Swami Pradiptananda (Kartik Maharaj)
A monk of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha in Murshidabad who runs 21 schools and a hospital for tribal and rural communities, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
Swami Pradiptananda, widely known as Kartik Maharaj, heads branches of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha in West Bengal. In 2025 he was named for the Padma Shri, from West Bengal [1].
The Beldanga ashram
He was born on 1 January 1955 and came to the Beldanga ashram in Murshidabad district in 1982 [2]. He leads the Sangha’s Beldanga, Aurangabad and Pyradanga branches and is on its governing body [2].
Over the years the ashram has grown to include three schools, hostels for Scheduled Tribe students, an old-age home, a cowshed, a community hall and a playground [2]. He also gave land for a branch of the Anandalok charitable hospital group beside the ashram, offering treatment at nominal cost [2].
Schools and medical camps
Today he runs 21 schools with about 11,000 students from Scheduled Tribe and other communities, a 10-bed hospital and regular medical camps in remote villages of Murshidabad and Nadia [2]. About 1,000 people work under him [2].
He also teaches and speaks on Sanatan Dharma, and heads a body of Hindu monks, the Sanatan Sanskriti Sansad [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2025: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2025: citation for Swami Pradiptananda (Kartik Maharaj) — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
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