The Malda Ashrama is about to complete its hundred years. The Ashrama has developed enormously with the humble effort of the monks and with the help of devotees and volunteers. Through schools, coaching centres and hostel the Ashrama is contributing in the field of education; through dispensary and mobile medical unit it is taking care of the health; through Gadadhara Abhyudaya Prakalpa (GAP) it is taking care of the rural tribal children; through continuous relief and welfare work it is helping the distressed people and above all through temple, prayer, spiritual literatures, devotees’ conventions, festivals, daily discourses the Ashrama is spreading the lives and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Maa Sarada Devi & Swami Vivekananda and building the spiritual lives of the Malda people.
Malda is an ancient and traditional place. The scattered remains of the destroyed monuments, palaces still give evidence of the glory of the famous Pandua and Gour Empire of the 7th century A.D. Malda was well-known as a business and trade centre when the river Mahananda was in full spate. The history of Malda shows its rich mixed culture - the existence of Vaishnava and Muslim traditions along with Buddhist and Sikh connections. Interestingly, Malda was blessed with the arrival of two great Sikh Gurus, viz Guru Nanak and Teg Bahadur. The religious and spiritual life of Malda was enriched with the presence of few monasteries of Adi Shankaracharya’s Dashanami Sampradaya. The ‘Gambhira’ culture along with the different festivals of the Bengalees glorified the culture of Malda. And there existed the great Vaishnava tradition- the tamal tree (cinnamomum tamala) and the footprint of Sri Chaitanya at Ramkeli on the outskirts of Malda town still remind us about the holy arrival of Sri Chaitanya and his meeting Sri Roopa and Sri Sanatana Goswami. The arrival of Swami Premananda, the direct disciple of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna and the consequent founding of a branch of the Ramakrishna Math are the culmination of the events mentioned above.
The Malda people took to the teaching of Karmayoga or Seva-yoga mentioned in Swami Premanandaji’s lecture with full dedication and respect. A road in Old Malda still bears the name of the revered monk and is known now as Swami Premananda Sarani. The seed sowed by him sprouted as a plant in 1924 when the Malda Ashrama came into existence. In 1930, when Swami Mangalananda (first) was the head of the centre, the Headquarters at Belur Math accepted this Ashrama as a branch centre after it had shifted to its present site near the Mahananda River Ghat, donated by the local landlord. The first shrine of Sri Ramakrishna in the Ashrama was built by him. The Durga Puja was started in the Ashrama subsequently, during Swami Bagalanandaji’ tenure.
In 1942, Swami Parashivananda took up the responsibility of the head of Malda centre. The Ashrama developed rapidly by his tiring efforts. The Ramakrishna movement spread in various villages and towns in Malda district in course of time. The Vivekananda Vidyamandir School was founded in 1944. After the partition of Bengal in 1947, the relief and rehabilitation work took a huge form. The Malda Ashrama got a new identity as a big relief centre. The centre continued to develop under the able leadership of the later heads who followed Swami Parashivanandaji. The grand universal temple of Sri Ramakrishna came into existence later, in 1998, during the Secretary-ship of Swami Mangalananda (Second). In addition to the heads of the centre, other monks served in this centre with utmost dedication in different capacities – in the school, temple and other spheres.
The successive monastic heads of the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Malda, during the period from July 1938 to November 2017 were: Swami Dharmananda, Swami Bagalananda, Swami Jnanadananda, Swami Vedatmananda, Swami Parashivananda, Swami Rudratmananda, Swami Vagishananda, Swami Sumedhananda, Swami Girishananda, Swami Mangalananda, Swami Gopeshananda, Swami Divyananda and Swami Parasharananda.
In accordance with the resolutions of the Board of Trustees, Belur Math, and the Governing Body of the Ramakrishna Mission, Swami Tyagarupananda took charge as the next Head of Malda centre with effect from 6 November 2017. On the occasion of the departure of Swami Parasharanandaji, the outgoing Secretary, a farewell meeting of the devotees was organized on 5th November 2017. Swami Parasharanandaji subsequently took up his new assignment as the Adhyaksha of Ramakrishna Math, Shyampukur Bati at Kolkata.
