Swami Vivekananda
Swami
Vivekananda (real name: Narendra Nath Datta) was born on 12th January
1863 in Calcutta (the Capital of British India at that time). He was an
Indian Hindu monk and chief disciple of the 19th-century saint
Ramakrishna Parahamhans. He took the responsibility of spreading
Hinduism in India and contributed to the concept of nationalism in
British India. Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Math and the
Ramakrishna Mission. He was a key figure in the introduction of the
Indian philosophies of Yoga and Vedanta to the Western world.
Childhood
Swami
Vivekananda was born in a traditional Bengali family, to father
Vishwanath Datta, who was an attorney at the Calcutta High Court and
mother Bhuvaneswari Devi, a housewife. From his childhood days, he was
interested in spirituality and uses to meditate before the images of
Hindu deities. He was fascinated by wandering ascetics and monks.
