The memorial dedicated to Swami Vivekananda was built on the rock mass surrounded by the three seas at the southernmost tip of India. On this rock, Swami Vivekananda sat and meditated for three days and nights from December 25-27, 1892, and discovered his mission ahead. He said, “I hit upon a plan.” After this incident, he went on to participate in the World’s Parliament of Religions held in Chicago, USA in September 1863 and the rest is history.
Undoubtedly, the rock is a monument of high significance not only in the life and mission of Swami Vivekananda but also for the nation to recollect his vision and mission for India. A memorial for Swami Vivekananda on the rock was a long-felt. As the whole nation was preparing to celebrate the birth centenary of Swami Vivekananda in the year 1963, the construction of a memorial was undertaken by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh with the support and blessings of sages like the Kanchi Paramacharya and the Ramakrishna Mission.
The responsibility for the construction was entrusted to Shri Eknath Ranade, who was relieved from his position as the General Secretary of the RSS to undertake the mission of construction. Ranade had to overcome huge political objections from the then governments at the center and the state to any construction activity on the natural rock. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, who later became the Prime Minister of India, told Ranade that unless he gets the support from a larger number of members of parliament, the government would not agree to the construction of the memorial.
To Shastriji’s surprise, in just three days, Ranade got the letters of support for a memorial on the site signed by 323 Members of Parliament belonging to all political parties. This helped overcome the first political objections to the memorial. As the rock memorial was recommended by nearly two-thirds of the 494 members of parliament at that time. The state government, which had initially said that the size of the memorial should be small, agreed on the intervention of the highly revered Shankaracharya of Kanchi to allow the construction of the large and imposing memorial that stands on the rock today. The construction of the memorial took six years.
The Vivekananda Rock Memorial was dedicated to the nation by the constitutional head of India and endorsed by the political head of India. It was inaugurated by the then President of India, Dr. V.V. Giri, in the year 1971.
The then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, visited the memorial in 1970 and glowingly wrote in the visitor’s book: “It is a moving experience to come to Kanyakumari and see how the faith of thousands in Swami Vivekananda’s message has made this memorial possible. May it inspire all who visit it and give them the courage to live up to Swamiji’s great and timeless teachings. The second phase of the programme for the establishment of a lay order is no less important and will give practical shape to Swamiji’s message of service.” Despite the fact that the Prime Minister had serious differences with the RSS, she appreciated the memorial as an inspiration to people to live up to Swami’s timeless teachings.
Commoners Funded Two-Thirds of the Memorial Cost
It is true that thousands had approached millions of common people to fund the construction of the memorial. The unprecedented saga of common public funding of the memorial in the smallest denominations needs to be recalled.
With the 1962 Chinese invasion and the 1965 Indo-Pak war accentuating the huge forex crisis, food shortage, and dependence on the humiliating PL 480 food imports, the Indian economy was in the poorest shape throughout the 1960s. So, funding the memorial construction was a big challenge. For six years, there were on average some 650 workers engaged in stone sculpting, polishing, and construction, and their salaries had to be paid every week. Sometimes loans had to be taken to pay the workers so that the work did not stop.
Eknath Ranade wanted the memorial to be constructed in time at any cost as he had the vision of the second phase of man-making and nation-building mission in his mind. Kendra began raising funds through one-rupee and two-rupee folders on which the picture of Swami, his inspiring quotes, and the model of the proposed memorial appeared. Public Committees were formed in each state, comprising people from various walks of life cutting across political, regional, and sectarian lines.
They worked to approach millions of common people to collect Rs 85 lakhs through one-rupee and two-rupee donations. Out of the total cost of the memorial of Rs 1.3 crores, two-thirds were contributed by the common people – an unprecedented public participation. Almost all the state governments, regardless of which party was in power, donated Rs 1 lakh each. The Central Government donated Rs 15 lakhs. The first donation, Rs 10,000, came from Swami Chinmayananda. Vivekananda Kendra later installed on the Vivekananda Rock a stone plaque which gives the details of the contributions to build the memorial.
After the successful establishment of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial to carry forward the Swami Vivekananda’s message of Man-making and Nation-building through a living organization – Vivekananda Kendra was founded in the year 1973.
Origin of Vivekananda Kendra
Three years after the commemoration of the memorial in 1970, in 1973, Eknath Ranade set about to collect and train batch after batch of life workers and involve them in spiritually oriented service activities. The first batch of workers was sent to Arunachal in North East India, where such work was most needed. The work later spread to other parts of the North East and then to different parts of the country. Over the last 50 years, Kendra has expanded to include educational, yoga, medical, and other services involving millions of people. The funds for the various activities of Kendra come in small amounts from thousands of individuals.