There are at present 8 (eight) monastic members serving in the Malda Ashrama. During the period under review, Swami Parasarananda, Swami Veerananda and Swami Shaktisthananda were transferred away from Malda, while Swami Tyagarupananda, Swami Jayadurgananda, Br Subhadip and Br Sandhyrshi were posted to the Malda centre.
Sri Ramakrishna, who was born in 1836 and passed away in 1886, represents the very core of the spiritual realizations of the seers and sages of India. His whole life was literally an uninterrupted contemplation of God. He reached a depth of God-consciousness that transcends all time and place and has a universal appeal. Seekers of God of all religions feel irresistibly drawn to his life and teachings. Sri Ramakrishna, as a silent force, influences the spiritual thought currents of our time. He is a figure of recent history and his life and teachings have not yet been obscured by loving legends and doubtful myths. Through his God-intoxicated life Sri Ramakrishna proved that the revelation of God takes place at all times and that God-realization is not the monopoly of any particular age, country, or people. In him, deepest spirituality and broadest catholicity stood side by side. The God-man of nineteenth-century India did not found any cult, nor did he show a new path to salvation. His message was his God-consciousness. When God-consciousness falls short, traditions become dogmatic and oppressive and religious teachings lose their transforming power. At a time when the very foundation of religion, faith in God, was crumbling under the relentless blows of materialism and skepticism, Sri Ramakrishna, through his burning spiritual realizations, demonstrated beyond doubt the reality of God and the validity of the time-honored teachings of all the prophets and saviors of the past, and thus restored the falling edifice of religion on a secure foundation.
Drawn by the magnetism of Sri Ramakrishna's divine personality, people flocked to him from far and near -- men and women, young and old, philosophers and theologians, philanthropists and humanists, atheists and agnostics, Hindus and Brahmos, Christians and Muslims, seekers of truth of all races, creeds and castes. His small room in the Dakshineswar temple garden on the outskirts of the city of Calcutta became a veritable parliament of religions. Everyone who came to him felt uplifted by his profound God-consciousness, boundless love, and universal outlook. Each seeker saw in him the highest manifestation of his own ideal. By coming near him the impure became pure, the pure became purer, and the sinner was transformed into a saint.
The greatest contribution of Sri Ramakrishna to the modern world is his message of the harmony of religions. To Sri Ramakrishna all religions are the revelation of God in His diverse aspects to satisfy the manifold demands of human minds. Like different photographs of a building taken from different angles, different religions give us the pictures of one truth from different standpoints. They are not contradictory but complementary. Sri Ramakrishna faithfully practiced the spiritual disciplines of different religions and came to the realization that all of them lead to the same goal. Thus he declared, "As many faiths, so many paths." The paths vary, but the goal remains the same. Harmony of religions is not uniformity; it is unity in diversity. It is not a fusion of religions, but a fellowship of religions based on their common goal -- communion with God. This harmony is to be realized by deepening our individual God-consciousness. In the present-day world, threatened by nuclear war and torn by religious intolerance, Sri Ramakrishna's message of harmony gives us hope and shows the way. May his life and teachings ever inspire us.
"When Holy Mother came to Dakshineswar at the age of sixteen, Sri Ramakrishna asked her whether she had come to pull him down to a worldly life. Without hesitation she said, "No, I am here to help you realize your Chosen Ideal." From then on, Holy Mother lived with Sri Ramakrishna as his spiritual companion, devoted wife, disciple, and always the nun. She was the embodiment of purity. Her mind was never sullied by the faintest breath of worldliness, though she lived with Sri Ramakrishna for the greater part of fourteen years. She never missed communion with God, whom she described as lying in the palm of her hand, though she was engaged day and night in various activities.
"Holy Mother was an unusual awakener of souls. With her disciples she served as teacher, dissolving their doubts, as mother, who through love and compassion won their hearts, and as the Divinity, who assured them of liberation. Herself nearly illiterate, through simple words she taught them the most profound truths. Her affectionate maternal love tamed their rebellious spirits; but her great power lay in her solicitude for all. Often she said, "I am the Mother, who will look after them if not I ?" She encouraged them when they were depressed because of slow spiritual progress, and she took upon herself their sins and iniquities, suffering on that account.
