Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari, Paschim Banga Prant dedicated Vivekananda Kendra Pradanam (VK Pradanam) on the auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya on 3rd May 2022 in a grand ceremony held at Ramakrishna Mission Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral Home in the august presence of Chief Guest: Swami Suparnananda, Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, Guest of Honour: Swami Jnanalokananda, Trustee RKM and Secretary, Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House and Guest of Honour: Dr. Purabi Roy, Eminent Educationist and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Researcher.
In his welcome address Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha (Retd.), who is also the Chairman, Project Development Team of VK Pradanam, stressed on the need of such a centre of excellence to confront the challenges of modern times and preserve and propagate our own heritage and culture.
The revered chief guest, Swami Suparnanandaji, Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, eloquently expressed his concern regarding our testing times and endorsed the idea of using Swami Vivekananda’s thoughts to fortify our uniqueness as a nation and our collective strength. The Guest of Honour, Swami Jnanalokanandaji, Secretary, Swami Vivekananda’s ancestral home, was happy to congratulate Vivekananda Kendra for their effort to conserve Indian culture, especially to explore the nuances of Ramayana and its implication on Bengali life and art. He also stated that he would further look forward to more such collaborations with Vivekananda Kendra. Dr. Purabi Roy, an eminent educationist and a researcher on Netaji, enthusiastically connected Swami Vivekananda and Netaji declaring the dire need of their profound wisdom in our lives.
Speaking to News Sense Shri Nirmalya Bhattacharya, Sah Prant Sanchalak, Vivekananda Kendra Paschim Banga Prant, explained “Vivekananda Kendra Paschim Banga Prant started a new project named VK Pradanam means Vivekananda Kendra Pradanam. Pradanam means whatever we receive in this life, we must give back to the society more. So we have started this project to give more to the society. The location of the project is at Sukhchar which is near Khardah in North 24 Parganas District of West Bengal. We also released a book “Bangabhumite Ramayana Charchar Aitihya”, around 25 authors have contributed in the publication of the book and the book has received very good response from the intellectual circle of Bengal“.
VK Pradanam is a centre of excellence which has been conceptualised to serve the people of the region, specifically the youth with yoga and skill development trainings. The centre will also focus on the study and promotion of Indian Knowledge System. Initial works of the project has already been started at Sukhchar (near Khardah) and has plans to offer VK Pradanam to the nation by early 2025.
On this special occasion, an authoritative book on Ramayana edited by Smt Anita Bose “Bangabhumite Ramayana Charchar Aitihya” is also released by the guests on the dais.
Stressing on the book, Smt Anita Bose said “This land of Bengal has a long and rich history of contemplation on Ramayana from the ancient to the modern. This book is a scholarly treatise exploring that exquisite treasure. Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari, Bangla Prakashan Vibhag has attempted to offer the phenomenal anthology to the readers, which is collated and compiled to contain all such elements of Ramayana present in Bengali literature, culture, folk art, sculpture, painting, and performance. I offer my deep respect.”
Vivekananda Kendra, is a spiritual oriented service mission and was founded in the year 1972 by Shri Eknath Ranande. Today, Vivekananda Kendra runs more than 1100 branches and activity centres across the country. Vivekananda Kendra endeavors to actualize Swami Vivekananda’s Vision of self reliant India through various activities like Yoga, Swadhyay Varga (Study Circle), Samskar Varga, Rural Development, Education, Development of Natural Resources, Organizing Youth and Women and Publications based on the life and message of Swami Vivekananda, Indian Culture and Vedic studies.
Very nice article. Thanks a lot for such a detailed report. Thanks and regards.