The Ramakrishna Mission that was started in this city in 1939 will be celebrating its platinum jubilee in this year. But, only a few would know that the seed of this ashram was sown by none other than the Holy Mother Sarada Devi, consort of Sri Ramakrishna, in 1911.

While travelling in a train during her visit to the southern states sometime during 1911, the train halted at Visakhapatnam, and overwhelmed by the beauty and tranquillity of the place, she had exclaimed in Bengali It is such a nice place.

Perhaps, that was how she sowed the seed for the future centre of RK Mission, says Atmavidananda, present secretary of the RK Mission.

Later in 1924, Swami Shivanandaji Maharaj, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and the second president of Ramakrishna Math and Mission, who visited the city on an invitation by a few local devotees laid the foundation for the centre. The ashram finally came up in 1938 with Swami Nishreyasanandaji as its first secretary. The mission came up with the help of a local devotee, Kancharla Ramabrahmam, and with just one or two monks, says Swami Atmavidananda.

From starting a school for children of fishermen in a hut and operating from a small building at RK Beach, the mission has grown to manage a Ramakrishna Mission High School with over 900 children.

The new temple had come up in 1991 and the old building was renovated to house a library with a collection of over 18,000 books and periodicals. The centre also runs a Cerebral Palsy Clinic on the temple campus. This apart, the Mission has been running personality development and yoga classes, free eye camps and medical camps in rural areas and providing succour to lakhs during natural calamities.

For C. Krishna Kumar, businessman and Rotarian, the association with the RK Mission began when he was young. Sharing his experiences he says, As a child I would go to the mission to savour the coconut laddu prasadam. But later after reading the books written by Swami Vivekananda, the real journey of life had begun. The RK Mission has changed many a life in this city, he says. Another builder A.V. Ramaraju, who has been associated with the RK Mission since last five decades, says the RK Mission was a spiritual landmark for this city.

It was the first spiritual institution to come up here, he says.

Read the original post:

On a mission to spread spirituality