The Ramkrishna Mission Ashrama, Asansol is rooted in the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) who stressed, among other things, the equal validity of all religions, the potential divinity of man, and service to man as a way of worshipping God. Sri Ramakrishna's chief disciple, Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), carried far and wide these teachings which, really speaking, constitute the core of Ind
ia's oldest philosophy, Vedanta. Later, in 1897, he founded, in order to propagate these ideas, a non-proselytizing religious organization, the Ramakrishna Mission, which, besides teaching Vedanta, gives concrete service to the community by running schools, colleges, hospitals, orphanages, etc. One such branch is Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Asansol in the district of Burdwan, West Bengal, India.This is the most extensive and important coal belt of Eastern India and together with Durgapur , is known as the industrial city of West Bengal. The Story has it that on his way to Baidyanath, Deoghar, Sri Ramakrishna came by train up to Ranigunj, a coal town only 15 km from Asansol,which was then the last railway station on the route and therefrom he took to roadways to reach Deoghar. During early period, the Ashram activities were on a small scale with only an orphange and a school for girls. In the later years the girls' school ceased to function and a boys' school was started instead, which was upgraded to a High School in 1944. Gradually a small hostel also was felt necessary for the boys who came from far off areas,which came into being in 1953. The entire campus was located on one side of the ever-busy Grand Trunk Road . With the passage of time, the number of students in the School and the Hostel increased, in keeping with which new buildings were erected with storeys being added to the existing ones. Still, at one point of time, the campus became too cramped for its 1000-odd students and the adjacent G.T Road seemed more trafficky and noisy everyday. As a solution to this,a 55 acre land on the outskirts of the then Asansol city was purchased from the Government of West Bengal in 1994, thanks to the generous donation of Pearless General Finance & Investment Co. After procuring the land ,some temporary sheds were built up there for the purpose of Prayer hall, Hostel , Monks' Quarters and Kitchen-cum-dining room and from September,1997 the Ashama started functioning from these temporary structures. The High & Primary Schools were shifted to their permanent building at the new campus in October,2001. The Ashrama shifted totally to the new premises in 2002, sellig off the old establishment.By August 2005, came up one by one , the Vocational Training Centre, the permanent buildings for Hostel, Monks' Quarters, Dining Hall and Library. The Ashrama is still in the making. We are yet to have an auditorium for its 1100 students, a commodious temple for some 1000 devotees and guardians, a Higher Secondary School building, metal roads--to mention only the foremost of the priorities...
We look forward to the God in you ,Who is All-knowing, Who has helped us so far and Who ,we believe, will help us in our onward journey also...
