Nirmalananda, born as Tulasi Charan Dutta in Calcutta, was a direct disciple of Ramakrishna, the 19th century mystic and Hindu saint from India, and took Sanyasa (monastic vows) from Vivekananda along with Brahmananda and others. He was initiated by SriRamakrishna, on which fact a few latter day antagonists tried to cast doubt in the Bangalore Court but into which question the Court refused to get into. Nirmalananda played a key role in establishing Ramakrishna Math and Mission chiefly in South India, in Kerala and Bangalore and Tamil Nadu and also in USA (in Brooklyn), Burma and Bangladesh (Life of Swami Nirmalananda and old issues of Prabuddha Bharata)