Swami Ranganathananda Maharaj

December 15, 2008

Swami Ranganathananda Maharaj

A commemorative postage stamp on the Birth Centenary of Swami Ranganathananda, 13^th President of Ramakrishna Math and Mission :

Issued by India

Issued on Dec 15, 2008

Issued for : India Post is happy to issue commemorative postage stamp on Swami Ranganathanada Maharaj.

Credits :
Stamp & FDC, Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi color

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.4 Million

Printing Process : wet-offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

Name : Swami Ranganathananda (Birth Name : Shankaran Kutty)

Born on Dec 15, 1908 at Thrissur, Kerala, India

Died on Apr 25, 2005 at Belur Math, near Kolkata, India

About :

From 1973 to 1986 Maharaj undertook annual tours to the US, Europe and Australia spreading the message of Vedanta and Ramakrishna–Vivekananda. Never confined within the limits of race, language or nation, his consciousness was always international and universal. He was proficient in several languages.
Following the policy that Swami Vivekananda laid down for the Order, Swami Ranganathanandaji always remained a political. He worked for national integration at all levels, bringing politicians and administrators, industrialists and technocrats, educationists and students, scientists and professionals, doctors and lawyers, businessmen and workers, and even children to believe in their country, to stop exploitation of every kind, and to work for the amelioration of the poor and the downtrodden.
Swami Ranganathanandaji was a constant traveller and an unrelenting karma yogi in appreciation of his noble contribution as an integrator of humanity, he was honoured in 1985 with the first Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration.
Swami Ranganathanandaji was elected a trustee of the Ramakrishna Math and a member of the governing body of the Ramakrishna Mission in 1961. On 1 April 1989 he was elected a Vice President, and on 7 September 1998 he became President of the Order. From 1998 onwards he lived at Belur Math.
All through his life, in addition to meeting his demanding schedule of travelling, lecturing, meeting people and attending to the details of administration, Maharaj found time to read and write extensively. He was a voracious reader and kept up the habit of serious study till the end of his life. All his talks and writings bear the stamp of deep thinking and scholarship. He was deeply involved with the welfare of the weaker sections of society and women, and actively helped in their uplift. He was also greatly concerned about the need for conscientious political leadership.
A large number of Swami Ranganathanandaji‘s lectures have been published in book form, notable among which are : The Message of the Upanishads, Universal Message of the Bhagavad Gita (three volumes), The Central Theme of Srimad Bhagavatam, The Message of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Eternal Values for a Changing Society (four volumes), A Pilgrim Looks at the World (two volumes), Vedanta and the Future of Mankind, Social Responsibilities of Public Administrators, Enlightened Citizenship and Our Democracy and Spiritual Life of the Householder.
Swami Ranganathanandaji passed away on 25^th August 2005 at the age of Ninety six.
Text : Based on material given by the proponent.