Baranagar Math[a] (Baranagar Monastery) or Ramakrishna Math, Baranagar was the first monastery of Ramakrishna Order. In September 1886, after the death of Ramakrishna, when his devotees stopped funding, Swami Vivekananda (then known as Narendranath Datta) and other disciples of Ramakrishna decided to make a dilapidated house at Baranagar their new math.[1][2] The house crumbled to dust in 1897. In 1973 Vivekananda Math Samrakshan Samity was formed who attempted to preserve the area. In 2001, the possession was handed over to Belur Math authority, who soon-after declared it as one of their official branch. The restoration and development work of the area is still going on.[3]
Ramakrishna Math Baranagar
Entrance of Baranagar Math
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Alternative names
Baranagar Math
General information
Status
Active
Type
Heritage place, museum, branch of Ramakrishna Mission
Baranagar Math, dilapidated house of nineteenth century
After the death of Ramakrishna on 16 August 1886, his devotees and admirers stopped funding. Many of his disciples showed inclination to return home and live Grihastha (family-oriented) life. The monastic disciples led by young Narendranath Datta understood the necessity to find out a new shelter. Narendranath and others decided to make dilapidated house at Baranagar the new math (monastery) for remaining disciples.[1][2] The house belonged to a zaminder family of Taki, North 24 Parganas district.[3]
Surendra Nath Mitra, a devotee of Ramakrishna desired to pay the rent for the house.[4] Narendranath and his guru bhais[b] used to collect their daily food by "holy begging" (madhukari). The math became the first building of the Ramakrishna Math—the monastery of the monastic order of Ramakrishna.[5] Narendra later reminisced about the early days in the monastery:[6]
We underwent a lot of religious practice at the Baranagar Math. We used to get up at 3:00 am and become absorbed in japa and meditation. What a strong spirit of detachment we had in those days! We had no thought even as to whether the world existed or not.
Monastic vowsedit
In January 1887, Narendranath Datta and eight other disciples of Ramakrishna took formal monastic vows at Baranagr Math.[7]
Demolition in 1897edit
The house, which was already in a dilapidated condition, crumbled down to dust in 1897. No initiative could be taken at that time to restore the house.[3] In the same year, Vivekananda returned from the West.[8]
Formation of Baranagar Math Samrakshan Samity (1973)edit
On 25 January 1963, under the supervision and guidance of Swami Ramananda, a monk of Ramakrishna Order, the local people of Baranagar formed a society named "Baranagar Math Samrakshan Samity". The objective of the committee was to preserve the land where Baranagar Math was situated and attempt to re-establish it. In course of time, many buildings, shops and slums covered that area. Baranagar Math Samrakshan Samity managed to occupy a portion of the garden where Baranagar Math stood once. There they started social service activities like running Charitable Homoeopathic Dispensary, Free Coaching Centre (which was named Swami Vivekananda Charitable Coaching Centre) for the poor students of nearby slums etc. Gradually their social activities increased. They opened a non-formal school for children (which was named "Gadadhar Sishu Bikas Kendra"), opened a general library and started organising lectures and religious discourses on regular basis.[3]
Handing over to the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission (2001)edit
In October 2001, Baranagar Math Samrakshan Samity handed over the land to the authority of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna mission. At that time Belur Math Management[c] asked Baranagar's local Ramakrishna Mission Centre to take care of the possession. A meeting was held soon, where it was decided by the Governing Body and the Board of Trustees of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission to attempt to restore the place because of its historical significance. It was declared, since 6 January 2004 the place would be considered as an official branch of Belur Math. Swami Vamanananda was appointed as the president of the branch. Thus Baranagar Math came into existence once again. The development and re-establishment works are still going on.[3]
Prabhananda, Swami (2003). "Profiles of famous educators: Swami Vivekananda" (PDF). Prospects. XXXIII (2). Netherlands: Springer.
Chetananda, Swami (1997). God lived with them: life stories of sixteen monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. St. Louis, Missouri: Vedanta Society of St. Louis. ISBN0-916356-80-9.
Nikhilananda, Swami (1953). Vivekânanda: a biography(PDF). Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center. ISBN978-0-911206-25-8.
Bharathi, K. S. (1998). Encyclopaedia of Eminent Thinkers: The political thought of Vivekananda. Concept Publishing Company. p. 24. ISBN978-81-7022-709-0.
Copley, Antony R. H. (2006). A Spiritual Bloomsbury: Hinduism and Homosexuality in the Lives and Writings of Edward Carpenter, E.M. Forster, and Christopher Isherwood. Lexington Books. ISBN978-0-7391-1465-0.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Baranagar Math.
