Ramnam Bank (), also written as Ram Naam Bank, is a repository institution of Ramnam handwritten booklets. It is a spiritual bank that keeps deposits of Ramnams booklets written by devotees of Lord Rama.
Ramnam Bank is related to the tradition of Ramanama bhakti in Hinduism.
Etymology
Ramnam is combined Indic word having two terms Rama and Naam. The term Rama is the name of an avatar of Lord Vishnu in Hinduism. Similarly, the term Naam means name. Thus the meaning of the combined term Ramnam is name of Lord Rama. A general meaning of the term bank is a place or location where something is deposited. Thus the literal meaning of the Ramnam Bank is a bank of Lord Rama's name.
Concept and functioning
Unlike conventional banks that deal with monetary transactions, Ramnam Banks facilitate the deposit of booklets filled with the repeated writing of "Ram" or "Sita Ram." Anyone willing to write the Lord Rama's name can open an account without any monetary deposit. The bank provides booklets and sometimes red ink and a wooden pen.
The booklet is also known as the passbook of the Ramnam Bank. The name of Lord Rama is written only 108 times on each page of the passbook. The name of Lord Rama is considered as the currency of the bank.
Some devotees come to Ramnam Bank with different wishes. The Ramnam Bank also provides the facility of loan of the
Ramnams. After the fulfillment of the wishes, the borrower devotees have to return the loan of Ramnams with some interest. If a devotee takes a loan of one lakh Ramnams, then that devotee has to return minimum one and a half lakh Ramnams to the bank written on booklets or electronically.
Apart from writing repeated Ramnams on a booklet, some devotees also make artistic images of different deities by using Ramnams.
Locations
In the Indian subcontinent, there are several locations where Ramnam Banks have been established. The Ramnam Bank located in the city of
Prayagraj is a major location. Every year during the
Magh Mela, a camp office of this bank opens at the
Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj.
It has inspired the Hindus of Indian origin living in
Europe and
Americas to open branches of the Ramnam Bank in their respective countries.
Similarly, the Ramnam Bank at the
Gautam Ashram in the Mithila region of
Bihar is other major location. The Ramnam Bank of the Gautam Ashram is a pillar shaped approximately 27 feet high. It was established in the year 1967.
In the city of Varanasi, the Ramnam Bank is 98 years old. It is called here as Ram Ramapati Bank. It is run by Ashish Mehrotra.
In the city of Agra, a Ramnam Bank is being operated by Agra Pataka Seva Sansthan since the year 2000. It is connected to the Ramnam Bank located at Bichuna in Jaipur of Rajasthan.
History
The concept of the Ramnam Bank is old, with some banks tracing their history back to the 1870s. The Ramnam Bank of Prayagraj was established in 1870. It was founded by the ancestors of Ashutosh Varshney. The bank is presently managed by Ashutosh Varshney.
According to him, earlier our ancestors used to write the name of
Rama on
Betula utilis. Later, the name of Lord Rama was written on ledgers or papers.
