Report on the 190th  Birthday Celebration of Sri Ramakrishna and 125th year of the visit of Swami Vivekananda to Bangladesh

With the spontaneous participation of a large number of devotees the 190th  Birthday
Celebration of Sri Ramakrishna and the 125th year of the visit of Swami Vivekananda to
Bangladesh have been celebrated at Ramakrishna Math, Dhaka, drawning a diverse programs from 1 March and 4-7 March 2025.

On the First day, 1 March 2025, programs included Mangalarati, Ushakirtan, Special Puja, Homa, devotional songs, reading from the scriptures, talks of the Head of the Centre on ‘Sri Ramakrishna’, and so on. The offering (Pushpanjali) to Sri Sri Thakur took place at 12:15 p.m. followed by the distribution of noon-prasad among the devotees. After that in the afternoon, a film exhibition called ‘Hey Yuga Ishwara’ exhibited at 4:00p.m. under the direction and research of Sri Anup Roy Chowdhury.  After the evening prayer, the 190th Birthtithi Day Celebration was officially inaugurated by Srimat Swami Purnatmanandaji Maharaj, Head of the centre. Following that a discussion meeting held on ‘Sri Ramakrishna and the Spiritual Renaissance’ where Dr. Bidhan Ranjan Podder, Hon’ble Advisor, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education addressed as the chief guest and professor Dr. Mayna Talukder, Department of Sanskrit, Dhaka University and Professor Dr. Bijoy Lal Basu, Department of English, Dhaka University spoke as the special guest. Swami Purnatmananda, Adhyaksha and the Secretary of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka and Spiritual Head of the Ramakrishna Order in Bangladesh presided over the meeting. Swami Shantikarananda, one of the assistant secretaries of Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka, gave the welcome address during the discussion, while Swami Haripremananda, the other assistant secretary offered the vote of thanks.

On the second day, 4 March 2025, Tuesday, programs began with the inauguration of the celebration of the 125th year of the visit of Swami Vivekananda to Bangladesh and the annual function of Ramakrishna Mission High School, Dhaka, by Swami Purnatmananda, Adhyaksha and Secretary, Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka and the spiritual Head of the Ramakrishna Order in Bangladesh.

The core program started with the Vedic chanting performed by the children artistees of Ramakrishna Sevashrama, Uttar Rowail, Mirzapur, Tangail, followed by the reading from the scriptures by the students of Ramakrishna Mission High School, Dhaka. The discourse on  ‘The ideal of Swami Vivekananda’ came next. Swami Purnatmananda, Adhyaksha and Secretary,  Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka, and the spiritual Head of the Ramakrishna Order in Bangladesh gave the benedictory address, Justice Soumendra Sarker, Bangladesh Supreme Court and the President of the Managing Committee of Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka resided over the meeting; Major General Muhammad Moin Khan, GOC of the 9th Infantry Division and the Area Commander of Savar Area, Cantonment was the Chief Guest; Sri Prabir Kumar Saha, Former Director, FBCCI and the member of the Managing Committee of Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka was attended the program as the special guest. After the discourse, cultural program and prize distribution of the Annual Sports Competitions of Ramakrishna Mission High School took place.Second session discussion started after the evening prayer on the topic ‘Swami Vivekananda and the New Horizon of the Civilisation’. It was presided by Swami Purnatmanandaji Maharaj, Adhyaksha and Secretary, Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka. Mr. Sharf Uddin Ahmed Choudhury, Divisional Commissioner, attended the program as the Chief Guest and Professor Robaet Ferdous, Department of Mass Communication and Journalism from the University of Dhaka, and Professor Dr. Siddhartha Shankar Joarder, Department of Philosophy, Jagannath University, Dhaka, were the special guests. Thereafter, a drama titled ‘Immersion’,
directed by Subhashish Dutta Tanmoy, and composed by Rabindranath Thagore performed by the students of Ramakrishna Mission High School, Dhaka.

On the third day, 5 March 2025, Wednesday, there were events such as ‘Padavali Kirtan’ performed by Sri Amal Banerjee and his party at 12:00 noon; lyrical performances directed by Ms. Sathi Das were staged upon by the children artestees at 4:00 P.M.; In the afternoon at 5:00p.m., devotional dance was performed by the Children artistees of the ‘Samarpan Kala Kendra, Dhaka’. In the evening, after the prayer, there was a discourse on Sri Ramakrishna of All. Srimat Swami Purnatmanandaji Maharaj, Adhyaksha and Secretary of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka, chaired over the meeting, where Mr. Pranay Verma, Hon’ble High Commissioner of India in Dhaka was the chief Guest and Dr. Tapan Bagchi, Poet and Folklorist, Director(in-charge), Bangla Academy and Dr. Mohammad Bahauddin, Professor and Ex- Chairman, Department of Persian Language and Literature were the special guests. On the fourth day, 6 March 2025, Thursday, Sri Ramakrishna Lila kirtan was presented by Dr. Sujit Das, Sri Samar Krishna Saha, Sri Biren Dey and his Party from Chattagram at 12:00p.m. Esraj was performed in the afternoon at 4:00 P.M. by Madhuri Rana. Afternoon at 5:00P.M. devotional dance was performed by the Children Artistes of ‘Spandan’, Dhaka;

After the evening prayer discourse on `Sri Maa Sarada Devi and Universal Unity’ took place at 7:00 P.M. Swami Purnatmananda, Adyaksha and Secretary, Ramakrishna Math and  Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka and the Spiritual Head of the Ramakrishna Order in Bangladesh, presided over the meeting where Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Hon’ble Advisor, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Ministry of Water resources was the Chief Guest and Professor Dr. Jamila A Chowdhury, Depertment of Law, University of Dhaka, and Ms. Sonam Saha, Assistant Professor, Department of Development Studies, Faculty of Social Science, University of Dhaka were the special guests.

On the final day, 7 March 2025, Friday, Ramayana song was performed by Shiveshwar Chandra Das and his Party at 9:00 A.M. Nara-Narayan Seva was held at 12:00 P.M.. The variety of performances by the children artists was held in the afternoon at 3:00p.m. which was followed by the performance of ‘Folk-song’ song at 7:00P.M. by the Renowned artist Sri Kiran Chandra Roy.

Before his renedition, other singers including Smt. Chandana Mazumder also performed devotional songs.

Everything was ended peacefully.
Total 14,000 devotees took cooked prasad during the five(05) days of the celebration.

Photo Link:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/e5KUeqnunfp8o6RY6