Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda was born in 1863 and was the chief disciple of Saint RamakishnaParamhansa. His inspiring character was well known both in India and in America & Europe. He was a towering personality who awakened the slumbering Indian consciousness and revived Hinduism in India. He is credited with raising interfaith awareness and bringing Hinduism to the status of world religion. The unknown monk of India rapidly leaped into fame at the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893. He represented Hinduism, spoke on Hindu religion, and left the audience spellbound. He commenced his speech with the immortal words “Sisters and brothers of America”. To these words, he got a standing ovation from a crowd of seven thousand, which lasted for two minutes.
He set up Ramakrishna Math and Institute. In his reminiscence, the Vivekananda Rock Memorial has been built on a rock in the sea at Kanyakumari, India.