Swami Vivekananda is the patriot saint of Modern India, whose 150th Birth Day is being celebrated throughout the year all over the world. The great Swamiji was no narrow sectarian and his teachings will appeal equally to all persons who value truth for its own sake irrespective of their religious denomination. Swami Vivekananda belongs to West Bengal especially to Kolkata, but he does not belong to West Bengal alone, he belongs to the world. It is considered that Swamiji is the country's spiritual Ambassador. So there is no wonder that such a great person's 150th birth day is celebrated throughout the year and throughout the world. International School of Dravidian Linguistics has decided to celebrate Swamiji's 150th birth day. By collaborating ISDL's Bengali Unit, ISDL conducted two days' Seminar. This seminar was inaugurated by Sri. M.K. Narayanan, Swami Hon'ble Governor of West Bengal. Tattwarupananda, Adhyaksha, Sri Ramakrishna Asramam, Thiruvananthapuram participated in the valedictory function by delivering his blessings speech.
The Hon'ble Governor expressed his happiness to inaugurate the seminar on Swami Vivekananda at ISDL, Thiruvananthapuram. He praised the works done by DLA and ISDL. He spoke about the connection of DLA with West Bengal dating back to 1972 through Professor Suniti Kumar Chatterji, a top Linguist and the First President of DLA Conference in whose name a chair was started in DLA. Further he mentioned that ISDL receives an annual grant from the Government of West Bengal and has published some important research works utilizing those grants.
Next he spoke about Swami Vivekananda's relationship with South India in general and Kerala in particular. He mentioned that some scholars even claim that Swami Vivekananda gained enlightenment by his visit and discussions with scholars in Kerala, especially with Chattambi Swamikal. He refers to Swami's first reply to the address of the people of Madras, after the successful America Sojourn where Swamiji valorizes the contribution of South India in the building up of Indian Culture.
Finally the Hon'ble Governor expressed his conviction that the two day symposium will bring out many new facts of the work and impact of Swami Vivekananda.
Swami Tattwarupananda in the valedictory session made an enlightening and lengthy speech. Swamiji began with a reference to the first public meeting convened by the Raja Ramnad, Tamil Nadu and Swami Vivekananda's reply to that address of welcome. That reply testifies to Swamiji's gratitude towards Raja of Ramnad in particular and towards South Indian in general. He also referred to the efforts of Sri Alasing Perumal right from collecting the passage money to Chicago. After this Swami briefly discussed the life and preaching of Swami Vivekananda with many references to his speeches and written works and tried to establish the greatness of Swami Vivekananda.
A three day National Seminar was conducted in the of Dravidian School International Linguistics, Menamkulam, Thiruvananthapuram in connection with the 150th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.
The seminar was formally inaugurated by His Excellency Sri M.K Narayanan, Governor of West Bengal on 13th May 2013. His Excellency also unveiled a bust of Swami Vivekananda at Ravindra Bhavan. Hon. Minister for Culture, Government of Kerala, Sri K.C. Joseph presided over the function. Hon. Professor Dr. Puthusseri Ramachandran welcomed the guests. The chief guests were honored with shawls and mementos. Prof. M. Rama, Hon. Director of ISDL, proposed vote of thanks and Sri A. Shajahan IAS, Director, DPI felicitated the meeting.
The first session was chaired by Hon. Professor Dr. Puthusseri Ramachandran, who delivered the Presidential Address. Prof. Mahidas Bhattacharya of Jadavpur University, Kolkata delivered the keynote address. Around twenty papers on the life and works of Swami Vivekananda were presented in the following two days.
A book was released by Sri Vasudevan IAS (Retd.) on the last day of the seminar. The valedictory function commenced at 2p.m. on 15th May 2013. Prof. Dr. Karunasindhu Das presided over the function. Prof. M. Rama, Hon. Director of ISDL, welcomed the gathering. Sri C. Vasudevan IAS (Retd.) delivered the valedictory address. Swami Tattwarupananda delivered his speech of blessings. Dr. Usha S. reported the sum and substance of the seminar and Mr. Sourav Chakraborty proposed a formal vote of thanks.
The present volume is a collection of the papers presented in this seminar. Soon after the seminar, Prof. M. Rama, Hon. Director of ISDL, wanted me to collect the papers and edit the material for publication. I followed his instruction and did as much was possible for me. Swami Vivekananda needs no introduction and hence, I resist the temptation of writing a few introductory sentences about him. Veteran and distinguished scholars have quite adequately analyzed the life and works of Swami Vivekananda in the following pages. I have not tried to apply my own analysis on their views. Hence, the views and opinions expressed by the scholars are absolutely their own.
I am thankful to all the contributors for their kind and enthusiastic cooperation. I express my gratitude and thanks especially to Prof. M. Rama, Hon. Director of ISDL for giving me a chance to edit the material. I also thank all the academic and administrative staffs of ISDL namely, Mrs V. Sova, Mrs. R.B Bindu, Mr. Harikumar Basi, Mr. Hari V.S., Mrs Shalini for their help. I am grateful to Dr. Syamala Sasidharan for checking the entire manuscript. I am also grateful to Mr. Dhrubajyoti Das for his academic and technical assistance. I submit the volume to the world of scholarship with honesty.
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