RAMAKRISHNA MATH AND MISSION - RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM CENTRE
Andhra Pradesh was blessed by the visits of Swami Vivekananda to Hyderabad in 1893, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi to Rajamahendravaram in 1911, Swami Ramakrishnananda, founder of South Indian centres, to Machilipatnam in 1901, Swami Brahmananda to Tirupati in 1916, Swami Shivananda to Visakhapatnam in 1921 and to Cuddapah in 1925. Devotees of Sri Ramakrishna opened many private centres at different places in Andhra Pradesh. Thus at Rajmahendravaram a private centre by name Ramakrishna Seva Samithi was started. Maharaja of Vizianagaram gave 80 cents of land on lease to run the activities of the Samithi. The Samithi maintained a Homeo Dispensary and conducted religious classes till it was affiliated in 1954.
Math Centre was opened in 1951 and Ramakrishna Mission Centre was started in 1954 by the munificent donation of Late Sri Duvvuri Ramakrishna Rao, native of Rajamahendravaram. Later the local Ramakrishna Seva Samithi was dissolved and the leased land was donated to the Mission. Then onwards the Math and Mission Centres of Rajamahendravaram took up several activities.
In 1984 the Math at Rajamahendravaram was shifted from Veerabhadrapuram area to Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Nagar, Swami Vivekananda road (Korukonda road), a more congenial place with serene atmosphere. In this new complex a beautiful temple for Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Deva, Monks quarters, Office, Library, Reading Room, Book Sales show room, Auditorium were built. The temple was inaugurated in 1988 by Srimat Swami Gambhiranandaji Maharaj, the then President of the Order. In the Mission centre on the Godavari Bund, popularly known as Town Centre, a small prayer hall, a homeopathic dispensary and an allopathic dispensary with various facilities, were constructed.
Activities of the Mission centre:
- A charitable dispensary with allopathic and homeopathic sections, which treated 85,520 cases.
- A mobile medical unit, which served 1,75,465 tribal people this year; the unit also conducted four medical camps in tribal areas in which 2788 patients were treated.
- Thirty-three eye camps, in which 344 patients underwent surgery and were provided with intraocular lens (IOL).
- A unit of Gadadhar Abhyudaya Prakalpa with 30 poor children and a unit of Vivekananda Abhyudaya Prakalpa, with 35 students.
- Values education programmes and vocational training courses were conducted for 1506 youths. Also, summer classes were conducted for 287 students, cultural competitions for 5362 students and conventions for youth and devotees.
- Welfare work by way of distributing clothes, foodstuff, etc to patients and the poor.