By Mahesh Jambardi

With the proposed Viveka Memorial in the heart of the city running into hurdles, the informed citizens of Mysuru should join hands to realise the dreams of Sri Ramakrishna Ashram, Mysuru, which has been serving the society for decades,  of constructing the Memorial. 

Ramakrishna Ashram has been propagating spiritualism, personality development and the like among the people, spreading the messages of great philosophers such as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Sharada Devi and Swami Vivekananda. The Ashram has published more than 440 works of the three iconic philosophers. Now with the construction of Viveka Memorial, the Ashram plans to make the Memorial into a cultural hub and spiritual centre, especially           for the youths.

The Memorial project features a study centre, cultural and personality development centre, an amphitheatre which can accommodate 500 youths at a time, an interactive museum and the like. The Centre plans to have a full-fledged library from which civil services and other competitive exam aspirants can access books. It will also have works of literary greats such as D.V. Gundappa (DVG), Kuvempu, Da.Ra. Bendre, Shivarama Karanth and Masti Venkatesh Iyengar.

The other activities at the Centre will include personality development training classes, English and Kannada language excellence classes, skill development training, Indian spirituality and culture, yoga and pranayama classes, music classes, both vocal and instrumental.

There are plans to conduct a survey of villages in association with NGOs for evolving rural development programmes, to showcase the life, preachings, messages of Swami Vivekananda and other philosophers, to produce a documentary on Swami Vivekananda’s visit to Mysuru, conduct training classes for youths and other needy sections of the society.

The Ramakrishna Mutt and Mission is not limited to any religion, caste, creed or faith. The Mutt has been serving the society for decades on the underlying principles of Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa that the entire humanity is one. The Memorial hopes to bring  all sections and classes of the society for working towards the welfare of the poor and the downtrodden. In such a scenario, it is not right on the part of anyone to oppose the Viveka Memorial that the city’s Ramakrishna Ashram plans to build as an international cultural and spiritual centre.

Now coming to the dispute regarding the construction site, the Viveka Memorial is coming up at the NTM School premises. But soon as the Memorial was proposed at the site, many intellectuals and personalities decried the move saying that the NTM School building is a heritage centre. But in reality, their contention is far from truth. The NTM School was inaugurated by renowned writer Dejagow way back in 1971. It is worthwhile to note here that the same Dejagow had backed the construction of Viveka Memorial at the same site by Ramakrishna Ashram. Although many structures and centres in Mysuru are named after the erstwhile Mysore Maharajas, it does not necessarily mean that such structures or buildings were inaugurated by the Maharajas. The Maharani’s School is situated opposite NTM School (New Type Model School). But some intellectuals and others are issuing baseless and uncalled for statements in a bid to create confusion and trigger tensions. However, all such statements are nothing but misleading and does not hold any value.

It must be noted here that many great writers, individuals, achievers, statesmen and such other tall personalities like Rashtrakavi Kuvempu, Nadoja Dejagow, Rashtrakavi Prof. G.S. Shivarudrappa, Dr. Prabhushankar, Dr. CPK, Dr. Prabhuprasad, Dr. Chidananda Murthy and Dr. Malali Vasanthkumar, were associated with Ramakrishna Ashram for decades. By such an association, they drew inspiration for achieving much bigger. By learning the ideals of spiritualism and meditation, they added value to their life and living. The inspiration they drew from the Ashram helped them a lot in enriching Kannada language and literature Being witness to the Ashram’s social and spiritual services for decades, these literary icons have eulogised the services of the Ashram in most of their         literary works.

As a latest example of its selfless service to society, Sri Ramakrishna Ashram distributed Corona kits on a large scale to the poor and the needy. The Ashram is credited for distributing thousands of food and essential items kits to slum-dwellers for free in a most organised and systematic manner that can hardly be matched by others.

The Ashram is imparting education to thousands of students through its ‘Viveka Shikshana’ academic platform for over two decades. Scores of Kannada medium students studying in Government Schools of the city and district have benefited under this scheme. The Ashram is also helping a large number of Kannada medium Higher Primary School students under its exclusive ‘Gadhadhara Abhyudaya Sankalpa’ initiative. This scheme has benefited scores of poor students in both city and rural areas. Apart from imparting education to them, the Ashram has been serving food and distributing uniforms  and stationeries to poor students for years. This apart, the Ashram is distributing books and stationeries to nearly 5,000 poor students every year. 

Extending its service, the Ashram has established ‘Sri Ramakrishna Seva Mandira’ at Tenkalamole near Kuderu in Chamarajanagar district, where about 130 houses have been distributed free of cost to poor villagers.  Besides, the Ashram is engaged in scores of other service activities, which chiefly includes holding of classes, organisation of camps, organisation of cultural camps, health check-up camps, distribution of nutritious food, school kits and such other essentials. What is important to note here is that the Ashram has been carrying out these activities silently, without seeking any publicity. 

Despite all these services and activities of Sri Ramakrishna Ashram for the welfare and well-being of the people, it is disappointing to note that some disgruntled elements have been opposing this novel project, making baseless allegations and carrying out misinformation campaigns. 

It is high time that the people of the city realise the malicious intention behind the false propaganda and support the cause of Sri Ramakrishna Ashram for the construction of the ambitious Viveka Memorial that proposes to cater to the academic, intellectual  and spiritual growth of lakhs of students in the years to come.