KOLKATA, April 13: The first statue of philospher monk Swami Vivekananda has been installed in a public square in Seattle, US.
It was unveiled by Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and India’s Consul General Prakash Gupta.
The statue has been installed at the junction of Westlake Avenue, 6th Avenue and Stewart Street.
Swami Bodhswaranandaji, one of the Assistant General Secretaries of Ramakrihsna Math and Mission, said “We are happy to announce that Seattle has now a distinctive honour and a historic one to have the first statue of Swami Vivekananda in a public square. The almost life size statue was unveiled in the presence of the Mayor of Seattle Katie Wilson along with the monks of the Vedanta Society of Western Washington, Seattle and the leaders of other religious, social and cultural organisations.
“This monument is a gift from India, specially, the Indian Council of Cultural Relations on their 77th foundation day, to Seattle.The main thrust behind the work is the Consulate General of India, Seattle, Prakash Gupta and his team from the Consulate. Seattle Parks and Recreation worked to install the monument in a prominent location in Westlake Park, downtown Seattle.”
At the function, Mayor Wilson spoke about the connection between the Indian American community and the city of Seattle. “It is a gift to the city of Seattle and symbolically very strong, in resonance to the diversity and multicultural fabric of Seattle,” said Soumith Raju K, Colsutalte General of India in Seattle.
There was great enthusiasm among the guests who were present to celebrate the occasion. They offered flower petals at Swamiji’s feet. It may be mentioned that the road leading to the Art Institute in Chicago where 30 year old Vivekananda addressed the gathering at the World Parliament of Religions on 11 September 1893 has been renamed after the monk.
Quoting News and Notes, an American newspaper, The Statesman in its November 23 edition had published the success of Vivekananda at the World Parliament of Religions. After reading the report, the people of Kolkata learnt that the famed Swami Vivekananda was none other than Narendranath Dutt, a youth born and brought up in the city. (UNI)
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