History

When Swami Vivekananda, after his successful return from the World Religious Conference at Chicago entered India through Kanyakumari. He traveled from Kanyakumari to Chennai by train. Since the train had to pass through Chengalpattu before reaching Chennai, and there was no official stop at Chengalpattu, the people gathered and requested the station master to stop the train at Chengalpattu station. When the request was denied, the people layed flat on the railway track and made the train stop. Swami Vivekananda delivered a speech for 10 minutes and the people were happy. This incident became the seed for the development and growth of Swamiji’s ideologies.

Inspired by the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, a Vidyalaya was started in Chengalpattu by the late Sri.T.E.V.Sharma in Vedachala Nagar in 1936 (22.6.1936), the Birth Centenary year of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna. It slowly grew into a popular institution in the town and it was affiliated as a branch centre to Ramakrishna Mission in December 1940,which stands now as a well known Chengalpattu Ramakrishna Math, situated at 56 kms south of Chennai, catering to the needs of the poor and down-trodden people in and around Chengalpattu.

Today, The Ramakrishna Mission is established in 20 acres of land having a Main Shrine in the centre with a Marble Image of Sri Ramakrishna surrounded by Monks quarters, Students hostel, Destitute welfare centre. The entire campus is situated at the foot of hills and well maintained with full of trees and garden.

The Ashrama Campus at Hanumanthaputheri was dedicated to Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna by Revered Srimat Swami Vireswaranandaji Maharaj, President, Ramakrishna Math & Mission on 11.05.1983. The foundation stone for the temple was laid by Revered Srimat Swami Bhuteshanandaji Maharaj, Vice President, Ramakrishna Math & Mission on 19.09.1984. The temple was consecrated by Revered Srimat Swami Gambhiranandaji Maharaj, President, Ramakrishna Math & Mission on 02.02.1988.

As the days passed, many initiated devotees, well-wishers and public start visiting the shrine on festive occasions. The shrine was so small that it could accommodate only 200 to 250 devotees. So the need to expand the shrine was a dire need. As a result, the new shrine redesigned with the main tower resembling the tower of Sri Jagannath temple at Puri and other towers with exquisite artistic design was built at the cost of Rs. 70 lakhs. The newly restructured temple was declared open by Revered Srimat Swami Gitanandaji Maharaj, Vice President, Ramakrishna Math & Mission on 20.08.2004.

Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are worldwide, non-political, non-sectarian spiritual organizations which have been engaged in various forms of humanitarian, social service activities for more than a century.

Inspired by the ideals of renunciation and service, the monks and lay devotees of the Math and Mission serve millions of men, women and children, without any distinction of caste, religion or race, because they see the living God in them.

The organizations were brought into existence by Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886), the great 19th century saint from Bengal who is regarded as the Prophet of the Modern Age, and Sri Ramakrishna's chief disciple, Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), one of the foremost thinkers and religious leaders of the present age, who is regarded as 'one of the main molders of the modern world', in the words of an eminent Western scholar A.L. Basham.

Although Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are legally and financially separate, they are closely inter-related in several ways and are regarded as twin organizations.

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