EXPANSION
His prophetic words have had their rare effect, for immediately in the wake of his visit there was a spate of activities emanating benign influence over the Batticaloa Centre.
In 1935 a residential section for the paying students of Shivananda Vidyalaya was started. The hostel buildings were named “Kamalalayam”. A temporary structure named “Chitrakoodam” became the residence of the monastic staff. Later when “Shivapuri” was built, Chitrakoodam was converted into a dining hall. The unique and most unparalleled characteristic of the Shivananda Hostel was its catholicity. Students of all religious denominations found a place there, and what is more were encouraged to practise their respective faiths in their traditional way. While common assemblies, common prayers and universal religious observances were part of the day’s routine, time and space were always allotted to the religious observances of the non-Hindu hostellers. Today there are several Muslim brothers who speak of their Shivananda Hostel days with gratitudMORE SCHOOLS
1936 marked the centenary of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna’s birth. A spate of activities marked the occasion. New schools such as Hindu Tamil School Kokkotichcholai; Anaipanthy Vivekananda Girls’ School; Ramakrishna Vidyalaya, Kalmunai were opened. A Home (Orphanage) for Girls at Karaitivu and a new Hall for the Ramakrishna Vidyalaya, Karaitivu were opened on 31st January 1937. A Science Laboratory for Shivananda Vidyalaya was opened on the 7th February 1937e and satisfaction.
A shrine room dedicated to Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna was built in the Boys’ Home compound at Kallady - Uppodai . The temporary roof of the Students’ Home was replaced with tiles.
TRAINING IMPARTED AT THE HOME
A rural reconstruction centre was started by Swami Kedareswarananda forming a part of the Students’ Home which took up activities like cleaning up the nearby villages, temple compounds and the inmates were given practical training in animal husbandry. Emphasis was placed on the dignity of labour and self help by the training given in the Home. A very striking feature of the Home was that the responsibility of managing the day to day activities was placed in the hands of the inmates with the guidance from the Swamis. The inmates performed various duties like cleaning the toilets, sweeping the premises, washing clothes, making garlands, performing the daily worship in the Shrine, attending on the sick inmates, preparing and serving food, scrubbing and cleaning the kitchen, purchasing provisions and vegetables in the market, tending the flower garden, organizing and conducting meetings on special occasions and festivals. This training is intended to inculcate in the individual such rare and desirable qualities of self-help, altruistic service to humanity, initiative, self-effort, self respect and detached endeavours. Thus the inmates are provided an all round training so that they can face life boldly.
Towards mid 1937, Swami Vipulananda accompanied by Swami Kedareswarananda undertook the pilgrimage to Mount Kailash.
In September 1939, Swami Vipulananda, the founder, the first warden and Swami-in-Charge of the Batticaloa Centre, left for Mayavathi to accept the Editorship of the Prabuddha Bharatha. He was succeeded by Swami Nishkamananda .
It was Swami Nishkamananda’s lot to consolidate and put into prim and proper shape the progress made so far vis-à-vis the Ashrama, the Schools, the Homes (Orphanages) and the Shivananda Hostel. A long felt need of the Home and the School Hostel was fulfilled with the installation of an electric plant and radio capable of receiving all important broadcasts of the world.
Acharya Mandir – the residence of the Principal of Shivananda Vidyalaya was built in the year 1941.
The visit of Swami Madhavananda, the General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, to the Batticaloa Centre in May 1940 was a source of great encouragement and lot of enthusiasm was generated.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
The temporary roof of Sarada Bhawan, the dining hall, was replaced by a permanent one.
On the initiative and interest taken by Swami Nishkamananda a religious cum cultural society called the Thiruthondar Kalagam was formed. The members were young men.They .were encouraged to engage themselves actively in observing the Birthdays of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna, the Holy Mother, Swamiji, National Leaders and leading personalities in the religious, cultural and literary fields. Public awareness of the activities of the Ashrama and the Homes was cultivated by the door to door collection of rice. The devotees of Thamaraikerni and Pioneer Road played a very significant role in this exercise.
A handmade paper making centre was started as an industrial section of the Students’ Home at Kallady-Uppodai. A good quantity of hand made paper was produced by the centre. The process of paper making was demonstrated by the students at the Kalmunai Harvest Exhibition in 1941. The cover page of the 1941 Annual Report of the Ramakrishna Mission, Shivananda Vidyalaya and the Students’ Home was printed on the paper produced in the Home in 1941.
Swami Siddhatmananda succeeded Swami Asangananda as Vice-President of the Ramakrishna Mission(Ceylon Branch) and the Swami-in-Charge of the Colombo Centre in July 1941.