Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad is a branch center of Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, Belur, Howrah, West Bengal.

We are a worldwide, non-political, non-sectarian spiritual organization which has engaged in various forms of humanitarian, social service activities for more than a century. Inspired by the ideals of renunciation and service, the monks and lay devotees of the Math and Mission serve millions of men, women and children, without any distinction of status, caste, religion or race, because they see the living God in them.

The organization were brought into existence by Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886), the great 19th century saint from Bengal who is regarded as the Prophet of the Modern Age, and Sri Ramakrishna’s chief disciple, Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), one of the foremost thinkers and religious leaders of the present age, who is regarded as ‘one of the main moulders of the modern world’, in the words of an eminent Western scholar A.L. Basham.

Although Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are legally and financially separate, they are closely inter-related in several ways and are regarded as twin organizations.

These twin organizations have set in motion a non-sectarian, universal spiritual movement which has been silently working for more than a hundred years to catalyze the spiritual regeneration of humanity.

The chief catalyst in this ongoing transformation is India’s ancient religious philosophy known as Vedanta. Although several other systems of philosophy arose in India at different times, they were confined to small groups. Vedanta alone has remained the dominant philosophy of India’s religious tradition from Vedic times to the present day. In modern times this ancient system of thought has been purified, unified and energized by Sri Ramakrishna, and expounded in the modern idiom by Swami Vivekananda and thus made available to all people all over the world without any distinctions of caste, creed or race.

The Ramakrishna Order does not believe in conversion, nor does it indulge in the occult or the sensational. The Order places utmost importance on personal spiritual unfoldment and selfless service. Inspired by the idea of the harmony of all faiths, its centres encourage adherents of different faiths to meet in a spirit of friendship and mutual appreciation, and to learn from one another without having to give up one’s own faith. In the words of Sri Ramakrishna: “God has made different religions to suit different aspirants, lives and countries … all doctrines are only so many paths; but a path is by no means God Himself. Indeed one can reach God if one follows any of the paths with whole-hearted devotion.”

MOTTO: The motto of the twin organizations is ATMANO MOKSHARTHAM JAGAD HITAYA CHA, “For one’s own salvation and for the welfare of the world”. It was formulated by Swami Vivekananda.

IDEALS: Work as worship, potential divinity of the soul, and harmony of religions are three of the noteworthy ideals on which these two organizations are based. It is this ideal of service to man as service to God that sustains the large number of hospitals, dispensaries, mobile medical units, schools, colleges, rural development centres and many other social service institutions run the twin organizations.

HEADQUARTERS: The headquarters of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission is situated at an area named Belur in the district of Howrah, West Bengal, India. The entire campus of the headquarters is popularly known as ‘Belur Math’. Sprawling over forty acres of land on the western bank of the river Hooghly (Ganga), the place is an hour’s drive from Kolkata.

Prior to shifting of the Math complex to the present site in 1979, the institution was functioning on the Market Street, adjoining the Mahaboob College in Secundrabad in a much smaller building from 1973. That building was handed over to the Belur Math in 1974 by a private body called the Ramakrishna Math, Begumpet, which lies to the north of the present Rajiv Gandhi Airport of Hyderabad.

That Math at Begumpet was built in 1922 by one Swami Yogeshwaranandaji, a disciple of Sri Ramachandra Datta who was a householder disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. On the demise of that Swamiji, a disciple of his carried on the work till 1932. When he, too, passed away, the conduct of the Math activities was entrusted to a Managing Committee of devotees and admirers who were prominent citizens of the twin cities. It had several successive Presidents and Secretaries.

The Ramakrishna Math at Begumpet and the Ramakrishna -Vivekananda Samiti on the Market Street, Secundrabad, run by another group of devotees, were amalgamated into one institution at the instance of the late Swami Yatiswaranandaji Maharaj, who had visited Hyderabad earlier and stayed in the Begumpet Math. He has left behind a number of disciples in the twin cities. It was, therefore, easy to get one institution affiliated to the Belur Math.

For about forty years, the Managing Committee was frequently requesting the Belur Math Trustees to have this institution taken under its protective wings. The years rolled on without success. Everything bides its own time! So, the time had arrived in 1973 to have this Hyderabad Center affiliated to Belur Math. Certain legal formalities took about a year.

In the meanwhile, the Market Street building was restructured to make it suitable for housing the affiliated Ramakrishna Math with some of its activities, which went on until 1979. By then the Monastic Quarters on the present site was ready to be occupied.

It took another two years to complete the construction of all the buildings in the Math complex, except the unit comprising the Book Sales Section, the Math Office, and the Ramakrishna Darshanam on the first floor, which came into existence much later. The present site, with an area of eight acres is quite extensive. It was given to the Math on lease for 99 years by the Government of Andhra Pradesh.