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CALCUTTA, circa 1885 Photograph 1 The best descriptions of Swamiji around this time have been given by his master, Sri Ramakrishna. On a certain occasion the Master said to the disciples present, pointing to Narendranath, “Behold! Here is Naren. See! See! Oh what power of insight he has! It is like the shoreless sea of radiant knowledge! The Mother, Mahamaya Herself, cannot approach within less than ten feet of him! She is barred by the very glory which She has imparted to him!” SWAMI VIVEKANANDA’S PHOTOS GALLERY

Vivekananda's Rare Images

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Page 1: Vivekananda's Rare Images

CALCUTTA, circa 1885Photograph 1

The best descriptions of Swamiji

around this time have been given

by his master, Sri Ramakrishna.

On a certain occasion the Master

said to the disciples present,

pointing to Narendranath,

“Behold! Here is Naren. See! See!

Oh what power of insight he has!

It is like the shoreless sea of

radiant knowledge! The Mother,

Mahamaya Herself, cannot

approach within less than ten feet

of him! She is barred by the very

glory which She has imparted to

him!”

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA’S

PHOTOS GALLERY

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CALCUTTA, circa 1886

Photograph 2

Sri Ramakrishna once said of Swamiji: “He is a burning, roaring fire consuming all impurities to ashes.”

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COSSIPORE GARDEN HOUSE, 1886

Photograph 3

Judging from Swamiji’s appearance, this photo seems to have been taken around the same time as the two following photographs, 4 and 5. Shortly before Sri Ramakrishna gave up his body at Cossipore, Swamiji had an exalted spiritual experience there. Seeing him Sri Ramakrishna said: “Now then, the Mother has shown you everything. Just as a treasure is locked up in a box, so will this realization you have just had be locked up and the key shall remain with me. You have work to do. When you have finished my work, the treasure box will be unlocked again; and you will know everything then, as you did just now.”

 

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COSSIPORE GARDEN HOUSE, AUGUST 16, 1886

Photograph 4

1. Atul 2. Amrita 3. Vaikuntha Sannyal 4. Bhavanath Chatterjee 5. Baburam (Swami Premananda) 6. Narendra (Swami Vivekananda) 7. Ram Chandra Datta 8. Gopal Ghosh (Swami Advaitananda) 9. Sharat (Swami Saradananda) 10. Balaram Bose 11. Latu (Swami Adbhutananda) 12. Shashi (Swami Ramakrishnananda) 13. Rakhal (Swami Brahmananda) 14. Nityagopal 15. Yogindra (Swami Yogananda) 16. Devendra Nath Mazumdar 17. Tarak (Swami Shivananda) 18. Young Gopal 19. Nitya Niranjan (Swami Niranjanananda) 20. Narayan 21. Manilal Mallick 22. Fakir 23. Surendra 24. Bhupati 25. Harish 26. Girindra 27. Vinod 28. M. (Mahendra Nath Gupta) 29. Kali (Swami Abhedananda) 30. Navagopal Ghosh 31. Gangadhar (Swami Akhandananda) 32. Mahimacharan 33. Manomohan Mitra.

The pictures [4 and 5] show the following: . . . There are at the four corners of the cot [cot not shown] upright members for supporting a mosquito curtain. The top and bottom uprights of the cot’s left side are tied with garlands. Part of the Cossipore garden house is shown behind. A pile of bedding (possibly bedding used by Ramakrishna, set out to sun) can be seen on the left. More than fifty people - devotees and friends -are seen in the picture, ranged behind the cot. About half of these people have been identified.

Balaram Basu is seen holding a staff with a symbol on the top of it. Chakrabarty identifies this as a symbol of the harmony of religions. In the symbol the trident of the Shaivites, the Om of the Advaitists, the kanthi (a hand

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holding a necklace of tulsi beads) of the Vaishnavas, the half?moon of the Muslims, and the cross of the Christians are seen. [This symbol seems to have been drawn on the top of one of the posts of the cot that Balaram Bose is holding on to.]

The two photos are similar except that some of the devotees have changed their positions; and in one Narendra is wearing a chaddar over the upper part of his body, while in the other [# 4] he is bare from the waist up. . . .

[After the Master entered mahasamadhi] the news had spread all over Calcutta and people came in large numbers to have a last look at the Master’s form. It was hoped by some that the Master was not dead but only in an unusually deep samadhi. At about noon Dr. Mahendralal Sarkar, who had been attending Sri Ramakrishna, arrived. He examined the body and said that life had departed only half an hour before. Dr. Sarkar’s opinion was accepted as final.”

Swami Vidyatmananda of Gretz copied the following excerpt from Dr. Sarkar’s handwritten diary, which had been in the possession of the late Swami Advayananda, Advaita Ashrama:

Monday, August 16, 1886: His disciples, some at least, were under the impression that he was in samadhi, not dead. I dispelled this impression. I asked them to have his photograph taken and gave them Rs. 10/ as my contribution.

Afterwards about 5:00 p.m. when Sri Ramakrishna had been dressed in an ochre cloth and decorated with sandal paste and flowers, the photographs were taken.

Swami Abhedananda gave the following account of the incident:

Gradually the news of the Master’s passing away spread and people began to flock to the Cossipore garden house. At 10:00 a.m. Dr. Mahendralal Sarkar came. He checked the Master’s pulse and examined him carefully. Then he declared that the Master had breathed his last a half hour

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earlier. . . . Listening to the doctor’s report, we lost all hope. Arrangements were then made for cremation of the Master’s divine body. Dr. Sarkar gave ten rupees so a photograph could be taken and then left with a heavy heart. At that time we all felt completely helpless. We felt that our entire source of strength and hope had gone. We thought: Now what shall we do? On whom shall we depend? And how shall we pass our days? . . .

The Bengal Photographers Studio was called to take photographs of the Master’s mahasamadhi. Sri Ramakrishna’s body was placed on a cot which was decorated all over with flowers. Then the Master’s body was adorned with sandal paste on his face and garlands around his neck. Ram Datta stood in front of the cot and asked Narendra to stand by his side. The rest of us stood silently behind on the staircase. The Bengal Photographers took two group photographs.

COSSIPORE GARDEN HOUSE, AUGUST 16, 1886

Photograph 5

See photo information under photograph 4.

BARANAGORE MATH, JANUARY 30, 1887

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Photograph 6

A Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna was published by the San Francisco Vedanta Society in 1912 under Swami Trigunatita’s direction. A quaint variation of this Baranagore Math photograph was printed in the 1912 edition of the Gospel. Perhaps Swami Trigunatita, not wanting to offend Western sensibilities, had this photo reproduced with the monks and devotees fully clothed. On a photo removed from one of the Gospels, Swami Trigunatita made the following identification in his own handwriting:

1. Our King -Swamiji2. Niranjanananda3. Saradananda 4. Ramakrishnananda5. Abhedananda ( Hootka) Gopal* 6. Sivananda7. 'M'-author 8. Devan9. H. Mastafi10. our cook*

11. Swami Trigunatita -the servant of all.’

* in some publications (Hootka) Gopal has often been misidentified as Swami Brahmananda and the cook as Swami Premananda.

In one of his articles on the Baranagore Math, Swami Prabhananda of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, said, A group photo of the monks and a few householder devotees, taken on 30 January 1887 shows some of them wearing only a loin cloth and

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others wearing ochre cloth. The following incident has been recorded about this photograph. “After the Master’s death Devendra [Devendra Nath Mazumdar] visited from time to time the Baranagore monastery and the Kankurgachi Yogodyana. Once when Devendra was at the monastery with his uncle [H. Mastafi], Swami Vivekananda asked him to become a monk. Devendra replied that Sri Ramakrishna had told him to lead the life of a householder. Swamiji himself then dressed Devendra in the ochre cloth of a monk, and a group photo was taken at the monastery. Devendra felt such intense renunciation that day that he told his uncle he would not return home. Only after much persuasion did Devendra finally consent to go back with his uncle, but his dispassionate mood continued for a month. Devendra later acknowledged that it was because of Swamiji’s power that he had felt that way.

JAIPUR, 1891 (probably)

Photograph 7

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Photos 7 and 8 were probably taken on the same day in Jaipur, 1891. The Life mentions: “At Jaipur the disciple [perhaps Lala Govinda Sahai whom Swamiji initiated in Rajputana in 1891] insisted on the swami’s posing for a photograph. The swami, much against his wishes, finally consented. This was the first time that a photo of him as a wandering monk was taken.”

Another reference to photo # 7 having been taken in Jaipur appears in Swami Vivekananda: A Forgotten Chapter of His Life, by Beni Shankar Sharma: “Furthermore, very few people know that the turban that the swami always wore . . . was worn at the suggestion of Ajit Singh [the Maharaja of Khetri]. Swami Vivekananda being a Bengali did not wear a turban, or any headgear, and in the first of his photographs, which was taken at Jaipur at the request of his Alwar friends in 1891, before he met the Maharaja of Khetri, we find him without his now inseparable turban. It was after his meeting with the Maharaja and his visit to Khetri that we find him with his characteristic turban. When Swami Vivekananda visited Khetri as Vividishananda for the first time, it was summer and the loo, or hot winds of Rajasthan, during this period are well?known. Besides, from Swamiji’s letters, we find that he was mortally afraid of the loo. When the Maharaja saw his discomfort, he advised him to wear a turban, just as he himself and all the people of the locality wore, to save himself from the loo, a suggestion which the swami readily accepted. The Maharaja in fact himself taught him how to wind the turban.”

In all the subsequent photos of Swamiji during his wandering days he is, in fact, pictured wearing a turban.

These photos (# 7 and 8) have sometimes been identified as having been taken in various places other than Jaipur such as Trivandrum, Bangalore, or Mysore, 1892, and sometimes as Chennai, 1893. Photo 7 appears as the frontispiece in the 1901 edition of Inspired Talks published in Mylapore, Chennai, during Swami Ramakrishnananda’s

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stay in Chennai. It bears the caption: “From a photograph taken just before leaving Madras for the Parliament of Religions at Chicago, showing the swami in the orange robe and with the shaven head of the sannyasin.” It is not known where this information originated. Some are of the opinion that the photo was taken in Chennai simply because it appeared in a book which was published during Swami Ramakrishnananda’s time. It should be noted, however, that Swami Ramakrishnananda was not in Chennai in 1893 when Swamiji was there, but was sent there after Swamiji returned from the West the first time in 1897.

Another reference to the possibility of this photo having been taken in Chennai can be found in the reminiscences of A. Srinivas Pai, who was a student in the Presidency College, Chennai, in 1893. He mentions: “The bare?headed photographs in the book, Swami Vivekananda’s Speeches and Writings, published by Messrs. G. A. Natesan & Co. give a good idea of the appearance of the swami. But no photograph or description can give a correct idea of the power of his eyes. They were wonderful. Like the ‘Ancient Mariner’ in Coleridge’s famous poem he ‘held you by the eye.’ ” This is one of the photographs that appears in that book.

Clearly there are diverse interpretations as to where these photos (7 and 8) were taken.

.JAIPUR, 1891 (probably)

Photograph 8

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See photo information under Photograph 7.

BELGAUM, OCTOBER 1892

Photograph 9

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Haripada Mitra was one of Swamiji's hosts while he was staying in Belgaum in 1892. In his reminiscences, he recalled his first impression of Swamiji when he was told:

Here is a learned Bengali sannyasin who has come to meet you.” I turned back and found a serene figure with his eyes flashing like lightning and a face clean shaven. His body was covered with an ochre robe, in [on] his feet he had strapped sandals of the Maharashtrian type; and on his head was an ochre turban. The

figure was so impressive that it is still vivid in my memory.

Haripada convinced Swamiji to accept both him and his wife as disciples. In his reminiscences, he remarked further:

I had a desire to have his photograph. He would not agree. I persisted, and after a long drawn tussle, he gave his consent and a photograph was taken on the 28th. [This photo was taken prior to the twenty-eighth, since Swamiji is reported to have left Belgaum on the twenty-seventh.] As Swamiji had not agreed to be photographed on an earlier occasion, in spite of the earnest request of another gentleman, I had to send two copies of this one to him on request.

Another source states: The small wooden stand that can be seen at the left corner is still preserved at the studio. The name of the studio was “S. Mahadev & Son” and the photograph was taken by one Govinda Shrinivas Welling (d. 1926). The studio still exists (Welling Camera Works, Welling House, B.C. 86, Belgaum Cantt. 590-001), but is no more in business, having closed down in 1970.

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Another reference that certainly seems to apply to this photo is given in Sailendra Nath Dhar’s biography on Swamiji. Around this time Mahendra Nath Datta, Swamiji’s brother, received a photograph in the mail from someone who preferred to remain anonymous, but who had obviously been directed by Swamiji to send it. Dhar says:

The photo was of the swami dressed in a long coat reaching up to his knees and stuffed with cotton which made them happy specially because it showed that he had improved in health.

This photograph is the only one taken during Swamiji’s wanderings that fits this unique description.

While in Belgaum, Swamiji met one Dr. V. V. Shirgaonkar and expressed to him his wish to visit some seminaries in Goa so that he might study Christian theology from some old Latin manuscripts. Swamiji then proceeded to Margaon in Goa. Dr. Shirgaonkar contacted his friend Subrai Naik in Margaon, requesting him to assist Swamiji. Naik warmly welcomed Swamiji, helped him to visit one of the oldest Catholic seminaries, which was about four miles from Margaon, and also took him into his own home and accommodated him “in a room adjoining the temple of Damodarji, his family deity. The room, together with whatever furniture Swamiji used, has been preserved to this day as a memorial to his visit. Before Swamiji’s departure Naik asked him for his photograph. The photograph presented to him by Swamiji has also been preserved by the descendants of Naik.” The photograph that Swamiji gave Naik is most likely this one which was taken in Belgaum.

