Inauguration of Sister Nivedita -150th Birth Anniversary Celebrations

Inauguration of the year long 150th  Birth Anniversary celebration of Sister Nivedita  began with the inaugural programme at Paramekkavu  auditorium, Thrissur on Friday, October 28th.
 

The Programme started sharp at 4p.m with a Bhajan session conducted by the Bhaktamahila Trust of Thrissur. A good number of devotees were already in the auditorium to listen to the melody of bhajans invoking the Holy Trinity.  

At 5p.m the main programme started with Mangalacharan by Sushree Sutapa followed by the  welcome speech by Dr Lakshmi Sankar,General Convenor of (the organising committee) Samarpanam. She gave a brief introduction to the yearlong  programmes in connections with Sister Nivedita's 150th Birth Anniversary and introduced the guests on the dais. 

Mananeeya Lakshmi Didi,Chairperson of Samarpan, spoke on Sister Nivedita's shraddha for her Guru and how she absorbed the spirit of Bharat through her association with her Guru. The opening group song and a short speech on Sister Nivedita were the contributions of  the senior students of Harishree School,Thrissur. Deepa prajwalan was by the Chief Guest, Retd. Justice. Smt. K.K. Usha (Former Chief Justice, High Court of Kerala). In her inaugural address, Justice Usha spoke on the dedication and total surrender of Sister to her Guru's instruction. The keynote address was given by Prof.Dr. Prameela Devi, Member-Women’s Commission.on the need of  'Nivedita ' in this era of utter confusion and anarchy. Apart from the main speakers, Revered Swami Mokshavratanandaji - President of Sri Ramakrishna Math Thiruvananthapuram blessed the audience and Rev. Swami Sadbhavanandaji President Ramakrishna Math, Thrissur released a book on Sister Nivedita in Malayalam, translated by Smt. Vinila Vijay from the English version of Smt. Sarala Bala Sarkar  entitled "Nivedita As I Saw Her".  Sri Terambil Ramakrishnan (Ex-MLA) and Smt. Padma Devy received the copies of the books.

The most interesting part of the  programme was Rev. Swami Nadatmajanandaji's  (Editor of Prabuddha Keralam) 'Vanichitrapuja' or sketching of Sister Nivedita on the tune of a poem on Sister composed by Sri Dilip - a member of Vivekananda Darshanika Samajam and sung by a Master. Ananta Narayan from Ramakrishna Mission High School. The vote of thanks was given by Smt Beena Govind, a member of Samarpanam. The programme ended at 7p.m.with the chanting of 'Asatoma Satgamaya'.



More than three hundred people attended the programme. Each received a copy of  a booklet on Sister Nivedita and prasad. 

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