The Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute (RKMVERI), commonly referred to as Vivekananda University, is a deemed-to-be university in India established and managed by the Ramakrishna Mission. The institute was founded as a tribute to Swami Vivekananda and aims to develop educational programmes guided by the ideals of Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna, integrating values-based education with academic and professional training.
| Type | Deemed-to-be university |
|---|---|
| Sponsoring body | Ramakrishna Mission |
| Headquarters | Belur Math, Howrah, West Bengal, India |
| Inspiration | Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda |
| Country | India |
The Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1897, has long been involved in educational and humanitarian work in India. RKMVERI was conceived as a higher-education extension of this work, designed to combine academic disciplines with the Mission's emphasis on character formation, service, and the integration of Indian and modern knowledge traditions. The university operates from a headquarters at Belur Math, the spiritual and administrative centre of the Ramakrishna Order, with additional academic centres located at other Mission campuses.
RKMVERI follows a multi-campus model, with each campus hosting a particular faculty or set of disciplines. The major academic divisions include:
The institute combines conventional academic study with a residential, monastically-influenced ethos drawn from the Ramakrishna Mission. Programmes range across humanities, sciences, professional disciplines, and applied vocational areas, often with a focus on rural and underprivileged communities, persons with disabilities, and the dissemination of Indian heritage and philosophy. Many programmes are designed with a strong field-based or service-oriented component.
RKMVERI is among the few Indian universities that explicitly draw their pedagogical framework from the teachings of Swami Vivekananda. It is significant for institutionalising areas such as disability management, integrated rural development, and the formal academic study of Indian spiritual heritage within a unified university structure. As an arm of the Ramakrishna Mission, it links higher education directly to the Mission's century-long tradition of social service and educational outreach in India.