  TRIVANDRUM, DECEMBER 1892

Photograph 10

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This photo was taken by Prince

Martanda Varma of Travancore.

K. Sundararama Iyer, the tutor of

Prince Martanda Varma (the first

prince of Travancore), remarked

in his reminiscences: “The Prince

was struck, like all others who

had come into contact with him,

with the swami’s striking figure

and attractive features; and being

an amateur photographer, asked

the swami for a sitting and took a

fine photograph which he skillfully

developed into an impressive picture and later on sent as an

interesting exhibit to the next Fine Arts Exhibition held in the

Chennai Museum.”

PLACE UNKNOWN (at present), circa 1892 or early 1893

Photograph 11

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This photo is usually identified as "probably Belgaum," 1892 and the next photo, # 12, as Hyderabad, 1893. This information seems doubtful. Upon close examination it appears that both of these photographs were taken on the same day, wherever it may have been. There are reasons to believe that photo #11 was not taken in Belgaum. Haripada Mitra, Swamiji’s disciple in Belgaum, with whom he stayed for nine days (October 1927, 1892), arranged for photo # 9. Initially Swamiji resisted being photographed, so it is not likely that he would have agreed to have a second and a third photograph taken while in Belgaum. (See note under photo # 9)

Vivekananda: A Biography in Pictures mentions another account which says that this photo (# 11) was the first one taken of Swamiji in Chennai. It is said that when Swamiji saw this photo, he remarked that "it looked like the picture of a leader of a gang of dacoits!"

Within the last couple of years, Swami Chetanananda of the Vedanta Society of St. Louis found a Bengali reference in the Udbodhan archives that he thinks refers to this photo. It reads: "Swamiji’s sitting pose: Jaipur after Alwar beginning of April 1891." There was no actual photo with this description.

The photographs of Swamiji during his wandering days in 1892 and early 1893 clearly confirm the accounts given by those who met him at that time. When Swamiji first arrived in Belgaum, he stayed with

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the father of G. S. Bhate who remembered that the swami "was rather striking in appearance and appeared to be even at first sight somewhat out of the common run of men. . . . Though he wore clothes bearing the familiar color of a sannyasin’s garments, he appeared to be dressed differently from the familiar brotherhood of sannyasins. He used to wear a banyan [tee shirt]. Instead of the danda he carried a long stick, something like a walking stick. His kit consisted of the usual gourd, a pocket copy of the Gita, and one or two books." B. G. Tilak remarked: "The swami avoided mixing with society. There was absolutely no money with him. A deerskin, one or two clothes and a kamandalu were his only possessions."

PLACE UNKNOWN (at present), circa 1892 or early 1893

Photograph 12

Another interesting anecdote

about Swamiji’s appearance

around this time comes from D. B.

Raghunath Rao, the youngest son

of D. R. Balaji Rao of Chennai,

who was a close friend of Swamiji.

Balaji told his son: "Swamiji was

an arresting personality with

handsome features, always

smiling and had a robust

constitution. His voice had a

pleasant ringing tone." Raghunath

Rao continues: "My father who

was fond of tying his turban in

various modes, presented one

such length of cloth to Swamiji. It

is this that adorns his head in the

popular photographs published; and the sash around his waist which

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we also see in the photos [Chicago, 1893] was presented to him by

the Maharaja of Khetri."

IN AMERICA

Photograph 13

This photo is often referred to as probably at the Hale residence, Chicago, 1893. But "Mrs. Herbert E. Hyde (Mary Hale’s niece) could not recognize this as being a room in the Hale’s house or in the Walton Place flat¾both of which places she knew very well as a child." Sister Gargi (Marie Louise Burke) has speculated that if the photo were taken in 1893 before the Parliament of Religions, then it could possibly have been taken in the Lyon’s house in Chicago.

The organizers of the Parliament of Religions lodged Swamiji in the home of Mr. and Mrs. John B. Lyon. When Swamiji first came to their home, Mrs. Lyon was a little apprehensive about how he would be received by their other guests. In those days there was strong racial prejudice. However, Mr. Lyon

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cleared the air. He had found Swamiji in his library one morning before breakfast. He later told his wife: "I don’t care a bit, Emily, if all our guests leave! The Indian is the most brilliant and interesting man who has ever been in our home and he shall stay as long as he wishes."

CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893 -- The East Indian Group

Photograph 14

This photograph appeared for the first time in Neely’s History of the Parliament of Religions and Religious Congresses at the World’s Columbian Exposition published in Chicago in 1893. From left to right: "Narasimha Chaira [Narasimhacharya of Chennai], Lakeshnie Narain [Lakshmi Narain, a barrister from Lahore], Swami Vivekananda, H. Dharmapala [Anagarika Hewivitarne Dharmapala, a Buddhist from Ceylon and later the founder of the Mahabodhi Society

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in Kolkata], and Vichand Ghandi [Virchand Gandhi, a lawyer of Mumbai and the chief exponent of the Jain religion.]"

This same photograph, as it appears in The World’s Congress of Religions, edited by J. W. Hanson, and published in 1894, is stamped WB Conkey Co., Chicago. According to the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress in Washington, D. C., "WB Conkey was one of the many ‘official’ publishing companies involved in the World’s Columbian Exposition. Charles Dudley Arnold was the official photographer for the WCE, however, many other photographers took photographs at the fair."

  CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893 -- Swami Vivekananda, Hindu

Monk

Photograph 15

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This photograph of Swamiji as a

delegate to the Parliament of

Religions also appeared in Neely’s

History of the Parliament of

Religions. It appears to have been

taken not only on the same day as the

East Indian Group, but at the same

time. Swamiji is holding a piece of

paper in his hand (although in this

photo it is in his right hand, in the

group photo it is in his left hand) and

his official delegate tag is pinned to

his robe in both photos. The drape of

his turban and his general stance

suggest that the two photos were

taken one after the other.

CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893

Photograph 16

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Swami Vivekananda on the Platform of the Parliament

From left to right: Virchand Gandhi, Hewivitarne Dharmapala, Swami Vivekananda, and (possibly) G. Bonet Maury.

From all appearances this photo seems to have been taken on the afternoon of the opening day of the parliament, September 11, 1893. Swamiji appears apprehensive.

"Through all this [the parliament proceedings] Swamiji remained seated, meditative and prayerful, letting his turn to speak go by time and again. It was not until the afternoon session, after four other delegates had read their prepared papers, that, urged by the kindly and scholarly French pastor, G. Bonet Maury, who was seated next to him, Swamiji, inwardly bowing down to Devi Sarasvati (the Goddess of Knowledge), arose to address the Congress and, through it, the world."

Sister Gargi has an interesting footnote on G. Bonet Maury which bears quoting in full: This information comes from a letter written by Swami Siddheswarananda to Miss Josephine MacLeod, dated June 11, 1946. The relevant passage reads: "For a long time I have been in contact with a man of science (Paul Bennet-Maury) . . . The other day the old mother of Paul Bennet-Maury came to see me. She is about 80 years old and she told me that her father-in-law, a Protestant pastor, was one of the delegates to the Chicago Parliament of Religions and a very close friend of Swamiji. In the dais of the Parliament Pastor Bennet-Maury [G. Bonet Maury] had his place next to Swamiji and she told me how she had heard from him that when Swamiji was each time giving his place to another to speak, it was Bennet-Maury, the pastor, that encouraged Swamiji to get up and speak in spite of the

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hesitation that Swamiji had. And as the old lady told me the story she got up from her seat and with trembling emotion told me of what she had heard of the tremendous impression produced by Swamiji when he addressed the audience as ‘Sisters and Brothers of America.’"

CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893

Photograph 17

Swami Vivekananda and Narasimhacharya

This unposed snapshot is one of the first pictures of Swamiji in America. "Perhaps it is not so clear as one would like his pictures to be, but it nonetheless belongs to his history." It can be reasonably assumed that it was taken in the room marked "No. 1-keep out."

The following appeared in the Boston Evening Transcript on September 30, 1893:

There is a room at the left of the entrance to the Art Palace marked "No. 1-keep out." To this the speakers at the Congress of Religions all repair sooner or later, either to talk with one another or with President Bonney, whose private office is in one corner of the apartment. . . . The most striking figure one meets in this anteroom is Swami

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Vivekananda, the Brahmin monk. He is a large, well-built man, with the superb carriage of the Hindustanis, his face clean shaven, squarely molded regular features, white teeth, and with well-chiseled lips that are usually parted in a benevolent smile while he is conversing. His finely poised head is crowned with either a lemon colored or a red turban, and his cassock (not the technical name for this garment), belted in at the waist and falling below the knees, alternates in a bright orange and rich crimson. He speaks excellent English and replied readily to any questions asked in sincerity.

CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893

Photograph 18

An Actual Scene at One of the Sessions of the Parliament

This photograph was taken on the morning of September 21, 1893-the eleventh day of the parliament. It was published in 1893 as the frontispiece of John Henry Barrows’, The World’s Parliament of Religions, Volume 1.

In New Discoveries we find this reference: In passing it should be noted that in Barrows’ history there are three published photographs of the "historic group on the platform." These were taken on the morning of September 14, the morning of September 21, and the

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evening of September 27. In the second of these, [photo 18] which has been reproduced in the second edition of the Life, Swamiji has been tentatively identified in the front row of the delegates; I am sorry to say that a comparison with an enlarged and annotated copy of the same picture shows that this is not Swamiji but that "loafer" Narasimhacharya.

CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893

Photograph 19

Swami Vivekananda, India

This photograph was published

for the first time in volume two of

Barrows’ history in connection

with Swamiji’s talk on "Hinduism"

which was given on the ninth day

of the parliament, September 19.

But to date, there is not sufficient

proof that it was taken on that

day.

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CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893 (Harrison)

Photograph 20

This is the famous Chicago pose. The next seven photographs are part of what the Vedanta Society of Northern California calls the "Harrison series." Swamiji has autographed five of these photos and inscribed them with English translations of Sanskrit sayings, some of which have the original Sanskrit written in Bengali characters. These photographs were taken by a photographer named Thomas Harrison, who was located in Chicago at that time at "Central Music Hall, Cor. State & Randolph Sts." Most of the Harrison photographs in the Vedanta Society’s collection have this information at the bottom of the pictures.

According to listings of photographers from 1847 to 1900 in the Chicago city directories, Thomas Harrison was in business from about 1873 through 1900. The Chicago Historical Society states: "He had several addresses ["Central Music Hall" is listed as his 1893 address] and probably went into business with D. R. Coover for a short time. We have many cabinet card

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portraits of Chicagoans taken at the Harrison studios, all with the same identification stamp."

The original photos of Swamiji taken at Harrison’s studio were actually cabinet card portraits, which were the predominant type of media that Harrison used. The cabinet card was a new style of portrait photography which came into vogue around 1867. It had several new features including various styles of posing, improved lighting, and the use of background scenery or props to add flair to the photograph. The various poses of Swamiji taken at Harrison’s studio show his successful use of these different techniques.

CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893 (Harrison)

Photograph 21

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Swamiji has written in Bengali

characters, as well as in English: “One

infinite pure and holy-- beyond

thought beyond qualities I bow down

to thee" - Swami Vivekananda”

CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893

Photograph 22

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During the Parliament of Religions, this poster of Swamiji (based on photo 21) was made by the Goes Lithographic Co., Chicago, 1893. It was posted throughout the city to draw people’s attention to the fair. Swamiji had become famous overnight and was a major attraction.

This copy of the poster, which was made from one of the original posters now in the possession of the Vedanta Society, Berkeley, bears the following inscription: “To Hollister Sturges-- All strength and success be yours is the constant prayer of your friend, Vivekananda”

Hollister Sturges was the son of Mrs. Betty (Sturges) Leggett--the family members of whom were all dear to Swamiji’s heart.

Another reference to this poster can be found in New Discoveries, volume 5:199:

In Chicago Mrs. Blodgett acquired a large colored poster of him [Swamiji], which she hung in her home in Los Angeles, never dreaming that he would one day be her guest. This poster, hanging incredibly over her [Miss Josephine MacLeod’s] dying brother’s bed, had greeted Miss MacLeod when she had arrived from Ridgely Manor. Astounded, she had asked Mrs. Blodgett, “What do you know about him?” and Mrs. Blodgett had told her story. “I know him,” Miss MacLeod had said, and then, “Why don’t you ask him here?” “To my cottage?” “He will come.” And in her memoirs she relates: “In three weeks my brother was dead and in six weeks Swamiji was there.” (Later on Miss MacLeod brought this poster, which showed Swamiji standing in his robe and turban, to Ridgely Manor, where she mounted it in a toweringly high-backed Gothic chair. For years it remained thus in her bedroom. “One would hardly dare go into her room,” Mrs. Frances Leggett told me,“--this enormous thing appearing there!”)

