Annual Celebrations 2010

In connection with Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda birthday celebrations. From 23 - 11 March 2010. See Forthcoming Events for more details.
Public Meeting, Souvenir release and Benediction by Most Rev. Srimat Swami Atmasthanandaji Maharaj, President Ramakrishna Order. Programme Schedule.

Sri Ramakrishna's 175^th birthday was celebrated on 16^th February 2010. The celebration began with Mangalarati and chanting at 5 am. A special puja along with chandi path was performed followed by melodious bhajans by Swami Rameshwarananda accompanied with devotees. Cooked prasad was served in the afternoon to around 1500 devotees. In the evening in Narayan Seva (serving God - Narayana - in the form of poor people), cooked prasad was served to around 1600 people.

"You are the creator of your own destiny", says Swami Vivekananda. And "Let the man raise himself by his own self", says Bhagavad Gita.
These quotes though very much relevant, their importance & implementation in day to day life is not apprehensible by today's youth.
To guide them in this direction, a two day Youth Convention on the theme "Shaping Your Personality" was organised on 16 & 17 Jan. 2010.
Swami Suvijneyananda welcomed the audience in his inaugural speech explaining the objective of the Youth Convention. Both days the morning session began with guided meditation by Swami Atmashraddhananda in the serene atmosphere of the math. Swami Atmashraddhananda in his lucid language explained the secret behind the right activity and thereby further elaborated on how an individual can live a life in a joyous way, in his “Secret of Right Activity” & “Joy of Living” sessions. While Dr. K. Subramanyam delivered a talk on “Self Management” and “Emotional Stability”. A small booklet “Swami Vivekananda – His call to the Nation” was distributed and a short film “Karma & Reincarnation” was projected followed by a group discussion.
About 250 young students & professionals attended the convention. All the participants were served with tea, snacks & lunch. (More photos...)
You can listen / download a brief introduction to meditation conducted by Swami Atmashraddhananda :

A brief introduction to meditation (size 19.6 MB)

Q & A on meditation (size 2.6 MB)

To listen / purchase a mp3 CD of all lectures of Youth Convention, please contact at our Library department between office hours.

Swami Vivekananda's birthday was celebrated on 6^th January 2010. Around 1000 devotees attended the celebration. Cooked prasad was served to all.

On the occasion of National Youth Day various competitions like Chorus Singing, Sanskrit Recitation, Elocution, Solo Acting, etc. were organized for School Children on 2^nd & 3^rd January 2010. Nearly 80 schools from Pune participated in these competitions. Around 1200 students took part in individual competitions. The main objective behind this was to introduce students to the inspiring lives of Swami Vivekananda along with other Saints and great personalities of our country.

The prize distribution ceremony will be held at Math on 12^th January 2010, the National Youth Day and the birthday of Swami Vivekananda. Attractive prizes will be given to those excelling in the competitions. (More photos...)

Kalpataru Day was celebrated on 1^st January 2010. We celebrate this day, commemorating Sri Ramakrishna’s grace on his devotees at Kashipur Udyan Bati on 1st January 1886. On that day, Sri Ramakrishna as it were became a Kalpataru and bestowed his grace on all those present by awakening their spiritual consciousness and blessing them for spiritual illumination.
On this occasion all those seeking spiritual awakening gathered together in the prayer hall at 3:00 pm and attended with devotion the Bhajans and a short discourse by Swami Suvijneyananda. All were served with Prasad and the program concluded joyfully. Whole evening there was a huge rush of devotees from all over Pune seeking the Darshan of Sri Ramakrishna and thousands of books on the lives of the Holy Trio were purchased by the visitors.

On the Christmas Eve, 24th December 2009, the Ramakrishna Math Pune celebrated the birthday of Lord Jesus Christ by decorating the picture of Mother Mary and Baby Jesus in the shrine and lighting the candles around the Lord as well as all over the sanctum sanctorum. There were Carols sung in chorus after the evening Aratrikam at the Temple. All the devotees present heartily joined the celebrations and also listened to the discourse on the life and teachings of the Jesus Christ with rapt attention. In this discourse in English by Br. Pradeep, the universal teachings of the Lord were highlighted and some wonderful anecdotes and parables were narrated depicting the simple practical ways of living religious life. (More Photos....)

Holy Mother's birthday was celebrated on 8 Dec 2009. Around 1000 devotees attended the celebration. Cooked prasad was served to all.

A two day Youth Convention was organized on 1^st & 2^nd August 2009, in which more than 200 students participated. Swami Bodhamayananda from Chennai Ashrama & Prof. K. R. Rao from Bangalore conducted the convention on various topics, concerned to today's youth like 'Developing Inner Strength', 'Mind, Attitude & Human Relationships', 'Ancient & Modern Leadership Lessons' and 'The Art of Growing (Learning)'. Swami Suvijneyananda welcome the audience & speakers in his inaugural speech. Both days the convention began with the Meditation session in the serene atmosphere of math in morning at 8:30, under the guidance of Swami Bodhamayananda. The sessions being interactive and some management games were played with group discussions & e-learning (multimedia) sessions, students enjoyed it and learn the lessons in developing an all round personality, more enthusiastically. (More Photos....)
On 31^st July, Swami Bodhamayananda conducted seminars for Symbiosis College Students in which around 700 students participated.
Seminars on Personality Development were also conducted in some Educational Institutes in & around Pune by Swami Bodhamayananda & Prof. K.R. Rao.

A Mega Youth Convention was organized on 14th & 15th January 2009 as a part of Silver Jubilee Celebrations. The theme of the convention was "Man Making Education" for which more than 1300 youth and 100 guests attended the two day youth convention. The convention was inaugurated by the Vice- Chancellor of Pune University, Dr. Narendra Jadhav. He spoke on "Cultivating Self Confidence for Harnessing Youth Potentials" in english as well as in his mother tongue which was widely applauded by the youth.
Other eminent personalities spoke on various topics like, "Human Excellence", "Nurturing Emotional Stability", "Secret of Concentration", "Be a Leader", and "Fulfilling our Dreams".

Swami Nikhileshwarananda, Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission, Vadodara, Swami Bodhamayananda, Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Chennai, Prof. K.R. Rao, HR Trainer, Bangalore, Padmashree Dr. Anil Gupta, IIM Ahmedabad and Food King Shri Sarath Babu, Chennai interacted with the youth in this two day youth convention which was concluded with the session on “Man Making Education” by Former President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Dr. Kalam recalled the inspiring quote of Swami Vivekananda: "The world is ready to give up its secrets if we only know how to knock, how to give it the necessary blow. The strength and force of the blow come through concentration. There is no limit to the power of the human mind. The more concentrated it is the more power is brought to bear on one point. That is the secret."

Dr. Kalam said that all great people like C.V. Raman, Albert Einstien use this power of concentration of mind and by this power of concentration youth of today also can definitely achieve whatever they want. "This thought has indeed influenced my conscience" he added suggesting that today's education system must develop this faith among the youth and the youth to practice this faith in all their actions.

Dr. Kalam asserted that no youth today need to fear about future and urged that each youth should contribute in nation building which will lead India to 'Vision 2020'. (More photos...)

Swami Atmashraddhananda, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai compered the two day youth convention while Swami Suvijneyananda, Ramakrishna Math, Pune delivered the Vote of Thanks.

Following Medical Camps were conducted at RKM Pune Polyclinic center.