Ramakrishna Math, Chennai

The centre was started in 1897 by Swami Ramakrishnananda, a monastic disciple of Sri Ramakrishna.

Activities:

1. Publication of books in English and Tamil; total number of titles: 1041.
2. Publication of two monthly journals: The Vedanta Kesari (English, 108^th year) and Sri Ramakrishna Vijayam (Tamil, 101^st year).
3. A girls’ higher secondary school Sarvana Street, Mint (at a distance of 11 km from the Ashrama).
4. A primary school at Basin Bridge Road, Mint (at a distance of 7 km from the Ashrama).
5. A library with a children’s section, having 44,125 books and 193 periodicals.
6. Two coaching centres.
7. Sanskrit learning course offered in three levels, each for a period of 6 months.
8. An allopathic-cum-homeopathic dispensary with dental, eye, ENT, surgical, X-ray, ultrasound scanning, pediatrics, ECG, gynecology, physiotherapy and laboratory sections and TB and diabetes clinics.
9. LAP rehabilitation programme.
10. Four units of Gadadhar Abhyudaya Prakalpa with 200 unprivileged children.
11. Daily worship, fortnightly Ramanam Sankirtan, weekly discourses, and celebration of the birthdays of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Ramakrishnananda and other spiritual personalities, as also other festivals.

Activities at the Rural Welfare Centre at Meyyur, a village 48 km away:

1. Education work through tuition classes computer training, spoken English classes and a summer camp.
2. Saradamma Grama Mangalam, a women empowerment programme offering training to local women in tailoring and making incense stick.
3. A weekly mobile medical unit.
4. Welfare work by the way of distributing bicycles, books, clothes and stipends to needy people.

Sub-centre:

Vivekanandar Illam (Vivekananda House) in Chennai, where Swami Vivekananda stayed for nine days on his return from the West in 1897 is preserved as a memorial. The activities of this sub-centre are:

1. Vivekananda Cultural Centre offering courses on Yoga, Meditation, Graphic Design, Image Editing, Digital Illustration, Office Automation, Tanjore painting, English, Tamil, and Hindi.
2. Vivekananda Museum consisting of an art gallery on Indian culture, a photo gallery devoted to Swami Vivekananda, a 3D movie theatre, etc.
3. Vivekananda Navaratri, a nine-day long celebration held from 6 to 14 February every year commemorating Swami Vivekananda’s stay at the House.