The Ramakrishna Math and Mission will set up a permanent centre in Puducherry, where it now runs a sub-centre from a small house.
The new centre will come up on a 7.5-acre plot on the fringes of the city.
“The formalities of acquiring the land, in three tranches, have been completed and a design has been finalised. Construction will start in April,” said a monk of the order.
“Swami Vivekananda had a dream of setting up a centre in every district of the country. While that may not have happened till now, with the Puducherry centre we hope to complete a part of his dream of having a math in all states and Union Territories,” Swami Suvirananda, general secretary of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, told The Telegraph.
“Except for Mizoram and Nagaland, we will now have centres throughout the country, in keeping with Swamiji’s wishes.”
Senior monks of the order said Puducherry had always been significant for its connection with Swami Vivekananda. On his way to Madras from Kanyakumari, Swami Vivekananda had stopped at Puducherry for a few days in 1893, just a few months before embarking on his historic voyage to the US.
The centre will have a temple, a community hall, monks’ quarters and several other facilities, including a dedicated space for community development programmes, senior monks said.
The order has been collecting funds for the Puducherry centre for over a year, they said.
The Ramakrishna Math and Mission has also decided to set up a Sanskrit Centre in Viluppuram in Tamil Nadu.
“The Sanskrit Centre will come up on a plot of nearly 25 acres and be dedicated to making this ancient Indian language more acceptable and attractive to all,” Swami Suvirananda said.
