Vivekananda Ratha yatra
A chariot of Swami Vivekananda
On the occasion of the 150th Birth Anniversary, a Ratha Yatra of Swami Vivekananda is taken up by the RamakrishnaMission.
A Ratham carrying beautiful idols of Swami Vivekananda is prepared and it is travelling all through Andhra Pradesh. Along with Ratham, a vehicle carrying an exhibition on Swami Vivekananda, a vehicle carrying a book stall of the literature of Swami Vivekananda also took part in the yatra.
On the 4 of October, 2012 the Ratham arrived at Bapatla. Various programmes were arranged on this occasion. Revered Swami SwasamvedyanandajiMaharaj, RamakrishnaMission, Vijayawada, Revered Swami Raghunayakanandaji Maharaj, Ramakrishna Math,Hyderabad, Brahmachari Uddhav Chaitanya Maharaj, Brahmachari Santhosh Maharaj participated in all the events.
The day’s programme started at 8:45 am with procession through the Bapatla town from Municipal office to our Samithi in Vijayalakshmipuram. The procession proceeded with Mangala Vadyam and a running commentary by Dr. Narayanam Seshu Babu. The Municipal Commissioner Sri M.Rama Rao inaugurated and participated in the procession. Several important persons of the town participated.
At 11:00 am there was a lecture meeting in the local Agricultural Engineering College.
At 2:00 pm, a meeting was held for the local school children in the Rotary Kalyanamandapam which was attended by 1000 children. The programme concluded with a playlet on the life of Swami Vivekananda by Sri Tangirala Raghava Sarma and party of Hyderabad which was well received by children.
At 5:00 pm, a meeting was held in the local Bapatla Women’s Engineering college.
At 7:00 pm, a public meeting was held at Kona Prabhakara Rao Kalakshetram, which was attended by a large audience. The public meeting endedwith an excellent Burra Katha on the life of Swamiji by Sri Gorrela Ramu and party of East Godavari district.
All through the day the Ratham was well received all over the town with children and college students constantly flocking it. Dr. KVS Acharya, Dr. PV Ramkumar, Sri Gopalam Ravindra Babu actively participated in the day’s programmes.
