Life-size statue of Swami Vivekananda unveiled

MADURAI: A life-size bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda was unveiled on Monday at the Vivekanandar Memorial at Kundhukaal Island in Rameswaram. The statue was installed to commemorate the 118th year of the patriotic saint’s landing at Kundhukaal near Pamban Bridge on January 26, 1897.
The statue – 295kg in weight and 6.75feet in height – was constructed at a cost of Rs 5 lakh in Mahabalipuram.
The statue was unveiled in the presence of Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam’s head Satananda Maharaj, its secretary Saradhananda and Ramanathapuram district collector K Nandakumar.
Swami Vivekananda, who gave a speech on India and Hinduism at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago in 1893, landed in Pamban on January 26, 1897.
Residents of Pamban gave a rousing reception to him. Vivekananda shared his experience with the people on his tour to western countries.
Legend has that the then king of Ramnad (now, Ramanathapuram) Bhaskara Sethupathy knelt down (Kundhukaal) so that Vivekananda can place his foot on king’s head while disembarking from a steamer.
“But Vivekananda refused to do so by saying that king is equal to God. Accordingly, the place is called after the incident as Kundhukaal,” a villager said.