"Holy Mother was conscious of her divine nature, but she rarely expressed this awareness. For many years Sri Ramakrishna practiced great austerities and formally renounced the world, but Holy Mother lived as a simple householder, surrounded by quarrelsome and greedy relatives. As a teacher she taught the realization of God alone is real, and everything else, impermanent. The human body so treasured by most people, survives cremations as only three pounds of ashes. Holy Mother -- humility itself -- claimed that she was in no way different from other devotees of the Master. Her disciples felt awed and uplifted when she blessed them by touching their head with the same hand which had touched the feet of God. She was fully aware of her disciples' present limitations and their future possibilities. No one went away from her with a downcast heart.
"The outstanding virtues of Indian womanhood are courage, serenity, self-control, sweetness, compassion, wisdom, and an intuitive relationship with God. Holy Mother possessed all these virtues. Since the acquisition of such gifts is the dream of all women, Holy Mother may aptly be seen as the symbol of aspiration of women everywhere."
"Holy Mother and the Ideal of Indian Womanhood."
Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras, India.
Swami Vivekananda represented Hinduism at the first World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 where he was an instant success. Subsequently he was invited to speak all over America and Europe. He was a man with a great spiritual presence and tremendous intellect.
Most of the Vedanta Societies which were founded in America and Europe up through the 1930s can trace their origins directly to Vivekananda or the people who heard him speak from 1893 through 1900.
Sri Ramakrishna, the God-man of this age, passed away in August, 1886 in a house located in the Cossipore area of Kolkata. Shortly thereafter, a monastery (Math) was set up by his monastic disciples headed by Swami Vivekananda, at Baranagar near Kolkata, to fulfil the implicit instructions of his guru. The first monastery had a very humble beginning in a small rented house. The life in the first monastery was very austere and hard. In 1898, the Ramakrishna Math was transferred to its present home at Belur, on the western bank of the Ganga, about six kilometres north of Kolkata.It was registered as a trust in 1901, and registered in 1909 under the Societies Act XXI of 1860 (Appendix VII).
The students’ home was started on 1955. The present hostel building ‘Brahmananda Vidyarthi Bhavan’ was built by Swami Parashivananda in the year 1963. A total of 82 students of the Vidyamandir School studying in classes V – X stayed in this hostel located within the Ashrama.
This school is considered one of the best schools in Malda district for boys under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, securing board ranks in almost every year.In the 2018, the school had a total of876 students. A total of 107 boys appearedin the Madhyamik Examination (Secondary Examination)in 2108.Out of them, 105 boys secured the 1st division and 2 students secured the 2nd division. Again,two students of the school bagged the Joint 9th position and one student secured the 10th position in the Madhyamik Examination.
In the Higher Secondary School campus, a primary school, teaching students from classes Nursery – Class IV, the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Shishu Sadan is conducted by the Ashrama. This school had a total number of 426 students (Boys – 419, Girls – 7) in the year ending March 2018.
Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Malda also serves the poor villagers of Malda district through mobile medical services. The team of two doctors (Homeopathy & Allopathic) and one paramedical staff visits the following villages regularly–Kumarpur, Jaharatala, Chhoto Sagardighi, Vest Para, Bara Sagardighi, Mihir Das Colony, Chakbandi Colony, Sishabari, Shyamdaspukur, Vivekanandapally (Khaspara).
There was a devastating flood in Malda district in August 2017. Flood relief work was conducted in response to the urgent demand of the affected people of the district. Relief Work was conducted in eightareas of the district. The total amount spent was nearly Rs 8 lakhs, with the active assistance of the Headquarters, Belur Math and sympathetic donors. In addition to food materials - saree, children garments and trousers were also distributed during the relief operations.
In rural tribal villages near Malda two primary schools are maintained by us. Five coaching centres for tribal children are also run by us in rural villages.
The Ramakrishna Math and Mission excluding the headquarters at Belur Math, currently has 205 centres, spread over different parts of the world.
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