Saturday, February 14, 2009

THE INSTITIUTE

THE RAMAKRISHNA MISSION INSTITUTE OF CULTURE, a branch of the Ramakrishna Mission, started functioning in 1938. The Institute has grown over the years, and the fact that it is now housed at its present magnificent building (completed in 1960) in south Calcutta is a testimony to its popularity.
While culture is the Institute's specific field of study, it is not the national culture alone that it studies, but that culture which is the common heritage of all mankind and to which every race and religion has made its own contributions.
Such a study, the Institute believes, will provide the necessary psychological background to the cementing process which technology has initiated between the races of mankind.
The Institute has a number of departments including a School of Languages, a large Library, Vivekananda Archives, a Publication Department and a Centre for Indological Studies and Research. The Institute has a busy schedule of lectures, seminars, symposia, scripture classes, study circles, elocution competitions and other religious and cultural programmes.
Attached to the Institute is an INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARS' HOUSE. It is meant for the guests of the Institute, scholars and students who come from different parts of India and from abroad at the invitation of the Institute or of the universities and other learned societies for study, research or simply for the exchange of ideas with Indian scholars. This bringing together of scholars of different nationalities and backgrounds helps to create a bridge that unites minds and spirits.
The Institute has a GENERAL LIBRARY, with a reading room attached to assist students and researchers in their work and research. The library specializes in the humanities and social sciences and contains over 2,19,510
The Institute also has a MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY with valuable artefacts. It conducts a P.G. Diploma Course in the Appreciation of Indian Art, runs the Sarada Devi School of Fine Arts and Crafts for Children and also organizes an Annual Exhibition on Art.
The universities of Calcutta, Jadavpur, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Burdwan and Visva-Bharati recognize the Institute as a centre for learning and research. The Indian Council of Social Science Research, the Indian National Science Academy, Rashtriya Sanskrit Samsthan, and the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, New Delhi, also recognize the Institute as a centre for research.
Cultural Programmes
Throughout the year the Institute has a busy schedule of lectures, debates, elocution competitions, seminars, symposia, study circles, scripture classes and religious congregations, through which knowledge, both modern and ancient, is imparted to the public. Devotional songs constitute regular features of the Institute's activitiesall round the year.
Vivekananda Study for the Youth
To encourage young people to imbibe the idelas of the Ramakrishna Mission and study Ramakrishna - Vivekananda literature, the Institute started late in the seventies, a youth forum called Vivekananda Study Circle and, later on, another youth wing called Vivekananda Anushilan with young boys and girls in the age group of 14 to 30. Generally, in fortnightly meetings every month, members discuss various topics on the life, teachings and philosophy of Swami Vivekananda, interact with question-answer and are guided and trained how to meditate.

No comments:

Post a Comment