Official website
January 01, 1970
baranagar, math, baranagar, monastery, ramakrishna, math, baranagar, first, monastery, ramakrishna, order, september, 1886, after, death, ramakrishna, when, devotees, stopped, funding, swami, vivekananda, then, known, narendranath, datta, other, disciples, ram. Baranagar Math a Baranagar Monastery or Ramakrishna Math Baranagar was the first monastery of Ramakrishna Order In September 1886 after the death of Ramakrishna when his devotees stopped funding Swami Vivekananda then known as Narendranath Datta and other disciples of Ramakrishna decided to make a dilapidated house at Baranagar their new math 1 2 The house crumbled to dust in 1897 In 1973 Vivekananda Math Samrakshan Samity was formed who attempted to preserve the area In 2001 the possession was handed over to Belur Math authority who soon after declared it as one of their official branch The restoration and development work of the area is still going on 3 Ramakrishna Math BaranagarEntrance of Baranagar MathShow map of KolkataShow map of West BengalShow map of IndiaAlternative namesBaranagar MathGeneral informationStatusActiveTypeHeritage place museum branch of Ramakrishna MissionAddress125 1 Pramanick Ghat Road Baranagar Kolkata 700036CountryIndiaCoordinates22 37 54 7 N 88 22 3 E 22 631861 N 88 36750 E 22 631861 88 36750Construction started1886 1886 Renovated1973OwnerBelur MathWebsitebaranagarmath wbr rkmm wbr org Contents 1 History 1 1 Establishment in September 1886 1 2 Life at Baranagar Math 1 2 1 Monastic vows 1 3 Demolition in 1897 1 4 Formation of Baranagar Math Samrakshan Samity 1973 1 5 Handing over to the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission 2001 2 See also 3 References 3 1 Explanatory notes 3 2 Citations 3 3 Works cited 4 External linksHistory editEstablishment in September 1886 edit nbsp Baranagar Math dilapidated house of nineteenth century After the death of Ramakrishna on 16 August 1886 his devotees and admirers stopped funding Many of his disciples showed inclination to return home and live Grihastha family oriented life The monastic disciples led by young Narendranath Datta understood the necessity to find out a new shelter Narendranath and others decided to make dilapidated house at Baranagar the new math monastery for remaining disciples 1 2 The house belonged to a zaminder family of Taki North 24 Parganas district 3 Life at Baranagar Math edit nbsp Group photo taken on 30 January 1887 in Baranagar Math Kolkata Standing l r Swami Shivananda Swami Ramakrishnananda Swami Vivekananda Randhuni Debendranath Majumdar Mahendranath Gupta Shri M Swami Trigunatitananda H Mustafi Sitting l r Swami Niranjanananda Swami Saradananda Hutko Gopal Swami Abhedananda Surendra Nath Mitra a devotee of Ramakrishna desired to pay the rent for the house 4 Narendranath and his guru bhais b used to collect their daily food by holy begging madhukari The math became the first building of the Ramakrishna Math the monastery of the monastic order of Ramakrishna 5 Narendra later reminisced about the early days in the monastery 6 We underwent a lot of religious practice at the Baranagar Math We used to get up at 3 00 am and become absorbed in japa and meditation What a strong spirit of detachment we had in those days We had no thought even as to whether the world existed or not Monastic vows edit In January 1887 Narendranath Datta and eight other disciples of Ramakrishna took formal monastic vows at Baranagr Math 7 Demolition in 1897 edit The house which was already in a dilapidated condition crumbled down to dust in 1897 No initiative could be taken at that time to restore the house 3 In the same year Vivekananda returned from the West 8 Formation of Baranagar Math Samrakshan Samity 1973 edit On 25 January 1963 under the supervision and guidance of Swami Ramananda a monk of Ramakrishna Order the local people of Baranagar formed a society named Baranagar Math Samrakshan Samity The objective of the committee was to preserve the land where Baranagar Math was situated and attempt to re establish it In course of time many buildings shops and slums covered that area Baranagar Math Samrakshan Samity managed to occupy a portion of the garden where Baranagar Math stood once There they started social service activities like running Charitable Homoeopathic Dispensary Free Coaching Centre which was named Swami Vivekananda Charitable Coaching Centre for the poor students of nearby slums etc Gradually their social activities increased They opened a non formal school for children which was named Gadadhar Sishu Bikas Kendra opened a general library and started organising lectures and religious discourses on regular basis 3 Handing over to the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission 2001 edit In October 2001 Baranagar Math Samrakshan Samity handed over the land to the authority of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna mission At that time Belur Math Management c asked Baranagar s local Ramakrishna Mission Centre to take care of the possession A meeting was held soon where it was decided by the Governing Body and the Board of Trustees of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission to attempt to restore the place because of its historical significance It was declared since 6 January 2004 the place would be considered as an official branch of Belur Math Swami Vamanananda was appointed as the president of the branch Thus Baranagar Math came into existence once again The development and re establishment works are still going on 3 See also editBaranagore Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama High School Ramakrishna Sarada MathReferences editExplanatory notes edit Alternative spelling Baranagore Math in this spelling of official website is followed Disciples of the same teacher master are each other s Guru bhai Headquarter of Ramakrishna Math and Mission Citations edit a b Sinha 2012 p 514 a b Sil 1991 p 168 a b c d e Brief history of Baranagar Math Ramakrishna Mission Baranagar Archived from the original on 18 November 2013 Retrieved 8 July 2013 Nikhilananda 1953 pp 39 47 Prabhananda 2003 p 232 Chetananda 1997 p 38 Copley 2006 p 193 Bharathi 1998 p 24 Works cited edit Sinha Debotosh 2012 Social Welfare and Social Work Concept Publishing Company ISBN 978 81 8069 814 9 Sil Narasingha Prosad 1991 Ramakṛṣṇa Paramahaṁsa A Psychological Profile BRILL ISBN 978 90 04 09478 9 Prabhananda Swami 2003 Profiles of famous educators Swami Vivekananda PDF Prospects XXXIII 2 Netherlands Springer Chetananda Swami 1997 God lived with them life stories of sixteen monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna St Louis Missouri Vedanta Society of St Louis ISBN 0 916356 80 9 Nikhilananda Swami 1953 Vivekananda a biography PDF Ramakrishna Vivekananda Center ISBN 978 0 911206 25 8 Bharathi K S 1998 Encyclopaedia of Eminent Thinkers The political thought of Vivekananda Concept Publishing Company p 24 ISBN 978 81 7022 709 0 Copley Antony R H 2006 A Spiritual Bloomsbury Hinduism and Homosexuality in the Lives and Writings of Edward Carpenter E M Forster and Christopher Isherwood Lexington Books ISBN 978 0 7391 1465 0 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Baranagar Math Official website nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Baranagar Math amp oldid 1216969915, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
