Ramakrishna Mission Chief Swami Atmasthananda passes away

Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission President Swami Atmasthananda passed away on 18 June 2017 after a prolonged illness. He was 98.

Swami Atmasthananda was elected as the President of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission on 3 December 2007.

About Swami Atmasthananda

• Born on 10 May 1919, Swami Atmasthananda was the fifteenth president of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.

• He received spiritual initiation in 1938 from Vijnanananda.

• He joined the Ramakrishna Order at Belur Math on 3 January 1941 at the age of 22 years.

• In 1949, the then-President of the Order Swami Virajananda gave him Sannyasa vows and the name Atmasthananda.

• He was elected a trustee of the Ramakrishna Math and member of the governing body of the Ramakrishna Mission in 1973.

• He was elected as the 15th President of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission on 3 December 2007.

About Ramakrishna Mission

• Ramakrishna Mission is an Indian religious organization, which forms the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as the Ramakrishna Movement or the Vedanta Movement.

• The mission is a philanthropic, volunteer organisation founded by Ramakrishna's chief disciple Swami Vivekananda on 1 May 1897.

• The mission is headquartered near Kolkata at Belur Math in Howrah, West Bengal.

• It is affiliated with the monastic organisation Ramakrishna Math, with whom it shares members.

• The mission conducts extensive work in health care, disaster relief, rural management, tribal welfare, elementary and higher education and culture.