The first American statue of Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), the Hindu monk who introduced Hinduism to the West, will be installed at 4:00 PM on Sunday, July 12, 1998 at the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago in Lemont, Illinois. The statue is a gift from the Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago, a branch of the Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission.
Thousands are expected to attend this historic event.
        The statue will be installed on "Vivekananda Hill", a hillock in the Temple compound, which overlooks the main entrance. The Vice-President of the Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission,
Swami Atmasthananda, is scheduled to perform the dedication.
        The 10-foot, 2-inch, bronze image of Swami Vivekananda in a standing pose was sculpted by the well-known Calcutta sculptors, G. Paul & Sons. The statue is modeled after a photograph of the swami taken in Chicago after his appearance at the World's Parliament of Religions in 1893.
        Believed to be the first Hindu monk to come to the West, Swami Vivekananda's maiden speech at the Parliament of Religions made history.
On the opening day of the Parliament, September 11, 1893, he addressed his Chicago audience as "Sisters and Brothers of America" and received a standing ovation that literally catapulted him from obscurity to overnight fame. His subsequent orations at the Parliament formally introduced Hinduism to America.
        After the Parliament, Swami Vivekananda toured America and England, teaching extensively and attracting numerous followers.
Vivekananda wrote what were probably the first books on Yoga in the West�KarmaYoga was published in America in 1896, and Raja Yoga was published later that year in England. Both are Yoga classics.
In 1896, he was offered the Chair of Eastern Philosophy at
Harvard University but declined.
        Because of his well-publicized success inAmerica, he received a triumphal reception, unprecedented for a monk, when he returned to India in 1897. He immediately established the Ramakrishna Math. a monastic order named after his teacher, Sri.
Ramakrishna, and the Ramakrishna Mission a social services organization. The Mission, which is operated by the monastic order, is probably the best known relief organization in India. It runs hospitals, schools and orphanages, and it provides help in times of natural disasters. The Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission have over 135 centers worldwide, with more than a dozen in the United States.
            Swami Vivekananda's lectures and letters were widely circulated and greatly uplifted the Indian people. He inspired many
of the future leaders of the Indian Freedom Movement, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawharlal Nehru, and Subhash Chandra Bose. In
tribute, Mahatma Gandhi has said of him, "I have gone through his works very carefully and after having gone through them, the love I had for my country became a thousand-fold."
        Swami Vivekananda took the ancient teachings of Vedanta, the philosophy derived from the Vedas and Upanishads, and made them applicable to modern life. He said, "Strength, strength is
what the Upanishads speak: to me from every page. This is the
one great thing to remember, it has been the one great lesson I have been taught in my life; strength it says, strength, oh man, be not weak."
        He also said, "India will be raised, not with the power of the flesh, but with the power of the spirit; not with the flag of destruction, but with the flag of peace and love."
        Swami Vivekananda's important contributions have been recognized by both America and India. During America's bicentennial celebrations in 1976, The National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution included Swami Vivekananda among the 29 eminent foreign visitors described in its book, Abroad In America.
        On September 11, 1995, the Art Institute of Chicago, which was the site of the Parliament of Religions, put up a bronze plaque to commemorate SwamiVivekananda's historic address in that building.
The plaque reads in part, "His unprecedented success (at the
Parliament) opened the way for the dialogue between Eastern and Western religions."
        On November 11, 1995 a section of Michigan Avenue, one of the most prominent streets in Chicago, was formally renamed "Swami Vivekananda Way."
        In India every school child knows of Swami Vivekananda's success at Chicago's Parliament of Religions. His birthday, January 12, is celebrated as National Youth Day throughout the
country.
        At Kanya Kumari, the southernmost tip of India where the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the Pacific Ocean merge, a temple and statue of Swami Vivekananda have been erected on
"Vivekananda Rock". Over one million Indians contributed to
the project.
        Swami Chidananda, the head of the Vivekananda Vedanta Society which donated the statue, has said, "In India his master, Sri Ramakrishna, had long before prophesied that Naren (Swami
Vivekananda) would teach others, but it was the Americans
who recognized his worth and gave him to the world."

Contact (773) 363-0027
Swami Varadananda
Vivekananda Vedanta Society
5423 S. Hyde Park Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60615