Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam

Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam is located about 10 miles north of Tiruchirapalli, on the banks of the river Cauvery in the state of Tamilnadu, India. Established in 1942, they operate a number of schools throughout Tamilnadu. Sri Ramakrishna, Tapovanam, Tirupparaitturai, Tiruchirappalli District is an institution working for the educational, spiritual, moral and cultural advancement of Tamilnadu. It has branches at Tiruvedakam, Chitrachavadi, Courtallam, Cheranmahadevi,Salem, Karur, Pannaikadu, Ramanathapuram, Rameswaram and Tirunelveli. It has been running successfully a residential High School on Gurukula pattern at Tiruppraitturai since 1942. The Tapovanam is also Managing a number of educational institutions at various levels for boys and girls not only at its branch centres but also in many other places in Tamilnadu.

From the nucleus of the Tapovanam have spread all over Tamil Nadu 14 branches which are dedicated service and spirituality ,as embodied in the lives and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda.

These branches of Tapovanam manage 40 schools and seven colleges besides a community college.
Among the seven colleges run by Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam , Sri Sarada College, Tirunelveli, was started in 1986 to later to the educational needs of the women of the southern district of Tamil Nadu. It is a self financing college originally affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University.

Since the creation of Manonmanium Sundaranar University in Tirunelveli in 1990, the college is affiliated to MANONMANIAM SUNDARANAR UNIVERSITY, ABISHEKAPATTI, TIRUNELVELI. Character building and cultures inculcation are the basis upon which the superstructure of modern education is raised here. The educational vision and mission of the college are reflected in the motto of the college . "The Harmonious Development of the hand, the heart and the head".

Swami Chidbhavananda

Swami Chidbhavananda was born in Senguttaipalayam near Pollachi in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, India. His parents named him 'Chinnu'. He studied in Stanes School, Coimbatore. He was one of the two Indians in his class, the rest being British. His parents wanted him to go to England after completing his degree in Presidency College, Chennai.
While making arrangements for his travel abroad, he came across a book about Swami Vivekananda's philosophy. The book had a profound impact on his mind. He started visiting Ramakrishna Math in Mylapore often and had discussions with Swamijis. Finally, he decided to become a sanyasi and went to Ramakrishna Mission in Belur, West Bengal. His guru was Swami Shivananda who was a direct disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

As per the wish and advice of Swami Sivananda, he returned to Tamil Nadu and established an Ashram near Ooty. In the late forties, he established the Ramakrishna Tapovanam in Tiruparaithurai, Tiruchi district. Since then, Tapovanam has established several educational institutions in Tamil Nadu and propagates the ideals of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda through religious and social activities such as book publishing.

Swami Chidbhavananda has authored more than a hundred books in Tamil and English. His books address a variety of topics ranging from deep philosophical enquiry to contemporary social life.
He has written a lot of dramas based on ancient Hindu scriptures that are performed by students. His commentary on the Gita in English and Tamil has been praised[citation needed]. He established Vivekananda College, Madurai, a Gurukula Institute of Life-training in 1971, the only college of its type in the whole of India. It has been reaccredited by NAAC with A Grade (CGPA 3.57 out of 4.00

C. Subramaniam, was his nephew. He died in 1985.

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