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CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893 (Harrison)

Photograph 23

Swamiji has inscribed this photo: “Samata sarvabhuteshu etanmuktasya lakshanam. Equality in all beings this is the sign of the free -- Vivekananda”

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CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893 (Harrison)

Photograph 24

This photograph of Swamiji bears the

inscription: “Thou art the only treasure

in this world -- Vivekananda”

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CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893 (Harrison)

Photograph 25

Swamiji has inscribed this photo:

“Thou art the father the lord the mother the husband and love -- Swami Vivekananda”

Swamiji mentioned the Harrison photographs early on to Alasinga Perumal, particularly with reference to stimulating an interest in his work amongst some of his admirers in India, such as Ajit Singh, the Maharaja of Khetri, and His Highness the Maharaja of Mysore (Shri Chamarajendra Wadiyar). In a letter written to Alasinga from Chicago on November 2, 1893, he mentioned that he had sent one of these photos to the Maharaja of Khetri.

Again on May 28, 1894, he wrote to Alasinga from Chicago: “As for the photographs, I have not them at present. I will ask for some to be sent over. In the meantime, you apply to the Maharaj of Khetri for some copies he has had printed from those I sent over to him.” Then again on July 11, 1894, he wrote to Alasinga: “I have sent a letter to H. H. of Mysore and some photographs. You must have got yours by this time. Present one to the Raja of Ramnad. Work on him as much as you can. Keep correspondence with Khetri and try to spread.”

Swamiji also mentioned the Harrison photographs, often in a somewhat surly manner, in a number of his letters written to Mrs. George Hale, who seems to have handled Swamiji’s Harrison photo orders. In mid-July 1894, Swamiji wrote to Mrs. Hale from Fishkill Landing, New York:

As to the photographs, the first time the Babies got a few copies, and the second time you brought a few copies; you know they are to give 50 copies in all. Sister Isabelle knows better than I.

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Swamiji makes this humorous remark about the Chicago pose (photo #20) and this photo (#25) in a letter dated August 5, 1894, to Mrs. Hale written from Greenacre Inn, Eliot, Maine:

The Harrison people sent me two “nasty standing” photos--that is all I have out of them, when they ought to give me 40 minus the 10 or 15 I have got already!!!

Again he wrote to Mrs. Hale from Annisquam on August 20, 1894:

The photographs have not reached me--except two of Fishkill when I was there last

. Three days later he wrote: The photographs reached safely yesterday. I cannot tell exactly whether Harrison ought to give me more or not. They had sent only two to me at Fishkill--not the pose I ordered though.

Clearly, Swamiji was having his difficulties with Harrison. And yet we are deeply indebted to Harrison for the beautiful, soul-stirring images he produced of Swamiji during his early days in America.

He penned a letter to Mary Hale from Annisquam on August 31, 1894, “I sent two pictures to Mother Church yesterday and hope you will like them.” On the same day he wrote to Alasinga: “I have sent over my photograph and written to the Raja of Mysore.” Five days later in a letter to Mrs. Hale, he mentioned: “The new arrival of the phonograph from Khetri has not come yet. But I am not anxious because I just now got another letter from India wherein there is no mention of the photographs I sent showing that parcels reach later than letters.”

Obviously the Harrison photographs had made their way to India as early as November 1893. In a letter written to Alasinga on September 27, 1894, he says:

Bhattacharya [Manmatha Nath Bhattacharya of Chennai] writes he has not got any of my photos. I have none at present. I will have to order for some new ones & then will send them over.

Yet another request came from Kolkata. Swamiji wrote to Mrs. Hale on October 27, 1894:

Will you kindly [order] for a 100 photographs to Harrison

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and send them over to India to Ramdayal Chakravarty, c/o Swami Ramakrishnananda, Varahanagar Math, Alambazar, Calcutta. I will pay for it when I come to Chicago.

Although it is not certain which two photos (if they are still extant) the following remark of Swamiji refers to, it is ingenuous and candid and worth repeating. From Detroit he wrote on March 10, 1894, to Mrs. Hale:

The photographer here has sent me some of the pictures he made. They are positively villainous. Mrs. Bagley does not like them at all. The real fact is that between the two photos my face has become so fat and heavy¾what can the poor photographers do? Kindly send over four copies of photographs.

In this case Swamiji seems to have decided that Harrison’s photos were the best of a bad bargain!

CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893 (Harrison)

Photograph 26

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Swamiji's inscription reads: "Eka eva

suhrid dharma nidhanepyanuyati yah.

Virtue is the only friend that follows us

even beyond the grave. Everything else

ends with death - Vivekananda"

This photograph was first published in

Neely's History of the Parliament of

Religions and Religious Congresses at

the World's Columbian Exposition in

1893 without the inscription, but

bearing the caption Swami

Vivekananda. It is interesting to note

that Neely published more

photographs of Swamiji than any other delegate to the parliament.

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CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893 (Harrison)

Photograph 27

Sister Devamata related a story of

how she first heard about Swamiji.

After the Parliament of Religions,

she along with her mother and

sister met a Swedenborgian

minister in Ohio, who had attended

the parliament in Chicago. He

enthusiastically described various

aspects of the sessions to them: "

'But,' he continued, 'there was one

speaker who stood out above all

others, because of his learning, his

eloquence and his impressive

personality. No other could compare with him except two or three

Roman Catholic prelates, and they had sent their best men.' He

paused, leaving his brilliant figure without name or nationality. 'Who

was he?' I asked eagerly. The minister replied quietly: 'A Hindu --

Swami Vivekananda.' "

CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1893

Photograph 28

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This photograph was taken during the closing session of the parliament on the evening of September 27. We know that Swamiji was present on the platform that evening because he had been invited to give one of the final addresses. It was in this talk that he made his famous sweeping remark: "The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the others and yet preserve its individuality and grow according to its own law of growth."

According to New Discoveries (1:134, 36) "it is probable, though not at present certain, that Swamiji does indeed appear, seated with regal unconcern in the second row of delegates." To date it has not been ascertained for sure that the person in the second row, left of center, is in fact Swamiji.

Barrows' history describes the last session:

More than seven thousand persons were crowded into the Halls of Washington and Columbus [Barrows writes]. For more than an hour before the time announced, the eager crowds swept up against the doors of the Art Palace. The throng extended from the doorways to Michigan Avenue and thence for half a block in either direction . . . . An eyewitness reports: ". . . The last and closing scene of the great Parliament of Religions is one that will live forever in the memory of those who were so fortunate as to be spectators. The great Hall of Columbus was illuminated by a myriad of lights. Every inch of room was used by the greatest crowd that ever sat within its walls. On the stage, beneath the folds of the flags of all nations, were the representatives of all religions. The dull, black and somber raiment of the West only intensified the radiantly contrasted garbs of the Oriental priests." Twice during the evening flashlight photographs were taken of the historic group on the platform.

CHICAGO, 1894

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Photograph 29

After the parliament Swamiji's luminous personality radiated his inner serenity. Those who were fortunate enough to meet him at this time said what a blessing it was to be with him. Years later Mary Hale recalled Swamiji as:

. . . the great and glorious soul that came to the Parliament of Religions, so full of love of God, that his face shone with divine light, whose words were fire, whose very presence created an atmosphere of

harmony and purity, thereby drawing all souls to himself.

When one looks at this photograph one can easily understand what Mary meant, for as Sister Gargi says:

One cannot fail to be moved by the childlike tenderness of Swamiji's appearance, and by the wonderful peace and calm of his expression.

This photo was taken by E. B. Snow in Chicago in 1894 and was copyrighted. Swamiji's inscription reads:

Ajaramaravat prajnah vidyam arthancha chintayet/ Grihitva iva kesheshu mrityuna dharmam acharet. When in search of knowledge or prosperity think that you would never have death or disease, and when worshipping God think that death's hand is in your hair.

Early prints of this photo, and of photos 21 as well as 23 to 26 (copies of which are in the present volume), were acquired originally by Swami Vishwananda.

It was through the kindness of the late Swami

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Vishwananda, then in charge of the Vivekananda Vedanta Society in Chicago [1937-1965], that these photographs and other invaluable material regarding Swamiji came to our hands, and the story of how this material was discovered by the swami is worth telling here, for it is an example of those coincidences that occur so frequently in matters concerning Swamiji. Swami Vishwananda told us that a young man, unconnected with Vedanta, had received from his grandmother a bundle of unpublished letters, photographs and other material, all pertaining to Swami Vivekananda. Knowing that his grandmother had cherished them, the young man had kept them, and indeed might still possess them, or perhaps by this time have discarded them, had it not been that a friend of his was a student of Swami Vishwananda. How this friend came to know of the bundle of old documents is not known, but one day she told Swami Vishwananda of its existence. The swami forthwith visited the young man and found, with what joy we can imagine, a veritable feast of hitherto unknown material! The young man gladly gave him the bundle, which had originally belonged, the swami learned, to the McKindley sisters, nieces of Mr. and Mrs. Hale. It is such unlooked?for and fortuitous discoveries which give us hope that eventually more hidden material regarding Swamiji will come to light, slowly pushing its way up through the years.

GREENACRE, AUGUST 1894

Photograph 30

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Swami Vivekananda seated in front. Ralph Waldo Trine (standing) in cowboy hat.

In this photo Swamiji is seated under the “Swami’s Pine” with his class. “This photograph was discovered by Elva Nelson [of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society, Boston] and may well be the photograph he spoke of in his letter to the Hale sisters: ‘Herewith I send a photograph Cora Stockham took of the group under the tree. It is only a proof and will fade away under exposure, but I cannot get anything better at present.’ Very likely a more durable print was made for both pictures [# 30 and 33] which have been taken from finished photographs.”

GREEN ACRE, AUGUST 1894

Photograph 31

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Swami Vivekananda, Sarah Farmer (seated to his left), Charles Malloy (standing), with white hat and walking stick.

This is yet another, heretofore unknown, picture of Swamiji seated under his pine with one of his classes. Elva Nelson acquired this photo, as well as # 32, from the Baha'i Archives now located at Green Acre in Eliot, Maine.

"On July 28 an article headed VIVEKANANDA AT GREENACRE appeared in Boston's brahminical and world?famous Evening Transcript. It was almost certainly written by Ralph Waldo Trine, who was later to become a well?known author on metaphysical subjects. (At that time, he was a special correspondent for the Transcript at Greenacre, where he had built for himself 'a little cabin . . . on the edge of a pinegrove.') The article read in part:

Friday an extra lecture will be given by Swami Vivekananda of India, who is spending a few weeks at Greenacre. He is deeply interested in this unitary work which has been inaugurated, and each morning may be seen, attired in his flowing red robes and yellow turban, sitting cross?legged on the ground near a wide?spreading pine, and surrounded by a group of eager listeners, men and women, to whom he pours out freely his treasures of knowledge and experience. It is a rich opportunity to us who are privileged to enjoy it, and our only regret is that so many hungry souls are missing it.

Greenacre is very full, as are also a half?dozen or more cottages in the vicinity: still there is room. The townspeople are opening their rooms to accommodate the

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numbers who desire to attend the lectures, which are free to all."

GREEN ACRE, AUGUST 1894

Photograph 32

From left to right: Swami Vivekananda, Sarah J. Farmer, M. H. Gulesian, and Dr. Edward Everett Hale.

In New Discoveries a reference is made to another photo that Cora Stockham took at Green Acre. “From the Portsmouth Daily Chronicle of August 9 one learns that Miss Stockham took another group picture (yet to be unearthed) in which Swamiji was present. This time it was in the Tent following a lecture given by Dr. Edward Everett Hale on Thursday, August 2. The pertinent passage reads in part:

. . . Swami Vivekananda, as a representative of the far east, sat upon the platform, gorgeous in his scarlet and gold. At the close of the lecture he and Dr. Hale, Mr. Gulesian [a native of Armenia] and Miss Farmer were photographed in a group by Miss Stockham of Chicago.”

This photo from the Baha’i Archives certainly seems to be the picture that was lying “unearthed” until now.

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GREEN ACRE, AUGUST 1894

Photograph 33

We now have three photos of Swamiji taken at Green Acre under his

pine. Sister Gargi poetically describes this photo: “One of these,

which was among Isabelle McKindley’s treasures, shows him standing

with folded arms, his eyes looking as eyes look when the whole world

is seen as permeated by Divinity.”

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GREEN ACRE, 1894

Photograph 34

This picture was taken during Swamiji’s stay at Green Acre in 1894,

but was reproduced in 1899 in a Watertown, Massachusetts

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newspaper article on Green Acre.

NEW YORK, 1895 (probably between February and June)

Photograph 35

Photos 35 to 37 were taken at the Prince Studio, 31 Union Square, New York. A report of Swamiji’s first talk of a lecture series that he was to give in January of 1896 appeared in the New York World Telegram, January 6, 1896. It was entitled:

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA LECTURES

The Hindoo Monk tells New Yorkers about the Truth and Utility of Religion.

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This report was accompanied by a line drawing of ‘Swami Vivekanand,’ [based on this photo] standing solidly on the platform of the hall, his hands behind his back. The drawing is hardly that of a ‘tall man, of handsome face and figure,’ but it is reproduced in this book [New Discoveries] for the readers’ amusement or indignation, as the case may be. Swamiji himself may have thought it a good likeness. Rarely aware of his body, he apparently did not know what it looked like. A story in illustration of this was told to Sister Devamata by Miss Waldo and took place in the front drawing room of 228 West Thirty-ninth Street--a long, narrow room with two tall windows facing the street, between which hung a mirror ‘reaching from floor to ceiling.’

