Ramakrishna mission (RKM) is a Hindu religious and spiritual organisation which forms the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as the Ramakrishna Movement or the Vedanta Movement. The mission is named after and inspired by the Indian saint Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and founded by Ramakrishna's chief disciple Swami Vivekananda on 1 May 1897. The organisation mainly propagates the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta–Advaita Vedanta and four yogic ideals–jnana, bhakti, karma, and Raja Yoga.
Swami Akhandananda (1864–1937) was a swami and direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a 19th-century mystic. He was the third president of the Ramakrishna Mission.
Swami Shivananda (1854–1934), born Tarak Nath Ghosal, was a Hindu spiritual leader and a direct disciple of Ramakrishna, who became the second president of the Ramakrishna Mission. His devotees refer to him as Mahapurush Maharaj. Shivananda and Subodhananda were the only direct disciples of Ramakrishna to be filmed. He was a Brahmajnani. Shivananda introduced the celebration of the birthdays of his brother-monks. He was known to have laid the foundation stone of Shri Ramakrishna Temple at Belur Math, which was designed by Vijnanananda.
Swami Vijnanananda was born as Hariprasanna Chattopadhyaya in an upper-class family near Dakshineswar. He was a direct disciple of Ramakrishna. He was an engineer and worked as the District Engineer in the erstwhile State of United Provinces, India. He was a great scholar of Sanskrit with expertise in religio-philosophical works, astronomy, civil engineering etc. He spent considerable time in Allahabad (Prayag) centre of Ramakrishna Math. He became the President of Ramakrishna Mission in 1937. It was under his presidency and direct supervision that the Ramakrishna Temple at Belur Math was constructed and consecrated.
Swami Yatiswarananda (1889–1966) was a vice-president of Ramakrishna Order whose headquarter is in Belur Math. He was a disciple of Swami Brahmananda, a brother disciple of Swami Vivekananda and a direct disciple and spiritual son of Ramakrishna. He served in Philadelphia propagating the message of Vedanta. He was the president of Bangalore centre of Ramakrishna Math. He founded an ashrama in Switzerland.
Swami Virajananda, born Kalikrishna Bose, was an initiated disciple of Sarada Devi and the sixth president of the Ramakrishna Order. Born as the son of Trailokyanath Bose and Nishadkalidevi, Virajananda was the first person to join the Ramakrishna Order after the direct disciples of Ramakrishna. In 1897, he was initiated into sannyasa by Vivekananda. from 1899 onward he served in Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati and became its president in 1906. He is recognised as a monastic disciple of Vivekananda.
Beluṛ Maṭh is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda, the chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. It is located on the west bank of Hooghly River, Belur, West Bengal, India and is one of the significant institutions in Kolkata. This temple is the heart of the Ramakrishna Movement. The temple is notable for its architecture that fuses Christian, Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist art motifs as a symbol of unity of all religions. In 2003 Belurmath railway station was also inaugurated which is dedicated to Belurmath temple.
Ramakrishna Paramhansa Deva had sixteen direct disciples who became monks of the Ramakrishna Order; they are often considered his apostles. In the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda movement, the apostles have played an important role. Apart from Swami Vivekananda the direct disciples or apostles of Ramakrishna were as follows.
The Hindu swami called Atmasthananda was the fifteenth president of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.
Pravrajika Mokshaprana was the second President of the Sri Sarada Math and the Ramakrishna Sarada Mission. During her long tenure of twenty-six years of spiritual ministration, she initiated thousands of people, guiding them to lead a spiritual life. Before she became President of the Sri Sarada Math, she was headmistress of Sister Nivedita’s Girls’ School from 1946 to 1948. She had an ardent interest in providing education for women as envisaged by Swami Vivekananda. Bold and fearless, she encouraged other women to be fearless and self-confident. Swami Premeshananda, the then monastic head of Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama at Sargachi met her at Nivedita School and later wrote to her, 'The very sight of you has raised such high hopes in me that I rejoice at the prospect that through you we may at last give effect to our long long cherished vow of bringing about women's emancipation.'
