Vivekananda Rock Memorial

About Vivekananda Rock Memorial: 

• It is located on a small island off Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu.
• The memorial stands on one of the two rocks located about 500 meters off the mainland of Vavathurai.
• The rock is surrounded by the Laccadive Sea, where the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea form a confluence.
• It was built in 1970 in honour of Swami Vivekananda, who is said to have attained enlightenment on the rock.
• It comprises of the 'Shripada Mandapam' and the 'Vivekananda Mandapam'.
• There is also a life-sized bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda on the premises.
• It is also a memorial for which all State Governments and the Central Government contributed.

Who was Swami Vivekananda?

• Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902), born Narendranath Datta, was a Hindu monkand one of the most celebrated spiritual leaders of India. 
• He was the foremost disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and a world spokesperson for Vedanta.
• He was hailed as a Dhyana Sidha, a meditation expert, by his guru, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa.
• He attempted to combine Indian spirituality with Western material progress, maintaining that the two supplemented and complemented one another. 
• He believed that the path to self-purification is through helping others. He encouraged people to engage in selfless service and to work towards the betterment of society.
• Through his teachings on the four yogas, the harmony of religions, the divinity of the soul, and serving humanity as God, Vivekananda gave spiritual aspirants paths to that realization.
• Vivekananda represented Hinduism at the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religionsconvened during the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
• After his first visit to the West, Swami Vivekananda went back to India and founded the Ramakrishna Order at Belur outside of Kolkata in 1897.