A doyen in the field of philanthropy

THRISSUR: The news of the demise of Swami Sakrananda has cast a pall of gloom over the Puranattukara Sree Ramakrishnan Ashram. Despite the loss, the inmates of the ashram are hopeful that the contributions made by Swami in the fields of education and philanthropy  would always be remembered.Swami had spent over 47 years at the Puranattukara Ashram where he joined as a celibate in 1948. He pioneered many developmental activities in places, including Adat and Puranattukara, where a majority of the Dalits lived. “The Dalits of Adat and Puranattukara owe much to the Swami. He was conscious about the welfare of Dalits in the area,” Rajiv, who did a research on Sree Ramakrishna Ashram, said. The school belonging to the ashram, Sree Ramakrishna Vidyamandiram, has been providing free education and hostel facilities to the Dalit children in the state. Swami Sakrananda was the president of the ashram from 1971 to 1987. Later, he moved to Thiruvananthapuram where he established the Sree Ramakrishna Hospital. After returning to Thrissur in 1998, he became the president of the ashram again.During his tenure as ashram president, the school was upgraded to higher secondary.