This mirror [Devamata wrote] seemed to fascinate the swami. He stood before it again and again, gazing at himself intently. In between he walked up and down the room, lost in thought. Miss Waldo’s eyes followed him anxiously. ‘Now the bubble is going to burst,’ she thought. ‘He is full of personal vanity.’ Suddenly he turned to her and said: ‘Ellen, it is the strangest thing, I cannot remember how I look. I look and look at myself in the glass, but the moment I turn away I forget completely what I look like.’

NEW YORK, 1895

Photograph 36

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In various publications this photo is often mistaken for Chicago, 1893. The background studio setting is the same as # 35.

Josephine MacLeod’s life was revolutionized by her meeting with Swamiji during the early part of 1895 in New York. She remarked that when she heard Swamiji speak:

Instantly to me that was truth, and the second sentence he spoke was truth, and the third sentence was truth. And I listened to him for seven years and whatever he uttered was to me truth. From that moment life had a different import. It was as if he made you realize that you were in eternity. It never altered. It never grew. It was like the sun that you will never forget once you have seen. . . . His presence, you see, was dynamic. You cannot pass that power on unless you have it.

V

NEW YORK, 1895

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Photograph 37

This photograph has also been mistaken for Chicago, 1893. One reason for the misidentification of photo nos. 36 and 37 may be their resemblance to Swamiji’s 1893 Chicago photographs. However in full reproductions of both of these photos, it is clear that they were taken in the same New York studio as # 35.

Sister Devamata recalled in her reminiscences her first impression of Swamiji when she heard him speak in New York in 1895:

A sudden hush, a quiet step on the stairs, and Swami Vivekananda passed in stately erectness up the aisle to the platform. He began to speak; and memory, time, place, people, all melted

away. Nothing was left but a voice ringing through the void. It was as if a gate had swung open and I had passed out on a road leading to limitless attainment. The end of it was not visible; but the promise of what it would be shone through the thought and flashed through the personality of the one who gave it. He stood there¾prophet of infinitude.

NEW YORK, APRIL 6, 1895

Photograph 38

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Swamiji’s palm impression appeared in the book Language of the Hand by Cheiro. Cheiro was a famous palmist in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. No doubt, one of Swamiji’s wealthy friends in New York took him to Cheiro to have his palm read.

We have been trying to locate Language of the Hand, which is out of print, to check for details that Cheiro might have given about the line tracing of Swamiji’s palm. So far we have been unable to find the book.

When Swamiji was young he and other boys would try to foretell the future by reading each other’s palms. “Naren was the chief palmist of them all. He told them that he would be a monk: there was no mistake about it. ‘See!’ he would say triumphantly, ‘there is the sure sign of a sannyasi.’ And he would point out certain lines on his hand which an old man had once told him were characteristic of the tendency to monkhood.”

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THOUSAND ISLAND PARK, JULY 1895

Photograph 39

Swamiji used to take walks in the village of

Thousand Island Park with his students,

Sister Christine, and others.

We know of two such walks the group took

through the village. One of them took place

before the morning class and perhaps

before many people were abroad. They

stopped at the Thousand Island Park Studio,

which specialized in “Portrait Photography,

Instantaneous Pictures, [and] Thousand

Island Park Views,” and at the request of his

students Swamiji had tintypes taken of

himself, two of which may well have been

this pose¾one full?length with a painted river?view for a backdrop,

and the other [# 40] a simple head and shoulders. “He was so full of

fun, so merry,” Mrs. Funke wrote of this occasion.

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THOUSAND ISLAND PARK, JULY 1895

Photograph 40

This is the "head-and-shoulders"

print made at Thousand Island

Park. The original print of this

head-and-shoulders photo bears

the name of the studio: Lamson &

Van Camp, 1000 Island Park, N.Y.

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LONDON, 1895

Photograph 41

"The formal meeting between Swami Vivekananda and England--the beginning of what was to be a long and mutually satisfactory friendship--took place on the evening of Tuesday, October 22, in Prince’s Hall, London. Fittingly, Swamiji chose for his subject ‘Self-Knowledge,’ the key, as he said in an interview, to his philosophy."

Announcements began to appear in various London newspapers. "In addition, the Daily Graphic, a smaller paper than the Gazette, but, as it said of itself, ‘The most popular home newspaper in the world,’ published on October 21 [actually 22] a brief article about Swamiji accompanied by a photograph. (The Daily Graphic also boasted that it was ‘the only illustrated morning newspaper published

in the world.’) Its article ["An Indian Monk in London"] reads:

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

An interesting figure has lately arrived in this country in the person of Swami Vivekananda, an Indian Yogi--one who formally renounces the world, and gives himself to study and devotion. He left India to express his interpretation of the Vedanta philosophy to Western people at the Parliament of Religions held at Chicago in 1893. Since that event he has been teaching and lecturing in America. He has now reached England, but will, after a short visit, return to America to carry on his self-appointed task there during the winter. He will lecture at Prince’s Hall, Piccadilly, tomorrow evening."

In New Discoveries it is mentioned that "the portrait of Swamiji that accompanied the above [41] was taken at the Walery Photographers, then located on Regent Street in London, and is all the proof needed

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that this now well-known picture, which shows him in profile, wearing a black astrakhanlike hat and a clerical collar, was taken in London in 1895 and not, as had long been supposed, in Cairo five years later. We may judge, incidentally, that Swamiji had come into London some time before Sunday, October 19, to sit for his photograph, for on Monday, the twentieth, he wrote from Caversham to Miss MacLeod, who had recently arrived in the city, that he would not be able to come in to see her until the day of the lecture."

It can be reasonably assumed that the next five photographs (42 to 46) were taken at the same sitting. In two of these photographs Swamiji is without his cap, but in every other detail he appears the same, including his robe and buttoned clerical collar.

+

LONDON, 1895

Photograph 42

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Mr. Desai who attended Swamiji’s first public lecture in London recalled:

That was the first time I saw the commanding figure of the great swami. He looked more like an Indian Prince than a sadhu (holy man). He had a bhagva patka (ochre colored turban) on his head. He electrified the audience by his grand and powerful oratory. The next day the report appeared in the papers that he was the next Indian after Keshab Chandra Sen, who had surprised the English audience by his magnificent oratory. He spoke on the Vedanta. His large eyes were rolling like anything, and there was such an animation about him that it passeth description. After the meeting was over, the swami took off his turban and put on a huge and deep Kashmiri cap looking like a big Persian hat. V

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LONDON, 1895

Photograph 43

An excerpt from an article that

appeared in the London Daily

Chronicle of October 23, on Swamiji’s

lecture stated:

THE SWAMI VIVEKANANDA:

Attired in picturesque Oriental

costume, this famous preacher

last night addressed an

audience at Prince’s Hall on

"Self-Knowledge." He is an

Indian Yogi, that is to say, one

who has formally renounced

the world and gives himself to

study and devotion, and not, as he amusingly pointed out

last night, one who did juggling tricks or flew through the

air.

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LONDON, 1895

Photograph 44

On November 19, 1895, the Westminster Gazette ran an article on Swamiji entitled: "An Indian Yogi in London." The following is an excerpt from that article:

The Swami Vivekananda is a striking figure with his turban (or mitreshaped black cloth cap) and his calm but kindly features.

On my inquiring as to the significance, if any, of his name, the swami said: "Of the name by which I am now known (Swami Vivekananda), the first word is descriptive of a sannyasin, or one who formally renounces the world, and the second is the title I assumed--as is customary with all sannyasins--on my renunciation of the world; it signifies, literally, the bliss of discrimination."

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LONDON, 1895

Photograph 45

Reverend H. R. Haweis--one of the leaders of the Anglican Church in the late 1800s--made a penetrating comment about Swamiji which gives us insight into his first season in London:

This remarkable person appeared in England in the autumn of 1895, and although he led a very retired life, [he] attracted numbers of people to his lodgings, and created everywhere a very deep impression. He seemed completely indifferent to money, and lived only for thought. He took quite simply anything that was given to him, and when nothing came he went without, yet he never seemed to lack anything.

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LONDON, 1895

Photograph 46

Swamiji had a deep and subtle

influence on the hearts and minds

of the English people. It was such

characteristics as these--his

immense personal magnetism, his

directness, his lucidity, his vision--

which gave convincing force to his

utterances and bound indissolubly

to himself large groups of the very

finest and the most devout

disciples.

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LONDON, 1896

Photograph 47

Swamiji returned to England the second time in April of 1896. He remained in England until July 19, when he left with a party of three (Captain and Mrs. Sevier, and Miss Henrietta Muller) for a European tour. On September 19, 1896, he came back to England once again, to remain until he left for India in December of the same year. Swamiji continued to attract and deeply influence people in England as the following excerpt from an article in the Indian Mirror published in the July 1896 issue of Prabuddha Bharata clearly illustrates:

He who has once listened to the great swami, is tempted to attend every lecture that he delivers. We cannot but own that the man possesses a great magnetic power or some power divine by which he even draws so many Londoners towards him.

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LONDON, DECEMBER 1896

Photograph 48

Miss Emmeline Souter, an admirer of Swamiji and a wealthy friend of the Reverend Hugh R. Haweis, arranged for some photographs to be made of Swamiji. In a letter written from Kolkata on May 5, 1897, to Margaret Noble (Sister Nivedita), Swamiji said: "The only help I got in the world was in England, from Miss Souter and Mr. Sturdy."

According to New Discoveries Miss Souter had Swamiji professionally photographed before he left for India: "As the time for Swamiji’s departure from England drew near, Miss Souter, as though to stay the sun in its passage, had the professional photographer, Alfred Ellis, take [about] twelve studio pictures of him."

However, "in recent years a proof sheet from the photographic studio of Alfred Ellis has come to light in which six (not twelve) poses of Swamiji are shown. They are: (# 48) the well-known meditation pose; (nos. 49 and 50) two full-length with robe and turban; (# 51) one bust with robe and turban (right profile); (# 52) one bust with bare head;

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and (# 53) one full?length with robe and bare head. Three of the original photographs from the Ellis studio (nos. 49, 52, and 53) are in the archives of the Vedanta Society of Northern California.

There is another view regarding where this photo (# 48) was taken. According to Swami Prabhananda of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, oral tradition has it that this photograph (which is worshipped in many shrines of the Ramakrishna Order) was taken when Swamiji went into samadhi while demonstrating asanas during a raja yoga class in London.

LONDON, DECEMBER 1896

Photograph 49

Eric Hammond in his reminiscences of

Swamiji in London describes his

appearance while lecturing:

It was a novel sight, a

memorable experience. His

dark skin, his deep glowing

eyes, even his costume,

attracted and fascinated.

Above all, eloquence

acclaimed him, the

eloquence of inspiration.

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LONDON, DECEMBER 1896

Photograph 50

During his classes on jnana yoga:

Swamiji seemed to rise to a state

bordering on the divine--awesome

and yet infinitely gracious.

[Mahendra Nath Datta, one of

Swamiji's younger brothers,

remarked] "Face shining, he had

lost his human nature and seemed

like someone from a higher plane,

as if his previous self had vanished

and in its place there stood a

powerful being."

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  LONDON, DECEMBER 1896

Photograph 51

A charming story has come down

to us that when Swami

Abhedananda was to give his

maiden speech in London in 1896,

he said to Swamiji, who had just

delivered his magnificent class-

lecture, “God in Everything”: “You

know, Naren, I don’t think I will

speak this afternoon. Some other

time. . . .” And Swamiji, who was a

good deal more strongly built than

Swami Abhedananda, replied

fiercely, “Kali, you must speak, or

I will throw you out that window!”

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  LONDON, DECEMBER 1896

Photograph 52

In his Bengali book, Londone Swami Vivekananda, Mahendra Nath has given us an insight into Swamiji’s inner world at this time:

“You see,” Swamiji said, “at night I go to my room and lie down. I keep quiet for a while, and then within me so much ananda arises that I cannot stay lying down. I see the Blissful Mother. Men, animals, the sky and earth--all are saturated with bliss. I cannot lie down any longer; so I get up and dance in the middle of the room. That bliss can no longer be confined within my heart.

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The whole world becomes filled with it, as it were.” Even as he said this, Swamiji began to dance like a child for a little while. Then he said with affection to those who were present, “Be happy, don't be depressed; the Mother is everywhere; all will be filled with bliss!”

 

LONDON, DECEMBER 1896

Photograph 53

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“Another day when sobersided Mr.

Sturdy was not there, Swamiji and

Swami Saradananda themselves

tried (without much success) to ride

a bicycle in front of the house. ‘That

day,’ Mahendra, [who was with

Swamiji in London at that time]

recalled, ‘he was his boyish self, all

jokes, and in a sweet voice he sang

a Bengali song.’ ”

COLOMBO, JANUARY 1897

Photograph 54

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Swamiji returned from the West for the first time in January 1897. It was a triumphal time of great rejoicing. He never expected such a tremendous reception from his countrymen. Arriving in Colombo on January 15, he left on the nineteenth for Kandy. Sometime during this four-day period three photographs of Swamiji were taken (nos. 54, 56, and 57). An early print of # 54 bears the name of the photographer "A. W. Andree, Columbo." Since Swamiji was in Colombo such a short time, it seems reasonable that the other two photos were taken at the same sitting. His appearance also suggests this. In all three pictures the tail of his turban, which is draped over his left shoulder, is tucked under his chaddar.

Upon request Mrs. Poomani Gulasingam, a devotee of the Ramakrishna Mission in Colombo and a lecturer at Colombo University, researched the provenance of Swamiji's photos taken in Colombo. Mrs. Gulasingam reviewed newspapers of the period and tried to contact Andree's descendants with no luck.

