History of Ramakrishna Math, Ahmedabad
Swami Vivekananda and Ahmedabad
The city of Ahmedabad has been sanctified by the stay of Swami Vivekananda during his days as a wandering monk in 1891. Swamiji stayed as guest of Shri Lalshankar Umiashankar Travadi, then the sub-judge of Ahmedabad, first in his house; now at 36 Amritlal's Pole in Khadia and then in his house which is now in Ellisbridge behind the Town Hall. The two buildings still exist as silent witness to the visit of the great prophet of modern India. The plan is to convert these buildings as befitting memorials of Swami Vivekananda. During his stay in the historic city of Ahmedabad which was known as Karnavati in the olden times, Swamiji visited many places of historic interest. In the olden times it was the capital of Sultans of Gujarat and one of the handsomest cities of India. Sir Thomas Roe spoke of it; it was in his day "a goodly city as large as London". Swami Vivekananda rejoiced in the Jain culture of the place with its beautiful temples and also in its Mohammedan Culture and marvelled at the glory of its mosques and tombs.
Here Swami Vivekananda improved his knowledge of Jainism and held conversations with several Jain scholars. Earlier he had acquired knowledge of Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism but he did not have an opportunity to have in-depth knowledge of Jainism. His stay in Ahmedabad provided a golden opportunity for him to increase his knowledge about Jainism and this might have helped him in having a good friendship with Sri Virchand Gandhi in America. After spending a few days in this manner Swamiji proceeded towards other parts of Gujarat.
Shri Ramakrishna Vivekananda Centre Ahmedabad :
There are more than 1,000 centres dedicated to the ideology of Ramakrishna Vivekananda which are managed as trusts by the householder devotees. These trusts are affiliated to Ramakrishna Vivekananda Bhavaprachar Parishad; an advisory body through which the guidance of the monks of the Ramakrishna Order are made available to the centres. Shri Ramakrishna Vivekananda Centre, Ahmedabad is one such centre started in 1988 which was so long affiliated with Gujarat Ramakrishna Vivekananda Bhavaprachar Parishad.
Its major activities were: 1) Visit of monks of Ramakrishna Order for regular Satsang and other spiritual activities 2) Regular prayers by the devotees in the evening 3) Celebration of Janma Jayanti of Shri Ramakrishna, Ma Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda and major saints and prophets. 4) Shri Ram-nam on Ekadashi Tithi 5) Vivek-Vihar – a Value Education activity for poor children 6) Narayan Seva – Distribution of food etc. to the poor and needy.
Shri Ramakrishna Vivekananda Centre, Ahmedabad was handed over to Ramakrishna Math and Mission, Belur Math on 30th May, 2018 as Sub Centre of Ramakrishna Ashrama, Rajkot. Ramakrishna Math, Ahmedabad is now a full-fledged branch centre of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, Howrah (W.B.) from 26 December, 2021.
The future activities of Ramakrishna Math, Ahmedabad-
1. Conducting Value education programmes Tor teachers, students, parents, etc. inside the campus as well as outside the campus.
2. Mobile Medical Unit.
3. Regular prayers and meditation session, celebration of Janma Jayanti of Shri Ramakrishna, Ma Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda and major saints and prophets, Shri Ram-nam on Ekadashi Tithi.
4. Regular discourses by monks of Ramakrishna Order.
5. Sale of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda-Vedanta literature.
6. Programmes on Stress management, Yoga, Meditation in educational institutions and corporate houses, etc.by double clicking on a text box on your website. Alternatively, when you select a text box