Sri Ramakrishna Vidyashala - Leadership

Leadership

Vidyashala is administered by a Ramakrishna Math monk, or swami, designated as correspondent. Swami Satyeshananda is the current correspondent. He was preceded by Swami Muktidananda, who is now the Adhyaksha of Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Mysore. Vidyashala's academic sections are in the charge of a principal, S. Balaji. Swami Satyeshananda is a qualified doctor and is an alumnus of the institution. He had served at the Delhi centre of the Ramakrishna Mission before taking up the responsibility as the Correspondent of Vidyashala in 2011. Swami Satyeshananda is a lover of sports and games and himself takes part in them.

The former administrator, Swami Muktidananda took charge as correspondent in 1997. A trained botanist, Muktidananda established in 1998 "Nisarga Niketana," a thatched classroom resembling a traditional gurukul. He initiated a restoration of Vidyashala's aging main building, re-tiled the swimming pool, made several aesthetic additions to the campus, commissioned a new audiovisual theater, and led enhancements for Vidyashala's golden jubilee in 2003. In 2007, Muktidananda's compilations of Swami Achalananda's expositions on puja were published by the Mysore Ashrama as the 213-page book The Meaning and Significance of Worship.

Much of Vidyashala's reputation is attributed to the leadership of Swami Sureshananda ("Hari Maharaj"), correspondent for nearly two decades until 1990 when he succeeded Swami Somanathananda as president of Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Mysore. In that position Sureshananda built a public auditorium, renovated the Ashrama building, and construct two floors of quarters for monks. In the late 1990s Sureshananda moved into spiritual practice in Biligiriranga Hills.

Sureshananda helped Vidyashala's campus optimize productivity, increase its biodiversity and move toward self-sustainability. He planted and tended to coconut, arabica coffee, sapota, silver oak and elephant grass (Saccharum ravennae). Sureshananda never traveled out of Mysore without bringing back flora for Vidyashala. Sureshananda established a biogas facility attached to the dairy, an electric laundry, and biological, physical and chemical student-laboratories. Sureshananda took a special interest in Vidyashala's band troop. He was involved in Vidyashala's management even while his successor, the popular Swami Paratmananda ("Gangadhar Maharaj"), served as correspondent from 1990 until 1997.

On April 15, 2008, a 79-year-old Sureshananda had surgery for lower back pain at Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai. In early December 2009, Sureshananda was treated for a fracture in the upper right femur, at Basappa Memorial Hospital in Mysore.