For months she, along with others, exhaustively pursued various avenues of information about the photos, including contacting some of the descendants of the families who had come into close contact with Swamiji during his visit, some of whom had participated in the reception accorded to Swamiji. Collections of old photographs and documents, both public and private, as well as the Colombo Archives were thoroughly searched. Mrs. Gulasingam had said earlier: "There is a strong belief among old devotees that one of these photographs was taken on 16 January 1897 during the public lecture in the Floral Hall and the others on 19 January 1897 at the Public Hall." So far her

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research has not substantiated this.

Although it is true that Swamiji gave talks in both of these places in Colombo, it remains to be seen if the photographs were actually taken in these halls on those occasions. From all appearances they seem to be studio photographs.

+

COLOMBO, JANUARY 1897

Photograph 55

Crop of photograph 54, See Photograph 54 for description

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COLOMBO, JANUARY 1897

Photograph 56

This pose of Swamiji is reminiscent of the famous Chicago pose of 1893. J. J. Goodwin, one of Swamiji’s beloved English disciples who was with him at the time, wrote a letter on January 22, 1897, to Mrs. Ole Bull in which he described their reception in Colombo. On Sunday, January 17, Swamiji and his party visited a local temple in the Tamil quarter of the city. In his elaborate account of the honor accorded Swamiji, Goodwin makes an interesting comment: “The Seviers and I, but particularly myself, have come in for an enormous amount of attention. We are always sprinkled with rose water and given sandalwood. One man wanted me to be photographed with the swami so that he might worship me with Swamiji.”

The question naturally arises: on this occasion was a photograph actually taken of Swamiji, either with Goodwin or just by himself? Since the letter is not published in full, an answer to this question is not known at present; however, future research may throw more light on this incident.

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COLOMBO, JANUARY 1897

Photograph 57

An excerpt from a Colombo local paper, the Ceylon Independent,

describes how Swamiji was received when he arrived there: “As the

day was closing and the night approached, when the auspicious and

sacred hour of ‘sandhya’ noted by the Hindu shastras as the best

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suited for devotion came round as the harbinger of the coming great

events of the day, the sage of noble figure, of sedate countenance

with large, luminous eyes, arrived, dressed in the orange garb of a

sannyasin, accompanied by the Swami Niranjanananda and

others. . . . No words can describe the feelings of the vast masses and

their expressions of love, when they saw the steam launch bearing

the sage, steaming towards the jetty.”

CHENNAI, FEBRUARY 1897

Photograph 58

A quaint and charming article appeared in the April 1897 issue of Prabuddha Bharata concerning photos 58 and 59:

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THE PHOTO-TYPE OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA: Herewith, we gladly send the photo-type of Swami Vivekananda. It is the best likeness we have been able to send to our subscribers. It is from a half-tone block prepared for us by Messrs. S. K. Lawton and Co., of Jaffna, Ceylon, from a photograph specially taken here by Mr. T. G. Appavan Mudaliar, No. 3, Veeraraghava Mudali Street, Triplicane, Madras. We are sure many would be glad to have the likeness of the swami in his simple Indian sannyasi dress and position. We are sorry to announce that many of our subscribers have not as yet sent us the small amount of two annas, we asked of them, to meet the extra cost in printing these photo-types on separate sheets. Nevertheless, we have sent a copy of the above photo-type to each of our subscribers, in the fullest hope that such of our subscribers as have not already remitted the amount, will not fail to remit the same at their earliest convenience. We can never bring ourselves to believe that any of the subscribers of the "Awakened India" will fail to send this small amount of two annas for both the photo-types. We tender our thanks to those of our subscribers who have already remitted the amount so promptly; we regret that we cannot find space to publish their names.

We, of course, tender our thanks to Mr. T. G. Appavan Mudaliar for taking such beautiful photos of Swamiji. In the February 1897 issue of Prabuddha Bharata there is some information about Mr. Mudaliar. He was a well-known photographer of South India of those days and was himself a bhakta or devotee. The subject matter of his photographs which was mainly religious--temples and images--reflected his own religious temperament. He could not have found a more divine being than Swamiji to photograph and he surely must have recognized that.

The Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, was consulted as to whether they knew anything further about Mr. Mudaliar. The Chennai Math researched the matter. Apparently the house that is located at Mudaliar’s old address was built in the 1920s; it is uncertain what existed on that lot before 1920. Another possibility is that No. 3 Veeraraghava Mudali Street (in the 1890s) may have been renumbered later. Renumberings have taken place in many parts of the city. Unfortunately the Math has been unable to trace Mudaliar’s residence or family.

In future if the Mudaliar descendants could be located, perhaps further information about Swamiji’s Chennai photos could be brought to light. Investigating the company in Ceylon that prepared the halftone blocks for Swamiji’s photos is precluded by the present political situation in that area. V

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CHENNAI, FEBRUARY 1897

Photograph 59

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It is not known to date who arranged for Mr. T. G. Appavan Mudaliar to take these two photos. However, it seems likely that one of Swamiji’s admirers was behind it, like K. Sundararama Iyer, or Biligiri Iyengar, who provided his residence¾Castle Kernan (later named Vivekananda House, and presently being maintained by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai)¾for Swamiji’s nine?day stay in Chennai, or perhaps one of Swamiji’s ardent disciples from Chennai. K. Sundararama Iyer said of Swamiji at that time:

I enjoyed the infinite pleasure and privilege of once more looking at his wonderful eyes direct, recalling to my recollection all he had achieved and mentally running over what his future career might be as the future minister of the Vedic religion.

CHENNAI, FEBRUARY 1897

Photograph 60

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Sitting on chair (left to right): Tarapada (a monk from another order), Swami Shivananda, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Niranjanananda, and Swami Sadananda. Standing (left to right): Alasinga Perumal, J. J. Goodwin, M. N. Banerjee, and other local devotees. Front row (left to right): (second) Biligiri Iyengar, (fourth) M. C. Nanjunda Rao.3

This photo appears to have been taken a few days after the two single ones (nos. 58, 59) of Swamiji. In all respects his appearance is the same, except that his shaven head shows signs of a few days’ growth. It seems quite possible that Mr. Mudaliar took this group photo as well. One can well imagine that he could have come to Castle Kernan where Swamiji was staying. It seems unlikely that so many people, especially the local devotees, would go to a studio to have an official photograph taken.

Mr. Sundararama Iyer mentioned in his reminiscences:

At last the train steamed into the station to the great delight of all who had gathered there and been kept waiting owing to the lateness of its arrival. The swami alighted in company with two of his fellow disciples of Sri Ramakrishna [Swamis Shivananda and Niranjanananda] and another who was his own disciple [Swami Sadananda] and had been attracted to him while he was formerly a stationmaster in some railway line in North India. They had gone to Colombo to meet him and to give him new kashaya (ochre) clothing for his wear as an Indian sannyasin in lieu of his European costume. The swami was also accompanied by Mr. Goodwin, the Englishman who had been engaged to take down in shorthand his lectures in America and who had become his disciple and refused to accept any wages

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for his work and now had got himself attached to the swami for the rest of his life. He was clothed in purely Indian and brahmin costume to the surprise of us all.

He goes on to say that when Swamiji was with his brother disciples at

Castle Kernan: “Their simple ways and hearty greetings, their easy

manners and frank unconventional behavior towards each other,

were very attractive to all who had the privilege of getting into the

interior of Castle Kernan.”

CHENNAI, FEBRUARY 1897

Photograph 61

Crop from previous group photo.

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KOLKATA, FEBRUARY 28, 1897

Photograph 62

This photograph was taken at a reception in Kolkata, February 28, 1897. (The “x” identifies Swamiji.)

The following is an excerpt from The Amrita Bazar Patrika of March 1, 1897, which published a report of the reception accorded to Swamiji:

Welcome address to Swami Vivekananda

As announced before a meeting was held yesterday evening at the residence of the late Rajah Sir Radhakanta Deb Bahadur to present Swami Vivekananda with an address of welcome. The meeting was very largely attended, the specious [archaic meaning] natmandir where the meeting was held, its wings and passages leading to the place, being filled with an expectant crowd to hear for the first time the swami. Among those present we noticed Raja Rajendra, Narayan Deb Bahadur, Mr. Justice Chundra Madhab Ghose, Raja Peary Mohun Mookerjee, Rajha [sic] Benoy Krishna, the Hon’ble Guru Prasad Sen, and others. Punctual to time, the swami accompanied by some of his disciples, including a

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European lady and gentleman [Captain and Mrs. Sevier], arrived and was escorted to [the] dais raised in the northern extremity of the quadrangle. On account of the unavoidable absence of the Maharaja of Durbhanga, Raja Benoy Krishna took the chair. After making a few suitable remarks he read out an address to Swami Vivekananda who, on rising to reply, was received with loud applause. He said he was glad to be again among them and asked them to take him as the same Calcutta boy he was.

KOLKATA, FEBRUARY 28, 1897

Photograph 63

Crop of photograph 62.

KOLKATA, FEBRUARY 1897

Photograph 64

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This austere and somewhat awesome photograph of Swamiji was taken at the Calcutta Art Studio, 185 Bow Bazar Street in Kolkata. Early prints of this photograph, some of which may well be originals, have the above information stamped on the back. This photo is usually labeled as “probably Gopal Lal Seal’s.” However, from all appearances this photo, as well as the next (# 65), was taken in the same studio on the same day. The negative of photograph # 65 includes the same studio’s logo. The speculation that # 64 was taken at Gopal Lal Seal’s may have arisen from Swamiji’s custom of spending his days with his disciples and friends at that devotee’s riverside garden home in Cossipore during this period.

KOLKATA, FEBRUARY 1897

Photograph 65

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This photograph also bears the same photographic studio’s name, i.e., the Calcutta Art Studio. As in # 64, except for the turban, Swamiji is without a shirt and his cloth is draped over his left shoulder.

KOLKATA, FEBRUARY 1897

Photograph 66

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This photograph has been published as London, 1896. However, from all appearances it certainly seems to have been taken in Kolkata in 1897. It is said that having reached his motherland, Swamiji shaved his head during his nine-day stay in Chennai. The photographs of this period testify to this fact. It is obvious, even in this photo where Swamiji is pictured with a turban on, that he is shavenheaded. In this photograph (66) Swamiji looks the same as he does in the following group photo (67), minus the turban. Several notices appeared in the Indian newspapers about both photographs, 66 and 67.

The March 4, 1897, issue of The Statesman and Friend of India had this advertisement:

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA:

The Art Workers’ League, 34, College St., have taken two photographs of Swami Vivekananda. One [66] is a cabinet-size photograph of the swami, who is dressed in a long chapkanlike garment, but wearing a puggree much after the style of a Madrassi. The other is a group picture [67] of the swami and his disciples, which include Mr. & Mrs. Xavier [sic] and Mr. Goodwin, who have arrived from England. Both photographs are clear and distinct, and indeed, very well developed.

The Bengalee paper ran this notice in its July 24, 1902, issue:

PHOTOS OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA: With reference to an announcement made sometime ago in these columns about the photos of Swami Vivekananda available at the Art Workers’ League at 56-1, Sukea’s Street [the manager’s address], we are informed that the bust of the swami is of simple cabinet-size and that the group (comprising both European gentlemen and ladies as well

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as Indian gentlemen) is in panel size or 12 x 10. The prices are Rs. 1 and Rs. 2 respectively.

KOLKATA, FEBRUARY 1897 - At Gopal Lal Seal’s Garden House

Photograph 67

Standing (left to right): Shantiram Babu, Mr. Turnbull, Swami Prakashananda, Singaravelu Mudaliar (Kidi) (?), Swami Vivekananda, Captain Sevier, Swami Shivananda, unidentified person. Sitting (left to right): Alasinga Perumal, Swami Ramakrishnananda, Swami Premananda, Mrs. Sevier, Swami Adbhutananda, Swami Turiyananda, G. G. Narasimhachariar. Floor (left to right): unidentified person, Mr. Harrison of Colombo.

The announcement that The Bengalee made "sometime ago in these columns" about photos of Swamiji referred to a short notice which was published in 1902: "THE LATE SWAMI VIVEKANANDA’S PORTRAIT--The Art Workers’ League have executed very good cabinet-size photos of a group consisting of Late Swami Vivekananda with his colleagues and European disciples. The photos are to be had of the Manager of the League at No. 56-1, Sukea’s Street.

In From Holy Wanderings to the Service of God in Man, Swami Akhandananda said: Afterwards, at Gopal Lal Seal’s garden house in Cossipore, Swamiji had a group photograph taken with Mother Sevier, some of his gurubhais on two sides of her and some devotees such as Alasinga and G. G. seated on chairs, and himself standing

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behind Mother Sevier. In that photo Dr. Turnbull can be seen standing. From Swami Akhandananda’s remark it is clear that Swamiji had the photographer from The Art Workers’ League come to Gopal Lal Seal’s garden house to take the photo.

KASHMIR, 1897

Photograph 68

Sitting on chairs (left to right): Swami Sadananda, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Niranjanananda, Swami Dhirananda.

