Chicago to celebrate Swamiji’s 150th birth anniversary on a grand scale

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VSK TN
    
 
     

Chicago, January 1: Chicago
has decided to celebrate Swami Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary on
a grand scale. Chicago was the place where Swamiji got international
recognition for himself, for India’s Vedanta and Vedic spirituality and
for Hinduism with his maiden powerful “Sisters and Brothers of America”
speech at the World’s Parliament of Religions on that historic day –
September 11, 1893.
The 150th birth anniversary of
Vivekananda will be celebrated with major functions to be held at Sri
Ramakrishna Universal Temple in Homer Glen and at the nearby Hindu
Temple of Greater Chicago in Lemont.  Other official celebrations are
expected to be held at the Art Institute of Chicago and the University
of Chicago.

According to an Indian Embassy official
in Washington, the Consulate General of India in Chicago is coordinating
with all the institutions in the city with the support of the Indian
Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and India’s Ministry for Culture.

Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh-USA (HSS-USA)
has also chalked out an elaborate year-long celebration with a series of
programs involving children, the youth and the elderly. The theme of
the celebration is “Universal peace through Dharma and Yoga,” which is
the message of Swami Vivekananda.

The day-long program to be organized on
January 12, by Vivekananda Spiritual Center Committee at the Hindu
Temple of Greater Chicago in Gupta Hall/Rathi Auditorium, Lemont,
includes a group yoga conducted by Prasad Palacharla. On January 13, the
program starts with an invocation ceremony at 10:00 a.m., followed by
an inaugural speech by the Consul General of India, followed by speeches
by Swami Chidananda, Swami Jyotirmayananda, Cindy Visscher, Swamy
Varadananda, Dr. Indra Makhija, Amrish Mahajan and Bhima Reddy. There
will be a screening of a movie on Swami Vivekananda recently shot in
Chicago and a bhajan presentation by a group from South Bend, IN.

While the newly-built Sri Ramakrishna
Universal Temple of Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago in Homer
Glen, with its serene ashram-like ambience, plans to celebrate the 150th
birth anniversary with a commemorative Shiva nama Sankirtanam at 6:30
p.m. after Arati on January 12, 2013 (a bigger program will be held in
September), the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago complex, where the
imposing statue of Swami Vivekananda stands under a beautifully
decorated canopy and the newly constructed Vivekananda Spiritual Center
are located, will celebrate the event for two days — January 12 and 13 —
which coincide with the celebration of the Indian harvest festival of
Makara Sankranti or Pongal.

Besides commemorative Shiva nama
Sankirtanam on January 12, the month of September has been chosen for
the bigger celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Swami
Vivekananda for two reasons by Sri Ramakrishna Universal Temple in Homer
Glen.  It was on September 21, 2008, Sri Ramakrishna Universal Temple
was inaugurated, and it was on September 11, 1893 Swami Vivekananda
addressed the World’s Parliament of Religions. The important days for
celebrations in the temple will be September 8, 15, 22 and 29.

The other events being planned during
the yearlong celebration, include conferences to be addressed by
scholars and senior monks of the Ramakrishna Mission from around the
world; a mini-parliament of religions with participation of
 representatives from various faiths; a program in honor of Swami
Vivekananda at the Art Institute of Chicago; a bus tour of places
associated with Swami Vivekananda;  a lecture by Asim Chaudhuri, author
of “Swami Vivekananda in Chicago;” publication of a calendar featuring
photographs of Swami Vivekananda and information about his life; a
display on the people and places associated with Swami Vivekananda in
Chicago; a guide book with color photos of the places associated with
Swami Vivekananda in Chicago; and framing and installing panels on life
of Swami Vivekananda.

Swami Vivekananda was born on January
12, 1863 and his 150th birth anniversary is being celebrated in India
and all over the world on January 12, 2013. The government of India has
originally planned to celebrate the birth anniversary for a year and
launched it on January 12, 2012, but the celebration has been extended
for two years ending on January 12, 2014. The government has set up a
National Committee under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister Dr
Manmohan Singh and a National Implementation Committee under the
chairmanship of the Finance Minister P Chidambaram and released Rs. 100
crore to the Rama-Krishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission in Belur for
the celebration.

It also established in 2012 a new
visiting professorship in Indian studies with a gift of $1.5 million at
University of Chicago to commemorate the legacy of spiritual leaders
Swami Vivekananda.

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