KOLKATA INDIA, June 18, 2017 (Times of India): Swami Atmasthananda Maharaj, 99, president of the Belur-headquartered Ramkrishna Math and Mission, also believed to have initiated Prime Minister Narendra Modi into politics, died of age-related ailments in Kolkata’s Ramkrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan on Sunday evening. The monk had been in the hospital since February 2015 due to health issues. He had been on ventilation since Saturday night after a sharp decline in his condition.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited the ailing Maharaj hours before his death, later condoled the passing away of the revered monk. “Saddened that Rev Swami Atmasthanandaji, president, Ramkrishna Math & Mission passed away today at Seva Pratishthan. I paid my last visit to him this afternoon, A life of outstanding social & religious service. This is an irreparable loss to mankind,” Mamata Banerjee said. Born on May 10, 1919 at Sabajpur, near Dhaka in the then undivided Bengal, the Swami received spiritual initiation in 1938 from Swami Vijnananda, a disciple of Ramkrishna. He joined the Ramkrishna Order at Belur at the age of 22.