Ramakrishna Mission Home of Service is an Indian non-governmental organisation (NGO) located in Varanasi, established in 1900, and a branch of Ramakrishna Mission since 1902. It manages an education program on essential health issues in schools, slums and villages of Uttar Pradesh (India) thanks to auto-produced multimedia educational movies. It also gives health care and supplies free medicines to penniless people at its charitable hospital and two hospices.
Baburam Maharaj was a direct disciple of Ramakrishna, the 19th-century saint and mystic from Bengal, India. He was born in Antpur in the Hoogly district of Bengal in the year 1861. Baburam, as he was called in his pre monastic days, was also related to Balaram Bose, a leading householder disciple of Ramakrishna. He was given the name of Premananda or "joy of divine love" by his brother disciple Vivekananda. He had a notable contribution during the initial days of Ramakrishna Mission as he managed the whole affairs of Belur Math from 1902 to 1916. He also mentored young spiritual aspirants.
Niranjanananda (Senior), born as Nitya Niranjan Ghosh, usually called by the shortened name of Niranjan, was one of the foremost monks of Ramakrishna Mission and was one of the direct monastic disciples of Ramakrishna. Niranjanananda was one of those few disciples, whom Ramakrishna termed as "Nityasiddhas" or "Ishwarakotis" – that is, souls who are ever perfect. [Niranjanananda is termed Senior since there was another swami, Niranjanananda (Junior) also known as Pandalai Maharaj, later in the Ramakrishna Mission who died in 1972]. Even though his tenure with the newly formed Ramakrishna Mission was short lived owing to his early death, he left an indelible mark in spiritual and philanthropic activities. He had a majestic appearance, being tall with broad shoulders and strong physique.
Nirmalananda, born as Tulasi Charan Dutta in Calcutta, a direct disciple of Ramakrishna, the 19th century mystic and Hindu saint from India, and took Sanyasa from Vivekananda along with Brahmananda and others. He was initiated by SriRamakrishna, on which fact a few latter day antagonists tried to cast doubt in the Bangalore Court but into which question the Court refused to get into. Nirmalananda played a key role in establishing Ramakrishna Math and Mission chiefly in South India, in Kerala and Bangalore and Tamil Nadu and also in USA, Burma and Bangladesh
Kalyanananda (1874–1937) was a direct monastic disciple of Vivekananda, who had set up the Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama at Kankhal, near Haridwar. As a monk of the Ramakrishna Order he took up service to the humanity as the most important philosophy in his life and practiced it for the benefit of the local population and the pilgrims. He spent thirty six years in Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama Kankhal to serve the poor and afflicted. He was one of the pioneers to set up a hospital in a remote location for the poor, needy and the itinerant monks who did not have access to healthcare.
Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama is a branch of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission involved in providing humanitarian, healthcare, education and relief services to poor and needy through the universal principle of serving "God in man", based on the motto, Atmano Moksartham Jagat Hitaya Cha, which was propounded by Swami Vivekananda.
Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama, Kankhal (RKMS) is in its present form is a 210-bed multi-specialty charitable hospital in Kankhal, Haridwar in Uttarakhand. It is a branch of Ramakrishna Mission, and was established in 1901 by Swami Kalyanananda, one of the direct monastic disciples of Swami Vivekananda. The hospital serves the treatment needs of poor patients in and around Uttarakhand. Since its inception it has treated more than 10 million patients. From a modest beginning in a rented two room dilapidated building it has grown to be a multi-specialty hospital for treatment of impoverished and needy people, under the supervision of the monks of Ramakrishna Order. The hospital is located in an 18 acres campus, and houses Gynecology and Obstetrics, Pediatrics, Intensive Care Units, Pathological laboratory, Blood bank, Operation Theaters etc. in addition to dairy and agricultural land whose products are used for the consumption of poor in patients.
Achalananda, popularly known as Kedar Baba, was a direct monastic disciple of Vivekananda and the founder of Ramakrishna Mission Home of Service, in Varanasi. He initially worked as a policeman, but was then influenced by the ideology of Vivekananda.
Sargachi Ramakrishna Mission High School is a boy-only day and boarding school in West Bengal, India and it is located at Sargachi, in Murshidabad district. The school was founded in 1897 by Swami Akhndananda ji Maharaj. It is affiliated to the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education and West Bengal Board of Secondary Education.
