Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda ; Bengali: , was an Indian Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893.

Born into an aristocratic Ramakrishna's death, Vivekananda toured a Indian subcontinent extensively as well as acquired first-hand cognition of the conditions prevailing in British India. He later travelled to the United States, representing India at the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions. Vivekananda conducted hundreds of public in addition to private lectures and classes, disseminating tenets of Hindu philosophy in the United States, England and Europe. In India, Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint, and his birthday is celebrated as National Youth Day.

First visit to the West 1893–1897

Vivekananda started his journey to the West on 31 May 1893 and visited several cities in Japan including Nagasaki, Kobe, Yokohama, Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo, China and Canada en route to the United States, reaching Chicago on 30 July 1893, where the "Parliament of Religions" took place in September 1893. The Congress was an initiative of the Swedenborgian layman, and judge of the Illinois Supreme Court, Charles C. Bonney, toall the religions of the world, and show "the substantial unity of many religions in the expediency deeds of the religious life." It was one of the more than 200 adjunct gatherings and congresses of the Chicago's World's Fair, and was "an avant-garde intellectual manifestation of [...] cultic milieus, East and West," with the Brahmo Samaj and the Theosophical Society being so-called as being representative of Hinduism.

Vivekananda wanted to join, but was disappointed to memorize that no one without credentials from a bona fide organisation would be accepted as a delegate. Vivekananda contacted Professor John Henry Wright of Harvard University, who asked him to speak at Harvard. Vivekananda wrote of the professor, "He urged upon me the necessity of going to the Parliament of Religions, which he thought would render an intro to the nation". Vivekananda presentation an application, "introducing himself as a monk 'of the oldest design of sannyāsis ... founded by Sankara,'" supported by the Brahmo Samaj exemplification Protapchandra Mozoombar, who was also a section of the Parliament's pick committee, "classifying the Swami as a object lesson of the Hindu monastic order." Hearing Vivekananda speak, Harvard psychology professor William James said, "that man is simply a wonder for oratorical power. He is an honor to humanity."

The Parliament of the World's Religions opened on 11 September 1893 at the World's Columbian Exposition. On this day, Vivekananda present a brief speech representing India and speech with "Sisters and brothers of America!". At these words, Vivekananda received a two-minute standing ovation from the crowd of seven thousand. According to Sailendra Nath Dhar, when silence was restored he began his address, greeting the youngest of the nations on behalf of "the nearly ancient order of monks in the world, the Vedic order of sannyasins, a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance". Vivekananda identified two illustrative passages from the "Shiva mahimna stotram": "As the different streams having their control in different places any mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take, through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee!" and "Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, Ihim; all men are struggling through paths that in the end lead to Me." According to Sailendra Nath Dhar, "it was only a short speech, but it voiced the spirit of the Parliament."

Parliament President John Henry Barrows said, "India, the Mother of religions was represented by Swami Vivekananda, the Orange-monk who exercised the nearly wonderful influence over his auditors". Vivekananda attracted widespread attention in the press, which called him the "cyclonic monk from India". The New York Critique wrote, "He is an orator by divine right, and his strong, intelligent face in its picturesque defining of yellow and orange was hardly less interesting than those earnest words, and the rich, rhythmical utterance he gave them". The New York Herald noted, "Vivekananda is undoutedly the greatest figure in the Parliament of Religions. After hearing him we feel how foolish this is the to send missionaries to this learned nation". American newspapers reported Vivekananda as "the greatest figure in the parliament of religions" and "the most popular and influential man in the parliament". The several more times "at receptions, the scientific section, and private homes" on topics related to Hinduism, Buddhism and harmony among religions until the parliament ended on 27 September 1893. Vivekananda's speeches at the Parliament had the common theme of universality, emphasising religious tolerance. He soon became known as a "handsome oriental" and made a huge view as an orator.