Inception The Ramakrishna Mission was started by Swami Vivekananda in May 1897 shortly after his return from the west. Ramakrishna Mission is a registered charitable society serving every one for- ‘One’s own liberation and for the welfare of the world at large’. It serves humanity in all possible fields irrespective of caste, creed or colour. Imbibed with the ideal- ‘Service to man is service to God’ as propounded by Swami Vivekananda, the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Sargachi, was started by Swami Akhandanandaji Maharaj, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Deva. He was imbued with untold compassion to rescue the famine distorted rural locality of Murshidabad, on 15th May 1897 by distributing rice among the famine-stricken people at Mahula, the birth place of the Ashrama, about 3kms south of Sargachi. The present site was taken over in March 1913 after 2 years of its existence at Mahula and 14 years at Shibnagar. The Ashrama is proud of being the first branch center of the Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, Howrah and has completed its centenary in 1997.
	First Ashrama at Mahula During the course of the relief operations, Swami Ahandananda picked up two helpless boys who were cut off from parents and were on the verge of sure death. Thus, the foundation of an orphanage of Sargachi Ashrama was laid by Swami Akhandanandaji Maharaj and started an orphanage at a temporary residence (thatched hut) at a village named Mahula, on the 31st of August 1897. Gangadhar Maharaj (as the Swami was fondly known) lived there for two years. It was the first Ashrama in our Ramakrishna order.  Swami Akhandanandaji Maharaj was an embodiment of the ideal of service to god in the poor and the afflicted – an ideal he inherited from both Sri Ramakrishna and Vivekananda.  Swami Akhandananda - a saint – a wondering monk – a patriots – a enthralling story teller – a writer with a facile pen, but above all, - a lover of man – one that “sees” God in every human form and worship Him by loving service.
Second Ashrama at Shibnagar When the relief operation in Mahula was over, Swami Akhandanandaji Maharaj decided to open a permanent orphanage. Madhusundari Barman, a rich landowner, was impressed with Akhandanandaji’s work, so she donated one and half acres of land to him for the Ashrama, and offered him her office building in Shivnagar near Sargachi in 1899. Tthe Ashrama continued its service from here for 14 years. Swami Akhandananda had started a lower-primary school and a night school in order to educate those who could not attend the school in the Ashrama premises in the year 1900. An industrial school with weaving, sewing and carpentary sections also functioned for several years.
	Present Ashrama at Sargachi As the Ashrama kept on expanding, Swami Akhandanandaji Maharaj felt that the Ashrama at Shivnagar was not sufficien. He, therefore, bought about thirteen acres of land from Hajis Maharam Ali and Abdul Aziz in Sargachi village along the Krishnanagar-Berhampore Road. The Ashrama was permanently shifted to its present site at Sargachi village in March 1913. The adjacent plots were purchased in August 1912 and the present main building of the Ashrama was built in 1918. Swami Akhandanandaji Maharaj was a silent and unpretentious worker, so without carrying for the city’s fanfare, he continued to worship his living gods in the remote village. It was he who sowed the seed for the relief works of Ramakrishna Mission which is now famous all around the globe. His unremitting labour of 40 long years (1897-1937) hard tapas and extensive service activities turned this unknown, remote village of Sargachi into a true pilgrimage in the Ramakrishna empire. It was the first institution through which the mission sought to illustrate the teaching of Sri Ramakrishna: ‘worship man as god’. This is the continuing story of the Sargachi Ashrama.

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