In the 19th and 20th centuries, prominent figures of Indian spirituality such as Swami Vivekananda, Ramana Maharshi, Swami Sivananda and A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami emphasized the importance of ahimsa.

* 1836 – Sri Ramakrishna, Indian Bengali guru of Swami Vivekananda ( d. 1886 )

* 1902 – Swami Vivekananda, Indian monk ( b. 1863 )

Swami Vivekananda also credited Jainism as influencing force behind the Indian culture and said:

* Swami Vivekananda Centre for Technical Manpower Development

A fifth individual whom Drury identified as an important influence upon the New Age movement was the Indian Swami Vivekananda ( 1863 – 1902 ), an adherent of the philosophy of Vedanta who first brought Hinduism to the West in the late 19th century.

* Swami Vivekananda

Hindu monks, beginning with Swami Vivekananda, brought yoga to the Western world in the late 19th century.

* January 12 – Swami Vivekananda, Indian religious leader ( d. 1902 )

* July 4 – Swami Vivekananda, Indian religious leader ( b. 1863 )

** Swami Vivekananda delivers an inspiring speech on his paper at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago.

After an accidental meeting between Jamsetji N. Tata and Swami Vivekananda on a ship in 1893 where they discussed Tata's plan of bringing the steel industry to India, Tata wrote to Vivekananda five years later:

Swami Vivekananda (; pronounced: ) ( 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902 ), born Narendra Nath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk.

Born into an aristocratic Bengali Kayastha family of Calcutta, Swami Vivekananda showed an inclination towards spirituality and God realisation.

alt = Image of Bhuvaneswari Devi, mother of Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda was born as Narendranath Dutta in Calcutta, the capital of British India, on 12 January 1863 during the Makar Sankranti festival.

Swami Vivekananda and other disciples of Ramakrishna in Baranagar Math, in 1887

In July 1890, accompanied by the fellow monk Swami Akhandananda ( also a disciple of Ramakrishna ), Vivekananda visited the Himalayas.

At Kanyakumari, the Swami meditated on the " last bit of Indian rock ", famously known later as the Vivekananda Rock Memorial, for three days.

Swami Vivekananda on the platform of the Parliament of Religions September 1893.

On the platform ( left to right ) Virchand Gandhi, Dharmapala, Swami Vivekananda

Dr. Barrows, the president of the Parliament said, " India, the Mother of religions was represented by Swami Vivekananda, the Orange-monk who exercised the most wonderful influence over his auditors.

* June 1 – Sahajanand Swami, believed to be an incarnation of god by his followers, leaves his mortal body ( b. 1781 ).

Swami Vivekananda believed a country's future depends on its people ; his teachings focussed on this area.

* 1804 – Arrival of Swami Sahajanand ( Later known as Lord Swaminarayan ), who was believed to be an incarnation of god.

However this specifically refers to the one Sahajanand Swami, believed to be God.

In the BBC documentary The Secret Swami Tigrett stated that he believed that there was truth to the rumors of Sai Baba's actions of pedophilia and sexual abuse towards some of his young male followers.

Swami Kriyananda, known also as J. Donald Walters, is a follower and supporter of Sri Yukteswar's claim that the present age is Dwapara Yuga and not Kali Yuga, as is widely believed in Hindu orthodoxy.

Later, Sri Ranganayaki thayar of Sri Rangam ordered that a sannidhi should be made for Swami desika close to her sannidhi inside the temple Also it is believed that she ordered that no other acharya sannidhi will be made hereafter inside the temple as a mark of respect to this great acharya, which is being followed to this day. One can see the desikan sannidhi in front of the thaayaar sannidhi in Srirangam.

Swami Vivekananda remains the most influential figure in modern Hinduism.

Teachers such as Swami Vivekananda, who brought Hinduism to the West, held beliefs like those found in Smartism, although he usually referred to his religion as Vedanta.

* A. C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada who founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness ( the ' Hare Krishnas ') in New York in 1965, an organization following the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism.

* Swami Vivekananda and the Modernisation of Hinduism ( ed., OUP, Delhi, 1997, 1999 )

Prominent Hindus ( e. g., Swami Sadananda Maharaj ) from India have visited South East Asia for the purpose of exploring the Hinduism of these places.

Koertge asserts that TM has introduced to the West the " scientistic version of Hinduism " developed in late 19th century Hindu revivalism by Dayananda Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda and others, i. e. the idea that " the Vedas are simply another name for science ".

* 1993-Chicago: at the centenary Parliament of the World's Religions, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami was elected one of three presidents, along with Swami Chidananda Saraswati of the Rishikesh-based Divine Life Society and Kerala's Mata Amritanandamayi, to represent Hinduism at the Presidents ' Assembly, a core group of 25 men and women voicing the needs of world faiths.

* Hinduism Today-" Africa is Ripe for a Strong Hindu Future " by Swami Ghanananda

Atkinson's second Hindu-sounding pseudonym, Swami Bhaka Vishita, billed as " The Hindoo Master " was not authentically Hindu, nor did he write on the topic of Hinduism.

His most important works include translations of The Upanishads, The Bhagavad Gita, biographies of Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda, his compilation of the works of Swami Vivekananda under the title of Vivekananda: The Yogas and Other Works, his two books, Hinduism, Its Meaning for the Liberation of the Spirit, and Man in Search of Immortality, and his many articles written for various journals.

There are even people revolting against the misuse of Hinduism and names of Gods in India, a Swami in India is going around asking folks to remove names of Gods from non Hindu businesses and activities, Seer Hits Road Against Use of Gods ' Names.

"-" All About Hinduism " by Sri Swami Sivananda

The socio-political movement, derived from ancient rite of shuddhikaran, or purification was started Arya Samaj, and its founder Swami Dayanand Saraswati and his followers like Swami Shraddhanand, who also worked on the Sangathan consolidation aspect of Hinduism, in North India, especially Punjab in early 1900s, though it gradually spread across India.

* Sri Ramakrishna and his pupil Swami Vivekananda led a reform in Hinduism in late 19th century.

Influential in spreading Hinduism to a western audience were A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ( Hare Krishna movement ), Sri Aurobindo, Meher Baba, Osho, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ( Transcendental Meditation ), Sathya Sai Baba, Mother Meera, among others.