This photograph has often been dated 1898. However it appears to have been taken during Swamiji’s first visit to Kashmir in 1897. In a letter to Swami Brahmananda from Amritsar dated September 2, 1897, Swamiji mentioned that his party which consisted of Niranjan (Swami Niranjanananda), Latu, Krishnalal (Swami Dhirananda), Dinanath, Gupta (Swami Sadananda), and Achyut were accompanying him to Kashmir. Krishnalal was the familiar name of Swami Dhirananda. There is no mention of Swami Dhirananda being in the party that visited Kashmir in 1898.

During this first visit to Kashmir, Swamiji was trying to acquire some land for the Math. He was received by various officials of high rank and nobility, for example, the brothers of the Maharaja of Kashmir,

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Rajas Rama Singh and Amar Singh. “Raja Rama Singh received the Swami with marked cordiality and honor, seating him on a chair, and himself sitting with officials on the floor. The interview lasted two hours. Matters of religion, and the problem of improving the condition of the poor, were discussed.” He was literally besieged by visitors and “was busy filling many engagements, private and public, and visiting places of historic interest with which Kashmir abounds.”

No doubt this photograph was taken on one of these occasions where people had assembled to meet Swamiji. His second visit to Kashmir in 1898 was under entirely different circumstances and was prompted by another mood, which was sparked by the sudden death of his beloved disciple, J. J. Goodwin.

KASHMIR, 1897

Photograph 69

Crop of Swamiji from previous Kashmir group.

KASHMIR, 1898--In a Houseboat

Photograph 70

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Barely visible in the houseboat (left to right): Josephine MacLeod, Swami Vivekananda, Mrs. Ole Bull, Sister Nivedita.

Swamiji received the terrible news of Goodwin’s death while he was staying at Almora. Apparently he had become impatient and restless to leave the place where he had received this sad news. According to the Life, “It was decided to spend some time in Kashmir. On June l1, 1898, therefore, with the women disciples who had come with him from Calcutta, he left Almora for Kashmir.”

Although not shown in the photograph, Mrs. Patterson, wife of the American consul general in Kolkata and friend and admirer of Swamiji, was also in the party. In the four dungas (houseboats) their memorable travel began. Josephine MacLeod “was fascinated by the practicality of the dungas. She described them:

These boats called dungas are about seventy feet long [perhaps thirty feet] and broad enough to have two single beds in them and a corridor between, covered with a matting house; so wherever we wanted a window we only had to roll up the matting. The whole roof could be lifted in the daytime and thus we lived in the open, yet knew there was always a roof over our heads. We had four of these dungas, one for Mrs. Ole Bull and me, one for Mrs. Patterson [who accompanied them only to Anantnag and then left them to join her husband] and Sister Nivedita and one for swami and one of his monks. [Until the end of their stay in Kashmir Vivekananda was alone in the boat. It was only just before they left the valley that Swami Saradananda was sent for to join them.] We stayed in Kashmir four months, said Joe, the first three in these simple little boats until after September, when it got so

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cold, we took an ordinary houseboat with fireplaces and there enjoyed the warmth of a real house. ”

The Western pilgrims were in raptures. In the words of Sister Nivedita, “The whole was a symphony in blue and green and white, so exquisitely pure and vivid that for a while the response of the soul to its beauty was almost pain!” They were all enchanted by the company of Swamiji who charmed them with his knowledge of the countryside and its history. He was often so deeply absorbed in his own thoughts and various exalted moods that he completely forgot all thought of food or drink.

KASHMIR, 1898

Photograph 71

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Left to right: Josephine MacLeod, Mrs. Ole Bull (sitting), Swami Vivekananda, Sister Nivedita.

While in Kashmir and the surrounding area, Swamiji and his companions made many excursions to shrines, palaces, the ruins of old temples, and other places of historic interest. From Sister Nivedita's diary we learn: "The travelers left Acchabal on September 12 and slowly made their way back to Srinagar, arriving on September 15. General and Mrs. Patterson were still there. On September 20, some friends came and took photographs of them and their boats and so on before lunch. In the group photo, Sara is sitting on the ground, not at all willing to be photographed. She had a cold and her heart was heavy with grief for her granddaughter [who had recently passed away]. The next day, Vivekananda gave a ceremonious farewell banquet to General and Mrs. Patterson." Perhaps the same friends who took this photo (71) and also photo 70 of the houseboat also took the following ones (nos. 72-73) with a roll?film box camera, which had become the rage in the late 1800s. George Eastman of Rochester, New York, had come out with the first roll?film box camera in 1888. During this time in India it seems more likely that Westerners, rather than some of Swamiji's Indian friends, would have had such a luxury item like a camera.

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KASHMIR, 1898

Photograph 72

This picture has often been misidentified as "Annisquam" and as the

first photo taken of Swamiji in the United States in August of 1893.

However, in some correspondence between Mrs. Gertrude Emerson

Sen, wife of Sri Boshi Sen, the famous scientist of Almora, and Swami

Ashokananda, she wrote that this photo (as well as no. 73) were taken

in Kashmir.

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KASHMIR, 1898

Photograph 73

Sister Nivedita relates that while in Kashmir, one morning "when they woke up, they found themselves in the midst of the beautiful valley, surrounded by the snow-peaks of the Himalayas on the horizon. They took a long walk in the morning across fields and came to a huge chenar tree in the middle of a pasture. The tree provided ample shade

and the Swami fantasized on how it could be used as a dwelling-place for a hermit. Then he talked about the subject to which he always seemed to gravitate: meditation."

BELUR MATH, JUNE 19, 1899

Photograph 74

Standing (left to right): Devendranath Mazumdar, Swami Nirmalananda, Swami Virajananda, Swami Shivananda, Swami Turiyananda, Swami Akhandananda, Swami Vijnanananda, Swami Saradananda, Swami Satchidananda, a friend of Sri U. N. Dev, *Mahendranath Datta [alternative identification

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for "a friend of Sri U. N. Dev "], Sri U. N. Dev.

Sitting on chairs (left to right): Swami Vivekananda and Nadu (Brahmachari Harendranath). [Nadu might be kneeling.]

Sitting on a bench [or on the edge of the veranda] (left to right): Swami Somananda, Swami Kalyanananda, Swami Advaitananda, Swami Atmananda, Swami Trigunatita, Swami Sureswarananda, Swami Bodhananda, *Br. Nandalal, *Kheda, Swami Prakashananda, Brojen, Swami Suddhananda. Below: Swami Nishchayananda, *probably Haru Thakur [alternative identification for "Swami Nishchayananda].

* Cited in Prabuddha Bharata, vol. 86 (March 1981), 115.

This photo was taken at Belur Math on June 19, the day before Swamiji and Swami Turiyananda sailed for the West (the second time for Swamiji). In Swami Shraddhananda's book, The Story of an Epoch, which is based on his Bengali book Atiter Smriti (Swami Virajananda and Contemporary Memoirs), he mentions:

As Swamiji's departure time approached, excitement spread among sadhus, devotees and admirers, both in the Math and in Calcutta. It was not known how long he would be away, and all were eager to have his company. True, his body was broken, yet Swamiji knew no weariness. Tirelessly, without rest, he discussed ideals and plans for the samgha, and instructed, encouraged and enlivened all those about him. . . . On the afternoon of June l9th, a photograph was taken of all the sadhus with Swamiji. Virajananda, busy preparing food to be served to Swamiji, was repeatedly called and at last hurried to join the group. He had no time to don a shirt and appeared in the picture barechested. After the photograph was taken, he returned once more to his duty--but he felt like bursting into tears, for the good fortune of serving his guru would end in a few short hours.

BELUR MATH, JUNE 19, 1899

Photograph 75

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This photo was also taken at the Math on the same day as photograph no. 74.

BELUR MATH, JUNE 19, 1899

Photograph 76

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This photo is usually published as Calcutta, 1901. However, in Sailendra Nath Dhar’s, A Comprehensive Biography of Swami Vivekananda , he mentions:

On 19 June, a day before sailing, photographs were taken, singly of the swami and, in group [nos.74 and 75], of him and the Brotherhood. One can easily understand from these pictures how deplorable was the state of Swamiji’s health and why, as we are told, his friends and disciples, who went to receive him at his landing in London, were shocked at the sight of him.

This appears to be the photo of Swamiji taken “singly” on the occasion of the farewell gathering held in honor of him and Swami Turiyananda. Swamiji certainly looks unwell in this photo, as well as the following one, no. 77.

CALCUTTA, (JUNE 20?), 1899

Photograph 77

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From left to right: Swami Trigunatita, Swami Shivananda, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Turiyananda, Swami Brahmananda, Swami Sadananda (seated below).

This photo was taken at 8 Bosepara Lane in Calcutta at the rented house of Sri Boshi Sen's family. The Holy Mother was living in this house at that time. Although this photograph is published as having been taken in 1897, from the appearance of Swamiji, Swamis Turiyananda, Shivananda, and Trigunatita, it seems to have been taken in 1899 around the same time as the previous three photos, nos. 74 to 76. It is quite possible that it was taken on June 20, the day that Swamiji and Swami Turiyananda sailed for the West with Sister Nivedita and Swami Saradananda's brother. According to the Life, "On the day of departure the Holy Mother gave a sumptuous feast to the swami, Swami Turiyananda, and all her sannyasi children of the Math, at her Calcutta house."

In The Story of an Epoch, it is mentioned: "June 20, 1899, was the date of departure. On that day, the Holy Mother, who was then living in Calcutta (in Bosepara Lane, Baghbazar), had invited Swamiji and all the sadhus of the Math for the noonday meal. In two large boats all the monks crossed the Ganga to Baghbazar. There they were royally entertained by Sarada Devi."

The Life also mentions: "Sometime in the second week of June, Nivedita left her house at 16 Bosepara Lane and moved to the Holy Mother's residence at 8 Bosepara Lane (Baghbazar), where she lived till she left for the West."

On June 18, two days before she left India, Sister Nivedita visited Belur Math accompanied by Swami Sadananda and Mr. Mohinimohan Chatterji. At the Math she was given a farewell tea party in her honor. Swami Sadananda returned with her to the Holy Mother's residence. From this reference it is clear that Swami Sadananda was at the Holy Mother's house at this time.

Another point to note is that Swami Shivananda was only in Calcutta

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for part of the time in 1897. Sometime after Swamiji returned from the West, the first time in January 1897, he sent Swami Shivananda to Ceylon to do some preaching work. The swami remained in Ceylon for about seven months, returning to Belur Math in February 1898.

The Bosepara Lane group photograph was taken by Haripada Mitra, who, it may be remembered, arranged to have Swamiji's photograph taken while in Belgaum in October 1892. It is probable that Haripada took the photos (74 to 76) at Belur Math on June 19 as well.

Mrs. Cara French, a disciple of Swami Trigunatita, mentions this group photograph in her reminiscences. She visited India after the death of Swami Trigunatita. While at Belur Math she met Haripada. She said: "Mr. H. Mitra, of Vivekananda Kutir, Burdwan, Bengal, called a number of times to see Tantine [Josephine MacLeod], pausing frequently to visit me also. He told me he and his wife were the first lay disciples of Swami Vivekananda; and that it was he who took the photographs of the various groups of disciples shown in M's Gospel. And while talking of them, he autographed his name and address on one of the pictures, in my personal copy of the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna."

Mrs. French's Gospel (Madras, 1907) does, indeed, have the following inscription on this photo: "Photo taken by H. Mitra, Viveka Kutir, Bhaita P. O. (Burdwan), Bengal, E. J. R. Saktistur Station."

When asked if he knew anything about H. Mitra, Swami Prabhananda remarked:

Please note that H. Mitra is no other than Haripada Mitra. His wife was Indumati Mitra. They belonged to the village Bhaita in the district of Burdwan. Mr. Mitra, a Government Forest Officer, and his wife met Swamiji at Belgaon [Belgaum]. Mrs. Indumati Mitra was very probably the first female disciple of Swamiji but Mr. Haripada Mitra was not the first male disciple (householder) of Swamiji. Before Swami went to Belgaon [Belgaum], he, during his travel in Rajputana had initiated [a] few persons (pg. 314 of Vol. I, 1st ed. of Yuganayak Vivekananda by Swami Gambhirananda). One of them is Lala Govinda Sahai to whom Swamiji had addressed a letter on the 14th April 1891.

Mrs. French's reminiscences continue, giving another tantalizing bit of information: "He [Haripada Mitra] invited me most cordially to visit

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his home, saying that his wife had known and admired Sister Nivedita; and he was sure she would be pleased to meet me. He said he would send me a youthful and almost unknown picture of Swamiji. After his return, he wrote me, his wife joining in the invitation renewal to visit them in their home. He apologized for not being able to send the specified photograph; but sent as substitute another I had never seen." It is not known to date exactly which two photographs are being referred to.

Another charming reference to this photo occurs in the "Reminiscences of Swami Shivananda" by Swami Shraddhananda (VK, 295, no.79, May 1990). One day Swami Shivananda came into Swami Vivekananda's room at Belur Math. "Then he looked at a group photo hanging on the south wall. Swamiji, Hari Maharaj, Swami Brahmananda, and also Mahapurushji were in it. When his eyes fell on his figure in the photo, he said laughing, 'Who is this villain? He was a villain, indeed. In the company of these holy men, he became a sadhu.'" This photo is presently hanging on the westward facing wall of Swamiji's room.

KOLKATA, (JUNE 20?), 1899

Photograph 78

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Crop of Swamiji from the Bosepara Lane group.

RIDGELY MANOR, NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 1899

Photograph 79

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Standing (left to right): Swami Turiyananda, Swami Abhedananda .

