Vivekananda Rock Memorial

Swami Vivekananda has said that even after he laid down his body, he would continue to work and inspire generations to come to carry on his unfinished work.We see it still happing. Swamiji does it in innumerable ways. The magnificent Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari is one such undying source of inspiration.

The Vivekananda Memorial, as it stands today, is a memorial to Swamiji as to Shri Ekanthji Ranade whose devotion to the work he had undertaken was inspired not by mere faith but by intellectual conviction.

At Kanyakumari - a unique symbol of unity and purity - is the Memorial of Swami Vivekananda, another symbol of the united aspiration of Nation. In the Memorial, there is a happy and harmonious blend of all the architectural beauty of the country. It is a symbol of unity because the whole nation wished, worked and contributed for it. Person from all states participated in its inauguration. It is also a Memorial, conceived and laboured for mainly by RSS swayamsevaks, blessed by Ramakrishna Mission, designed by Paramacharya of Kachi Kamakoti Peetham, and for which Swami Chinmayananda of Chinmay Mission gave the first donation.All the spiritual,culture and national organisations supported it.It is also a Memorial for which all State Governments and Central Government contributed.
Thus, the memorial became a focal point just as Kanyakumari is a meeting point for three seas.

Virtual Tour of Vivekananda Rock Memorial

A timeline of major events related to Vivekananda Rock Memorial.

1962    Idea of erecting a memorial for Swami Vivekananda as his birth centenary is to follow in 1963

01 Aug 1962    Unregistered committee starts functioning.

15 Sep 1962    First ad hoc committee meeting is held at Madras.

19 Sep 1962    Devaswom Board, Suchindram, grants permission to start ferry service to and fro Vivekananda Rock. Boat service starts in the evening.

02 Oct 1962    Armed police guards planted at the Rock in view of the friction arising from erecting and removing a cross on the Rock.

10 Oct 1962    Devaswom Board, Suchindram, grants permission to construct a statue of Swami Vivekananda on the Vivekananda Rock.

11 Nov 1962    Members of the Executive Committee of the All India Committee elected.

17 Jan 1963    Birth centenary of Swamiji is celebrated at Kanyakumari. A memorial tablet in marble is erected on the Rock.

29 Mar 1963    The All India Swami Vivekananda Centenary Celebration and Vivekananda Rock Memorial Committee is registered.

20 Apr 1963    The Memorial tablet on the Rock is disfigured.

18 May 1963    The Memorial tablet is stolen.

11 Aug 1963    Eknathji Ranade becomes the Organising Secretary.

23 Dec 1963    Eknathji takes the first signature in the petition of parliamentarians.

26 Dec 1963    The petition with signatures of 323 MPs is given to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

29 Aug 1964    Committee approves Chief Engineer and Architect S. K. Achari’s Memorial plan.

24 Sep 1964    Madras Government grants permission for the erection of the statue of Swami Vivekananda on the Vivekananda Rock.

06 Nov 1964    Chiselling the first stone starts.

03 Sep 1966    Drilling core sample on the Rock starts.

12 Dec 1967    Stone masonry work starts on the Rock. Meditation Hall work taken up first.

03 Dec 1967    The name Vivekananda Kendra is suggested for conducting activities preached and envisaged by Swami Vivekananda.

19 Jun 1968    Submerged power cable to the Rock is energised.

18 Sep 1968    Permission to construct Shripada Mandapam is received.

27 Dec 1968    Tentative date of 9 Mar 1970 fixed for inauguration of the Rock Memorial.

06 Mar 1970    Dhyan Mandapam and Shripada Mandapam completed.

16 Jul 1970    Main dome, circular path way, power house completed.

21 Jul 1970    Campus is named Vivekanandapuram.

21 Aug 1970    Shripada Mandapam consecrated.

02 Sep 1970    Consecration of the Rock Memorial. Inauguration of the Rock Memorial by President V. V. Giri.

26 Dec 1971    Dwajasthambam is ready for flag hoisting.

07 Jan 1972    Flag hoisting on the Rock at sunrise and lowering at sunset starts. Vivekananda Kendra comes into being.