any distinctions of caste, class,

creed, race, region or religion. Swami Vivekananda is also remembered as a great patriot, the first cultural ambassador of India to the West, who raised the prestige of India in the eyes of Western people and changed their views about India with the compelling force to truth. Swamiji was the first great leader of India to diagnose the cause of Indias downfall as the neglect of the poor, downtrodden masses of India, and to declare boldly, No amount of politics will be of any avail until the masses of India are once more well educated, well fed and well cared for. Indeed, he was the first spokesman for the poor in India and coined the word Daridranarayana which was given currency later on by Mahatma Gandhi. Swami Vivekananda was the great awakener of the Soul of India in Modern times, whose magnificent personality and electrifying words infused faith and courage, love and sympathy, service and sacrifice in the hearts of millions of Indians. Swamiji was one of the builders of Modern India whose words and deeds profoundly influenced the lives and thinking of the great founding fathers of Indian Independence like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajagopalachari and others. Swami Vivekananda made important contributions to the modern world. First comes his contributions to Hinduism. Formerly the deep truths lying in ancient Hindu scriptures like the Upanishads were beyond the reach of ordinary people. It was Swami Vivekananda who interpreted those sacred scriptures in the modern idiom and made them available to common people. Before Swamiji came, Hindu sects were quarrelling among themselves. Swamiji showed that all Hindu sects have certain common principles and, on that basis, Swamiji brought about unity among Hindus. Swamijis contributions to the creation of modern India has been acknowledged by the great political leaders of pre-independent India. Swami Vivekananda was one of the great thinkers of the modern world, and has made important contributions to the world thought also. Swamijis message of potential Divinity of the soul, faith in mans inner Self as the source of infinite strength, morality, freedom and joy; his message of seeing God in all, work as worship, service to man as service to God; his message of synthesis of yogas and all-round development of human personality; his message of harmony of religions, harmony of religion science, harmony of the East and the Westthis is precisely the message that the present world, especially the youth of our country needs. Above all, Swami Vivekananda, in spite of his own individual greatness, in spite of the fame and adoration that he received in India and in the West, regarded himself only as a humble messenger of his Guru and Master, known to the world as Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. This humility, this utter faith in the Guru, and his devotion to God, his love for India, love for humanity and dedication of his life to the service of suffering people, has set a shining example for modern man to emulate. d d d d d
Whether you believe in spirituality or not, for the sake of the national life, you have to get a hold on spirituality and keep to it. Then stretch the other hand out and gain all you can from other races. But everything must be subordinated to that one ideal of life; and out of that a wonderful, glorious, future India will come--I am sure it is coming--a greater India than ever was. - Swami Vivekananda