Sitting (left to right): Swami Vivekananda, Alberta Sturges, Besse Leggett (hidden), Josephine MacLeod, friend of Alberta's [sometimes mistaken for Sister Nivedita].

During the "great summer" of 1899 at Ridgely Manor, when Swamiji spent ten weeks vacationing at Mr. Francis Leggett's estate, two group photos were taken on the circular portico at the back of the main house. These photos had to be taken sometime between September 8 and 17 or 18 because it was during that time that Swami Abhedananda was staying at Ridgely Manor. Swami Abhedananda's diary entry for September 8, 1899, reads:

Arrived at Kingston at 7:30 p.m. drove to Ridgely and arrived there at 9:30 p.m. Saw Swami V. and T. and lived with them.

Swami Abhedananda left on September 17 or 18 for New York.

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RIDGELY MANOR, NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 1899

Photograph 80

This photograph was taken of the same people on the same day, at

the same place (as in no.79. Here "one sees Swamiji standing and

looking unwell and Alberta with her face in her hands, shielding her

eyes from the afternoon sun."

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RIDGELY MANOR, NEW YORK, 1899

Photograph 81

This is a photograph of a pastel drawing of Swamiji au Bedouin by Maud Stumm, a young artist who was one of the Leggett’s house guests during the "great summer." "On a hot summer day Miss Stumm and others asked Swamiji to show how he wound his turban--a demonstration he had given perhaps countless times in the West for fascinated children and grownups alike. Now at Ridgely Manor he wound and unwound the length of silk, disclosing the mysteries not only of his own turban but of other kinds as well. ‘When he arranged it as the desert people do, to keep the neck from the great heat,’ Miss Stumm recounted, ‘I asked him to pose, and he did, talking all the time. That was the day he talked to us of purity and

truth.’ " " ‘The lines of the mouth were so simple and lovely and yet so very difficult!’ Miss Stumm wrote of her attempts to draw him."

A charming sequel to this account is that Swamiji himself took drawing lessons from Miss Stumm. She recalled:

At an appointed hour he came, promptly, bringing to me, with a curious little air of submission, a huge red apple, which he laid in my hands, bowing gravely. I asked him the significance of this gift, and he said, "in token that the lessons may be fruitful"--and such a pupil as he proved to be! Once only did I have to tell him anything; his memory and concentration were marvelous, and his drawings strangely perfect and intelligent for a beginner. By the time he had taken his fourth lesson, he felt quite equal to a portrait; so . . . Turiyananda posed, like any bronze

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image, and was drawn capitally--all in the study of Mr. Leggett, with its divan for our seat, and its fine light to aid us.

RIDGELY MANOR, NEW YORK, OCTOBER 1899

Photograph 82

Swami Vivekananda and Mrs. Ole Bull

This photograph was thought to have been taken in Green Acre in 1894. However, the Eliot Baha’i archivist in Green Acre has indicated that it was taken at Ridgely Manor in October 1899:

[The photo of] Swami Vivekananda and Sara Bull at Green Acre is a mystery for me. Some have suggested that it is at her cottage at Green Acre, however the cottage was not built until 1897 and Vivekananda did not visit after 1896. One might think that it is on the porch of the [Green Acre] Inn but the railing finials are not of that design! I do not believe it was taken at Green Acre. Joseph Frost, of Eliot, has in his possession a glass slide taken by his deceased relative Ralph S. Bartlett on which he has written "Mrs. Ole Bull and Swami Vivekananda at home of Francis H. Leggett, Stoneridge, NY--October 1899." It appears to be the same photograph.

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Swamiji and Mrs. Bull are standing on the porch of the "Inn," which was a building on the Ridgely property where Mrs. Bull and Sister Nivedita stayed. Swamiji had been earnestly requesting Mrs. Bull to join the group who had gathered at the Leggett’s home during his stay there. Various obstacles kept cropping up which prevented Mrs. Bull’s coming. Eventually, the way cleared and she arrived on October 7 and remained there until Swamiji left on November 7. Mrs. Bull’s stay during October corroborates the Baha’i Society’s information that the photo was taken at that time.

A print made from Mr. Frost’s glass slide has verified that the photo was taken at Ridgely Manor. This photo, as well as the next, no 83, are scans of the original glass positives, which are currently in the collection of the Sri Sarada Society, New York.

RIDGELY MANOR, NEW YORK, OCTOBER 1899

Photograph 83

This photograph was previously thought to have been taken in Kashmir in 1898 perhaps because of Swamiji’s Kashmiri dress, but it

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has been identified in Pravrajika Prabuddhaprana’s publication Saint Sara: The Life of Sara Chapman Bull, The American Mother of Swami Vivekananda, as “Swami Vivekananda at Stoneridge [Ridgely Manor], New York, photographed by Ralph S. Bartlett in mid-October 1899.”

According to Pravrajika Prabuddhaprana this information is from the label on the glass slide, which was loaned to her by Joseph Frost from his collection through the Eliot Baha’i archivist in Green Acre (who had also provided the same information about photo 82). Ralph Bartlett, a friend of Mrs. Bull’s daughter Olea, arrived in Ridgely Manor a few days after Mrs. Bull who arrived on October 7; he stayed several days and then left. Olea wrote him a letter from Ridgely Manor on October 28. The two photographs that he took of Swamiji were taken sometime during this period.

MOUNT LOWE, CALIFORNIA, JANUARY 1900

Photograph 84

" 'Tomorrow if it be fine,' Miss MacLeod had written on December 15 to Sister Nivedita, 'Mr. & Mrs. Baumgardt, Swami, & I go to Mount Lowe where there is a fine observatory, and we shall have a rare sight looking through the telescope--& do some fine excursions in the

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neighborhood, returning home here about 5 on Sunday afternoon.' As it had happened December 16 had not been fine, and the outing had been postponed. It was not until the second weekend in January that Swamiji made the trip up Mount Lowe, a high peak of the San Gabriel Range that rose just northeast of Pasadena."

Sister Gargi remarks: "In a photograph taken unquestionably at Mount Lowe (not, as has generally been supposed, in Switzerland), one sees Swamiji standing in the very center of a funicular-load of excursionists and looking, at the moment, none too happy. The people around him are unidentified, but just behind his right shoulder appears a man whose photograph resembles one of Mr. Baumgardt. The funicular is about to ascend the first steep slope of the mountain by way of the Great Cable Incline, a track that climbed straight up for a dizzy half mile to Echo Summit--a small plateau from which one could halloo once and be answered by the friendly mountains thirteen times."

The group stayed overnight on Echo Summit in the Echo Mountain House on Saturday, January 13 and descended the mountain the next day, Sunday, January 14. This photograph must have been taken on Saturday the thirteenth.

SOUTH PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, JANUARY 1900

Photograph 85

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While in South Pasadena Swamiji stayed at the home of the Mead sisters--Mrs. Alice Hansbrough, Mrs. Carrie Wyckoff, and Miss Helen Mead. The other members of the household were Mr. Mead (the sisters' father), his two grandchildren--Mrs. Hansbrough's daughter, Dorothy, and Mrs. Wyckoff 's son, Ralph, and the housekeeper, Miss Fairbanks. "How so many people could fit comfortably into so small a house is a marvel. But even with guests, they managed with apparent ease."

In this photo Swamiji is shown standing, leaning on an umbrella, at a corner of the Meads' house, the rose vine at his back, "while Mrs. Wyckoff, standing on the porch, peeps from behind a pillar. Only a portion of the house is visible in this particular photograph; but in the book Swami Turiyananda by Swami Ritajananda there is a full view of it."

The house, now known as the Vivekananda House, located at 309 Monterey Road, South Pasadena, was purchased in 1955 by a devotee and was deeded over to the Vedanta Society of Southern California. It was restored to its original state preserving its Victorian flavor and was dedicated in 1956. Since that time it has been further renovated. In 1989 the Vivekananda House was made an official Historic Landmark.

It seems possible that one of the members of the Mead household could have taken this photo as well as the following one, no. 86.

In her reminiscences recounted in 1941 Mrs. Alice Hansbrough said with regard to her first meeting with Swamiji: "It was a few days after his second lecture--as I mentioned, Miss MacLeod had arranged for us to call

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on him at Mrs. Blodgett's home, and my sister Helen and I went one morning, about the middle of September (?). He was dressed to receive us in the long, knee-length coat we see in the picture where he stands with Sister Lalita [Mrs. Wyckoff]. He wore a kind of minister's collar with what must have been a clerical vest; and his hair was covered by a black turban which rolled back something like those the women wear here now. This was the dress he always wore on the street."

SOUTH PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, JANUARY 1900

Photograph 86

According to the Vedanta Society of Southern California, this photo of Swamiji standing with an umbrella was taken on Monterey Road, South Pasadena. The tree and the house in back of Swamiji are no longer standing.

Mrs. Hansbrough mentioned in her reminiscences in response to Swami Ashokananda's question:

"What would Swamiji wear to the [public] meetings? Would he wear his robe? " She replied, "No, he wore the black garment we see in several of the pictures of him, something like a clerical frock, but looser. Sometimes if it were not too warm he would wear his overcoat over this.

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He would take his gerua robe and turban in a suitcase, and put them on when he arrived at the meeting place."

Mrs. Hansbrough also recalled:

When Mrs. Bowler had invited him to speak in Pasadena, she had specifically asked that he wear his turban. "Do you have to wear the turban?" I asked him, for by that time he had given it up. "Don't you understand?" he said, "She wants the whole show!"

SOUTH PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, JANUARY 1900

Photograph 87

Swami Vivekananda in center; on his right, a Mrs. Bruce; behind him, Carrie Wyckoff; on his left, Alice Hansbrough. The others are unknown. In Vivekananda: A Biography in Pictures, some of the other picnickers are identified. As the source of these identifications cannot be verified, these people have not been listed.

The two Pasadena picnic photos (nos. 87 and 89) were taken on the hill above the Meads' house. This hill is now known as "Monterey Hill." Mrs. Hansbrough mentioned the picnics that Swamiji and others used to have on this hill. "It seems as if there were always

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something going on. This was always true on Sunday mornings. But during the week, if he did not have a formal meeting somewhere, we would often go for a picnic lunch to the top of a hill about four city blocks' distance from our house. You have seen that photo of Swamiji in a picnic group; that was taken on top of that hill. We would make up a party of people who were attending his meetings more or less regularly--or Swami would even hold some of his smaller class groups there. Naturally the talk was always on spiritual subjects."

Sister Gargi gives a colorful description of the hilltop picnic pictured here: "In this photograph, Swamiji is sitting cross-legged at what might be called the head of the picnic cloth; on his left sits Mrs. Hansbrough (identified by her daughter, Mrs. Cohn); behind him stands Mrs. Wyckoff; and on his right, a Mrs. Bruce (also identified by Mrs. Cohn). On either side one can see two or three of the guests--ladies with the long skirts, tight bodices, leg-of-mutton sleeves, and overburdened hats of the period. The photograph was taken at a relaxed moment; two of the women talk together, and Swamiji appears to be reading with amusement a scrap of paper, about the size of a fortune from a Chinese cookie, while Mrs. Bruce reads over his shoulder. To judge from the absence of coats, shawls, or wraps, the weather was pleasant, as it was almost every day that winter."

SOUTH PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, JANUARY 1900

Photograph 88

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Crop of Swamiji from picnic photo 87.

In her reminiscences about Swamiji's stay at their house, Mrs. Hansbrough mentioned that Swamiji would come to the breakfast table with his hair tousled. Although he was very careful about his dress when he went out, while at home he was careless about his appearance. He would jokingly remark: "Why should I be careful of my dress at home? I don't want to get married!" When she was questioned about Swamiji's hair, Mrs. Hansbrough replied that his black hair was long and wavy. "And as one can see from photographs taken of him at this period, it was fairly long. This was not by chance, but was, rather, a concession to popular demand. 'His hair was beautifully wavy,' Mrs. Hansbrough recalled. 'In fact, it was so beautiful and it set off his features so well that we would not let him cut it. Swamiji himself,' she continued, 'did not object. He was wholly devoid of self-consciousness.' "

Another interesting reference to Swamiji in his picnic photos comes from Mrs. Allan during Swamiji's stay at Alameda in 1900. "At other times, Swamiji would entertain a group of friends with jokes and stories, or suddenly growing serious in response to a need or a question, would discourse on some aspect of spiritual reality or spiritual practice. Mrs. Allan, for instance, told of the moonlit evening of Easter Sunday, when a small group gathered on the wide, wisteria?curtained porch. Swamiji sat on the railing, smoking his after-dinner pipe. The air was cool, and someone thought he should have a hat. 'All right,' he said. 'Bring the red one.' (This was the hat with ear

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flaps, Mrs. Allan recalled, that one sees him wearing in the picnic photograph taken in South Pasadena.)"

SOUTH PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, JANUARY 1900

Photograph 89

(Swami Vivekananda in center. Other picnickers are not identified.)

"There are no known records of Swamiji's talks and informal classes on this sunny hilltop. Yet from a snatch of conversation that Mrs. Hansbrough remembered, it is clear that he was seeing all the world--its good and its evil alike--as a divine play, all supremely Good. On one of the picnics a young woman, a Christian Scientist, put forth the belief that one should teach people to be good. Swamiji smiled and waved his hand to indicate the trees and the countryside, 'Why should I desire to be good ?' he asked. 'All this is His handiwork. Shall I apologize for His handiwork? If you want to reform John Doe, go and live with him; don't try to reform him. If you have any of the Divine Fire, he will catch it.'

