The Ramakrishna Mission

• Swami Vivekananda established the Ramakrishna mission in 1897 after the name of his guru Ramakrishna Paramhansa (after his death).
• The headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission are at Belur near Calcutta. The two are twin organizations, though legally and financially separate.
• Vivekananda was the first spiritual leader who thought beyond religious reforms.
• He laid stress on the removal of religious superstitions, obscurantism, and outdated social customs.
• He tried to remove caste rigidities, and untouchability. He motivated the people to respect women while he himself worked for women’s upliftment and education.
• This Mission to date has played an important role in providing social service in times of national distress like famine, floods, and epidemic. Many schools, hospitals, orphanages are run by it.