Birthday of Swami Akhanadanandaji ;the pioneer in Relief work

The Ramakrishna Mission was established on 1 May at Balaram Bose’s house, with the support of the monastic and lay disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. And two weeks later, on 1 May, the first organized

relief work of the Ramakrishna Mission was started at Mahula, where Akhandananda began distributing

rice among the poor victims of the famine. He had to work hard for days together to carry out this work, allowing himself little time for rest. He toured the local villages, surveyed the situation there, and made a list of people who were in urgent need of rations. The beneficiaries came to the relief camp and got their share of rice. In this way he was able to provide aid to over fifty villages. Meanwhile, the swami came across some boys and girls who had no one to look aft er them. He thought of opening an orphanage for these destitute children. He sought the opinion of his leader, Swami Vivekananda, who readily agreed and wrote him an encouraging letter. The district magistrate also issued orders for all police officers of the district to send orphan boys to the swami. As the number of children increased, the ashrama had to be shifted from the relief camp at Mahula to a comparatively larger house in Shibnagar.The children were not only given food and shelter, they were also trained to develop their character, to grow as true ‘men’ and ‘women’. Together

with lessons in reading, writing, and arithmetic, they were also getting scope to develop the three

H’s—head, heart, and hand—so that they would be able to stand on their own feet aft er completion

of their education in the ashrama. They were taught beautiful prayers, which could be recited

by any person irrespective of caste, creed, or religion When Swami Vivekananda saw some of

Swami Akhandanandaji

the bright and cheerful children of the ashrama he said to Akhandananda: ‘Brother, henceforth, don’t call your ashrama an orphanage; these boys are no longer orphans.’ The boys were indeed under the care of their loving father, ‘Baba’.With the increase in its activities, the ashrama was in need of more space. In 1913 the ashrama was moved to its present premises, on the fi ft y bighas of

land acquired from Haji Maharam Ali at Sargachhi. Here, with the help of a few sincere and dedicated workers, the swami built up the ashrama with its many service activities: ‘Swami Akhandananda

planted flowering plants and fruit trees all around and made the ashrama like an ancient hermitage. Along with education, the swami concentrated on improving the agricultural and industrial activities amongst the villagers. Th e ashrama ran a full-fl edged industrial school, teaching weaving, sewing,carpentry, and sericulture, which was the pride of the locality. One room of the ashrama was allotted for a library and charitable dispensary, and another room for the shrine.’Swami Vivekananda had been a source of continual inspiration for Akhandananda. His demise left Akhandananda terribly shocked. He lost all interest for life and work. It was only after he received Swamiji’s vision that he again felt encouraged to continue with his work.