* Schools in North Eastern Area famous as VKV, i. e. " Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalayas " Under project Vivekananda Kendra Siksha Prasar Vibhag.

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

Later he was crowned with the name Vivekananda by Ajit Singh, the Maharaja of Khetri.

Vivekananda travelled extensively in India for five years, visiting centres of learning, acquainting himself with the diverse religious traditions and different patterns of social life.

Later Vivekananda journeyed to Jaipur, where he studied Panini's Ashtadhyayi with a Sanskrit scholar.

Later Vivekananda travelled to Bangalore, where he became acquainted with K. Seshadri Iyer, the Dewan of the Mysore state, and stayed at the palace as a guest of the Maharaja of Mysore, Chamaraja Wodeyar.

Vivekananda left for India on 16 December 1896 from England with his disciples, Captain and Mrs. Sevier, and J. J. Goodwin.

Vivekananda declined the offer saying that it conflicted with his spiritual interests.

Vivekananda visited western Punjab with the mission of establishing harmony between the Arya Samaj which stood for reinterpreted Hinduism and the Sanatanaists who stood for orthodox Hinduism.

Abroad, Vivekananda had interactions with Max Müller.

The Union Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, approved in principle the " Swami Vivekananda Values Education Project " at the cost of with the objectives such as involving the youth through competitions, essays, discussions and study circles and publishing Swami Vivekananda's complete work in different languages.

Vivekananda observed that human could be classified into four categories — those who were in constant activity, or the worker ; those who were driven by their inner urge, or the emotional ; those who tended to analyse the working of their minds, or the mystical ; and those who weighed everything with reason, or the rational.

Ratnam grew up in Chennai, doing his schooling there completed his graduation with a degree in commerce at Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College which is affiliated with Madras University, Chennai and then obtained an MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, after which he worked as a management consultant before becoming a filmmaker.

After the death of their master, the monastic disciples led by Vivekananda formed a fellowship at a half-ruined house at Baranagar near the river Ganges, with the financial assistance of the householder disciples.

There he met Swami Vivekananda and got on very well with him.

The system was gradually reformed to some degree, with one of those reformers, Swami Vivekananda, having observed that it represented a " mad house " of castes.

After his return, he had frequent correspondence with Swami Vivekananda, then at Ghazipur, who induced him to join him in travelling in some places of the Himalayas because of the latter's experience and familiarity in those terrains.

Accordingly, Swami Akhandananda came to Baranagore monastery, and after spending a few happy months with his brother-disciples, sharing his experiences with them, he set out in July 1890, with Swami Vivekananda on a pilgrimage to the Himalayas.

He sought help from his brother disciples in 1897 and Swami Vivekananda, who had returned to India by then, sent two monks with money.

Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh described Swami Ranganathananda and Swami Vivekananda as " leaders with a modern mind and scientific temper.

He went to Madras to receive Swami Vivekananda and came back with him to Calcutta.

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:

Vivekananda had earlier inspired Jamsetji Tata to set up a research and educational institution when they had travelled together from Yokohama to Chicago on Vivekananda's first visit to the West in 1893.

Now Vivekananda received a letter from Tata, requesting him to head the Research Institute of Science that Tata had set up.

Jamsetji Tata was influenced by Vivekananda to establish the Indian Institute of Science — one of India's best known research universities.

" Vivekananda drew the attention towards the prevalence of poverty in the country, and maintained that addressing such poverty was prerequisite for the national awakening.

" According to Subhas Chandra Bose, a major proponent of armed struggle for Indian independence, Vivekananda " is the maker of modern India "; for Mahatma Gandhi, Vivekananda's influence increased his " love for his country a thousandfold.

It was built in 1970 by the Vivekananda Rock Memorial Committee in honour of the visit of the great spiritual teacher Swami Vivekananda to Shripada Parai during the month of December 1892 for deep meditation and enlightenment.

Next, he was made the Organising Secretary of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial Committee so that he was officially in charge of the Rock Memorial mission.

* Swami Vivekananda Centre for Technical Manpower Development

During this period, Vivekananda returned to Baranagar Math a few times, because of ill health and to arrange for monetary funds after Balaram Bose and Suresh Chandra Mitra, the disciples of Ramakrishna who sponsored the Math had died.

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

With the aid of funds collected by his Madras disciples and Rajas of Mysore, Ramnad, Khetri, Dewans and other followers, Vivekananda left for Chicago on 31 May 1893 from Bombay assuming the name Vivekananda — the name suggested by the Maharaja of Khetri, Ajit Singh.

On learning that Vivekananda lacked credential to speak at the Chicago Parliament, Wright is quoted as having said, " To ask for your credentials is like asking the sun to state its right to shine in the heavens.

" Eventually in 1895, money sent by Vivekananda was used to start the periodical Brahmavadin, for the purpose of teaching the Vedanta.

On 1 May 1897 at Calcutta, Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission — the organ for social service.

Vivekananda once again left for the West in June 1899 despite his declining health.

The Paris addresses are memorable for the scholarly penetration evinced by Vivekananda related to the worship of Linga and authenticity of the Gita.

On the day of his death he woke up very early in the morning, went to chapel and meditated for three hours, sang a song on Kali and then he whispered, " If there were another Vivekananda, then he would have understood what this Vivekananda has done!

This is remembered as the place where Swami Vivekananda stayed for nine days when he visited Chennai in 1897.

* Swami Vivekananda said that there are many incompetent gurus, and that a true guru should understand the spirit of the scriptures, have a pure character and be free from sin, and should be selfless, without desire for money and fame.

As Swami Vivekananda said, " Would it be right for an old man to say that childhood is sin or youth is sin?

The new movements look up to Swami Vivekananda ; Rabindranath Tagore ; Ramana Maharshi ; Shri Aurobindo ( for his Integral Yoga ); Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ( founder of the modern Hare Krishna movement ); Swami Sivananda, Swami Rama Tirtha ; Narayana Guru, Jagadguru Swami Sathyananda Saraswathi, Paramhansa Yogananda ; Shrii Shrii Anandamurti.