With the spontaneous participation of a large number of devotees the 188th Birthday Celebration of Sri Ramakrishna and the 125th Anniversary of Ramakrishna Mission have been celebrated at Ramakrishna Math, Dhaka, drawning a diverse programs from 21 February to 24 February, 2023.
First day, 21st February 2023, Programs included Mangalarati, Ushakirtan, Special Puja, Homa, devotional songs, reading from the scriptures, talks by Adhyaksha Maharaj, etc. The offerings(Pushpanjali) to Sri Sri Thakur took place at 12:15 p.m. and it was followed by the distribution of noon-prasad among the devotees. ‘Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna Janmalila-Kirtan’ was performed by Dr. Sujit Das, Sri Samar Krishna Saha and Party at 12:30 p.m.. Devotional Dances of the children artistes of Spandan Cultural Organization held at 5:00 p.m.. After the evening prayer discussion held on the topic `Sri Ramakrishna and Religion’, where the Chief Guest was Mr. Pranay Varma, Hon’ble High Commissioner, High Commission of India in Bangladesh, and the Special Guest Sri Ashim Kumar Ukil, Hon’ble Member of Bangladesh National Parliament for Netrakona-3. Professor Mr. Towhidul Hasan, Department of Philosophy, Jagannath University, Dhaka was the Guest of Honour in the discussion. Swami Purnatmananda, Adhyaksha and Secretary of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka, presided over the meeting. In the discussion meeting, Swami Shantikarananda, one of the Assistant Secretaries of Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka, gave the Welcome Address and Swami Haripremananda, the other assistant secretary offered the Vote of Thanks. The program of that day ended after the cultural performance of the students of `Vivekananda Vidyarthi Bhavan’ Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka.
Second day, 22 February 2023, programs began with ‘Ramayana songs’, performed by Sri Nilip Acharya, Bangladesh Radio and Bangladesh Television. The Annual Function of Ramakrishna Mission High School, Dhaka, started at 4:00 p.m. on that day. First session of the Program comprised discourses on ‘Swami Vivekananda’s concepts of Education’ and then the cultural program. In the discourse, the chief guest was Advocate Md. Qamrul Islam, Hon’ble member of the parliament and Former Misnister, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh; Justice Sri Soumendra Sarker, Bangladesh Supreme Court and the President of the Managing Committee of Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka, presided over the meeting. There, Swami Purnatmanandaji Maharaj, Head of the Centre, delivered the benedictory address.
After the evening prayer at 7:00 p.m. the second session began with meeting on ‘Message of Swami Vivekananda for the present world’ with the participation of the Chief Guest Md. Asaduzzaman Khan M.P., Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of the people’s Republic of Bangladesh and the Special Guest Md. Kazi Firoz Rashid, Hon’ble M.P. Dhaka-06, Bangladesh National Parliament and Former Minister, Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh; Swami Purnatmananda, Head of Dhaka Centre presided over the meeting, and after that, prizes were distributed among the participants of the Cultural Program. As a part of the School Program, Drama, directed by Shubhashish Dutta Tanmoy started at 8:00 p.m.. and thereby program of that day ended.
On 23 February 2023, Thursday, Programs started with the performance of ‘Padavali Kirtan’ by Sri Nilip Acharya, Bangladesh Radio and Bangladesh Television at 12:00 noon. Lyrical performance(Geeti Alekhya) by the children Artistes began at 4:00 p.m. and Smt. Sathi Das, Sarada Sangha, Dhaka, directed it. The children artistes of `Pushpanjali Kala Kendra’, Dhaka, performed devotional dances at 5:00 p.m.. After the evening prayer discussion meeting started on ‘Universal Mother Sri Maa Sarada Devi’. Dr. Hasan Mahmud M.P., Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh was the Chief Guest of the event and Dr. Sutapa Bhattacharjee, Professor, Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka, was one of the Special Guests. The other Special Guest was Professor Dr. Protiva Rani Karmakar, Professor, Institute of Modern Languages, Jagannath University, Dhaka. That event of discussion was presided by Swami Purnatmananda, the Head of Dhaka Centre. In the discussion meeting, Swami Haripremananda, Assistant Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka, gave the Welcome Address and Swami Shantikarananda, the other Assistant Secretary offered the vote of thanks. Next to that Program, Smt. Dr. Priyanka Gope, Associate Professor, Department of Music, University of Dhaka, performed devotional songs which attracted a large number of audience.
Program of the final day was held on 24 February 2023, Friday. On that day `Sri Ramakrishna Lilagiti’ was performed by Sri Sunil Chakraborty and Party, Dhaka, at 10:00 a.m.. and Prasad distribution (Naranarayan Seva) which like the previous years was started at 12:00 noon. Later, variety performances by the Children Artistes of Dhaka were began at 3:00 p.m. in the presence of guardians. To conclude that day program, devotional songs on Sri Ramakrishna were performed by Swami Punyadananda, Sri Bijan Mistri, Sri Bijan Das, Sri Sukumar Biswas and Sri Prasenjit Chandra Karmakar.
Everything ended peacefully.
Total 20,000 devotees took cooked prasad during the four(04) days of the celebration.
Photo Link :
https://photos.app.goo.gl/m7RXA3RSs8YhXD2EA
