A monk performs rituals at the Ramakrishna Mission world headquarters at Belur in Howrah district on Christmas Eve on Friday. Across all centres of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, the evening is marked by carol singing, candle lighting, prayers and offering of cakes. After Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa attained ‘mahasamadhi’ in 1886, Swami Vivekananda (at that time Narendranath) and some of his monastic brothers had gathered at Antpur in Hooghly district in December the same year. One night, Swamiji sat with his brothers before a fire the whole night and exhorted them to take ‘sannyasa’ in the tradition of great renunciates. In the morning they came to know it was Christmas Eve. Eventually, they took ‘sannyasa’, and the organisation was formed. In remembrance of that great beginning, Christmas Eve is treated as a sacred day by the monks and devotees of Ramakrishna Sangha
Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math
