Kalpataru Day also called Kalpataru Diwas or Kalpataru Utsav is an annual religious festival observed by monks of the Ramakrishna Math monastic order of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

and lay followers of the associated Ramakrishna Mission, as well as the worldwide Vedanta Societies. These organizations follow the teachings of Ramakrishna, the 19th century Indian mystic and figure in the Bengali Renaissance. The event commemorates the day on 1 January 1886, when his followers believe that Ramakrishna revealed himself to be an

Avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...

, or God

incarnate Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...

on earth. It is held each 1 January. Although the observances are held in many locations, the most significant celebration takes place at Kashipur Garden House or Udyanbati near

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

(then called Calcutta), present Ramakrishna Math, a branch of Ramakrishna Order, the place where Ramakrishna spent the last days of his life. The day was named as Kalpataru Day by Ramakrishna's disciple Ramachandra Dutta. This event carried meanings and memories of cosmic import for the disciples and also prepared them for Ramakrishna's death, which occurred only a few months later, on 16 August 1886.

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Kalpataru Day (1 Jan) Celebrations
{{Bengali Hindu people Ramakrishna Mission New Year celebrations Vedanta January observances