"In those still, warm days of January, seated where they could overlook the rich valley with its escarpment of snow?peaked mountains, the picnickers listened to his words and felt themselves lifted into another level of existence altogether-- a level in which they

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surely caught the 'Divine Fire' that blazed in their midst. 'When he had talked for some time,' Mrs. Hansbrough said, 'the air would become surcharged with a spiritual atmosphere.' And she spoke of one occasion in particular when, absorbed in some subject he was discussing, 'he talked for six hours without interruption--from ten in the morning until four in the afternoon.' 'The air,' she said, 'was just vibrant with spirituality by the time it was over.' "

SOUTH PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, JANUARY 1900

Photograph 90

Crop of Swamiji from picnic photo 89.

Mrs. Hansbrough said of Swamiji: "He

always looked bright, especially when

he was particularly interested in

something. Then his eyes actually

sparkled."

CALIFORNIA, 1900

Photograph 91

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Two photographs [91 & 92] of Swami Vivekananda were discovered at the Vedanta Society of Southern California's Hollywood center. This photo was published in the June 2002 issue of Vedanta Voices, the southern California newsletter. The other photo, no. 92, was published in the July 2002 issue. It seems that over the last seventy years many photographs and other materials have accumulated in the Society's archives. The archive committee is in the process of sorting through the collection. The archives' director continues the story: "Sorting through the box of photos, I noticed two pictures of Swamiji I hadn't seen before. The photographs are in excellent condition, but there is no descriptive information to give us a date or the circumstances surrounding the origin of the photos. Suspecting they might be new discoveries, we printed one of them in last month's newsletter, hoping to get feedback from scholars who are more familiar with the life of Swami Vivekananda. Since then we have heard from several researchers who believe the photographs were probably taken in San Francisco in 1900."

The July newsletter states: "It appears that the photographs were donated to the Vedanta Society by Ida Ansell (Ujjvala), a devoted follower of Swamiji, who transcribed some of his talks in San Francisco. Ujjvala eventually moved to Los Angeles, where she became active at the Hollywood center. When she died in 1955, she left some of her personal belongings to the center, where she had been living for some time. About twenty-five years ago, her belongings were sorted in a preliminary manner and put in storage with other archival material. Calls from researchers over the past few weeks concur that Ujjvala is the most likely source of these photos."

It is not yet certain exactly where or when these two photos were taken. They certainly resemble the photos taken in San Francisco, except Swamiji looks heavier and his hair longer than in the other San Francisco photos [nos. 93-99]. His turban also is wound a little differently. In addition to his personal appearance, the studio backdrop in both photos differs from the other seven photos. This does not, of course, preclude the possibility that they were taken sometime during his stay in San Francisco possibly in a different

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studio, or the same studio at another time. Perhaps the Vedanta Society of Southern California will discover the details behind these photos in the future. We are indeed grateful that they have generously given their permission to publish these beautiful new photos of the great swami.

CALIFORNIA, 1900

Photograph 92

Ida Ansell recalled as she was leaving

Camp Taylor in northern California: "He

[Swamiji] took me up the steep steps to

the railroad track and flagged the train

for me. There was no station and the

train stopped only on signal. Swamiji's

carriage was magnificent. His eyes

were always turned skyward, never

down. Someone said of him that he

never saw anything lower than a

telegraph pole. When the engine passed

us, as the train slowed down, I heard

the fireman say to the engineer,

'Hellow! Who is this sky pilot?' I had never heard the expression and

was puzzled at first as to its meaning. Then I realized that it must

mean a religious leader, and that it was evident to anyone who saw

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him that Swamiji was such a leader."

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, 1900

Photograph 93

Miss Blanche Partington, a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle, visited the Turk Street flat where Swamiji was staying to interview him. Her report of this interview, "A Dusky Philosopher From India" was published in the Chronicle of March 18, 1900.

When Miss Partington asked for a photo to publish along with her article, she was given one which she referred to as being like Othello.

" 'I asked for a picture to illustrate this article, and when someone handed me a certain 'cut' which has been extensively used in lecture advertisements here he uttered a mild protest against its use. [One might well remember Swamiji's earlier reference to Harrison's "nasty standing photos."]

'But that does not look like you,' said I.

'No, it is as if I wished to kill someone,' he said smiling, 'like--like--'

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'Othello,' I inserted rashly. But the little audience of friends only smiled as the swami made laughing recognition of the absurd resemblance of the picture to the jealous Moor. But I do not use that picture.' "

In New Discoveries we learn: "As for the picture of Swamiji which Miss Partington likened to Othello, it may have been one of those taken during the Parliament of Religions in 1893, showing him standing with his arms folded and looking like the heroic warrior-monk that he was. The photograph which she chose to accompany her article was in another mood entirely. Here Swamiji is seated in his robe and turban, his right elbow rests on the arm of his settee, he leans slightly to the right, his head supported by his hand. This picture was one of several [seven] taken professionally in San Francisco [at Bushnell Studio], perhaps at Mrs. Hansbrough's urging and certainly before March 17."

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, 1900

Photograph 94

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The Vedanta Society of Northern California

secretary's minutes for February 9, 1903,

read: "A move was made and seconded that

Miss Ansell, Mr. French, and Mr. Juhl be

appointed a committee of three to inquire

regarding copyright of photographs.

Carried. Moved and seconded that Mr.

French apply for copyright for Swami

Vivekananda's photos--7 sittings." However,

a copyright was never acquired by the

Society.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, 1900

Photograph 95

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"'The beauty of Swamiji nobody can imagine,' Mrs. Allan once said. 'His face, his hands, his feet, all were beautiful. Swami Trigunatita later said that Swamji's hands were far more beautiful than any woman's. His color would seem to change, some days being darker and some days lighter, but usually there was about it what can best be described as a golden glow.' "

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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, 1900

Photograph 96

Sister Gargi's thorough research has revealed that "two sets of photographs had been taken at the same studio [Bushnell]. In one set [nos. 93-95] Swamiji wears his robe and turban; in the other, [nos. 96-99] which shows him seated in an ornately carved chair, his head is bare, he wears his clerical collar and loose black coat. In all these photographs, he seems piercingly beautiful, the embodiment--almost translucently so --of grace in every meaning of the word.

"Attempts were made in San Francisco to recover the original negatives of these photographs, but to no avail. It seems fairly certain that they were destroyed by the Earthquake and Fire of 1906. Fortunately, however, the Vedanta Society of Northern California possesses some of the original prints and has made negatives from these prints. The two sets are the only pictures we have of Swamiji in San Francisco, and as Miss Partington has let us know, it is these photographs, not earlier ones, which show us how he was when he was here, how he looked when he lectured, when he talked to friends and interviewers, when he walked these streets."

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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, 1900

Photograph 97

"As was the case everywhere, Swamiji

met people of all kinds in San Francisco,

and, as was the case always, he was

equally friendly to all. 'He seemed to like

all people,' Mrs. Hansbrough once said.

'He was most compassionate; it seemed

as if he never saw distinctions between

people--almost as if he didn't see the

difference between a duck and a man!'"

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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, 1900

Photograph 98

"'The Swami's personality impressed itself on the mind with visual intensity,' Mr. [Frank] Rhodehamel was to write some ten years later. 'The speaking eyes, the wealth of facial expression and gesticulation; the wondrous Sanskrit chanting, sonorous, melodious, impressing one with the sense of mystic potency; the translations following in smiling confidence--all these set off by the spectacular apparel of the Hindu sannyasin--who can forget them?'"

In his reminiscences of Swami Shivananda, Swami Shraddhananda has this entry for January 28, 1931: "When I was cleaning Swamiji's room, Mahapurushji entered. On the north wall hung a big framed photograph of

Swamiji sitting on a chair in a Western dress, his hair long, black and curly. Mahapurush Maharaj: 'See in this photograph what a grand appearance Swamiji had! Nivedita used to call him King. He indeed looks like a King. In America they used to call him a 'Prince among Men.'" This photo is still hanging on the northern wall in Swamiji's room at Belur Math.

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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, 1900

Photograph 99

Ida Ansell in her reminiscences recalled the first impression of Swamiji that she and her friends had when they met him in February 1900:

We were startled and astonished at what we heard, amazed and enraptured at the swami's appearance. He was surely a Mahatma or a divine being, more than human. No one had ever been so sublimely eloquent or so deliciously humorous, such an entrancing storyteller, or such a perfect mimic.

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ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 1900

Photograph 100

"Charles Neilson was another Alameda friend whom Swamiji visited. It is indeed to him that we owe what many feel to be one of the most beautiful, 'speaking' photographs of Swamiji that we possess. Among Mr. Allan's papers one finds an account of the circumstances under which it was taken.

'Swamiji with a party of friends,' Mr. Allan wrote, 'was invited to lunch at the home of Mr. Charles Neilson. After lunch they adjourned to the garden, and Swamiji stretched out on the lawn.

'Mr. Neilson, wishing to take a picture of Swamiji, asked him to pose. Swamiji being indifferent about having his picture taken was loath to get up.

'Mrs. Emily Aspinall, one of the party, said, 'Swami, Mr. Neilson wants to take your picture, why not let him?' Swamiji then stood up in front of the summer house and Mr. Neilson took the picture, and that is how Swamiji has the flowers [actually a vine?covered lattice] for a background.' . . .

"It can be added to Mr. Allan's account that Mr. Neilson took two pictures of Swamiji, the first [100] of which has not been generally

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known; it shows him looking not at all pleased."

ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 1900

Photograph 101

“According to Mrs. Allan someone then said, ‘Oh Swami, please smile for us!’ Whereupon, Swamiji smiled, and as he did so the second photograph [101] of which Mrs. Allan once said, ‘You will see everything in it,’ was taken. Both pictures are reproduced here: the cross one and the all?inclusive one.

“One does indeed find everything in Swamiji’s smiling picture, and it is small wonder; for throughout his stay in Alameda he was in an exceedingly exalted state of mind. All anxiety in connection with his work had long since fallen from him.”

Another reference to this photograph was found in a letter that Mrs. Allan wrote to Ida Ansell from San Francisco dated October 27, 1945:

I did not take the picture of Swamiji you refer to. It was taken by the Artist Charles Neilson. The flowers shown back of Swamiji’s head are on the summerhouse of

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Charles Neilson. Dr. Plum had a copy of that picture and did not care to keep it when she left Vedanta and gave it to Tom [Mr. Allan] who had a negative made from it from which all other copies have been made. I do not know whether the Temple has any pictures. Miss Hansen who kindly makes prints for the Temple has all our negatives we had made and of various Swamis etc. She says she will make some prints bye and bye. In the meantime I have the enclosed print you are welcome to if you want it.

SHILLONG, 1901

Photograph 102

In March 1901 Swamiji went on tour in East Bengal and Assam. Swamiji’s health, which was by this time already declining, went from bad to worse. It was decided that a change of air would be beneficial to him and the party proceeded to Shillong, a beautiful hill station and the capital of Assam. Sir Henry Cotton, the chief commissioner, was a well-known sympathetic friend of India. Sir Henry Cotton was anxious to meet Swamiji, who had by now become famous throughout the country. He arranged for Swamiji to give a public speech before the resident English officials and Indian gentlemen. Afterwards the two of them spent some time discussing India and her national problems. Noticing that Swamiji was not well, Sir Henry Cotton made all arrangements for his medical care.

This photo as well as the following one, no. 103, were both taken in the same studio, although in the second one Swamiji has donned a

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cap. The ornate studio background is the same in both photos. One of the swamis of the Ramakrishna Order, who is from Shillong, said that there was a well-known photographic company in Shillong during those days called Ghosal Brothers. This company specialized in photography of Assam and of important government officials and other noteworthy people. It is possible that Sir Henry Cotton, who had been much impressed with Swamiji, arranged for Ghosal Brothers to take these two studio photographs.

SHILLONG, 1901

Photograph 103

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(See photo information under

photograph 102.)

SHILLONG, 1901

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Photograph 104

While in Shillong Swamiji was very ill, as this photo, as well as the next, indicates. Swamiji told Sharatchandra Chakravarty:

The Shillong hills are very beautiful. There, I met Sir Henry Cotton, the chief commissioner of Assam. He asked me, "Swamiji, after traveling through Europe and America, what have you come to see here in these distant hills?" Such a good and kind-hearted man as Sir Henry Cotton is rarely found. Hearing of my illness, he sent the Civil Surgeon and

inquired after my health mornings and evenings. I could not do much lecturing there, because my health was very bad.

SHILLONG, 1901

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Photograph 105

(Taken after a long illness)

Swamiji wrote to Swami Swarupananda on May 15, 1901: “I have just returned from my tour through East Bengal and Assam. As usual, am quite tired and broken down.” And in a letter to Josephine MacLeod he wrote from Belur Math on June 14, 1901, “As for me, I was thrown hors de combat [disabled] in Assam. The climate of the Math is just reviving me a bit.”

Page 127: Vivekananda's Rare Images

BELUR MATH, 1977 Swamiji’s Temple

Photograph 106

Three days before his passing away, as the swami [Swamiji] was walking up and down on the spacious lawn of the monastery in the afternoon with Swami Premananda, he pointed to a particular spot on the bank of the Ganga, and said to his brother monk gravely, “When I give up the body, cremate it there!”

Swamiji entered mahasamadhi on July 4, 1902. This memorial was erected in his honor on the very spot where he was cremated.

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