Picture © Rohan A Singh
Friday, January 30, 2015
Friday, January 23, 2015
Friday, January 16, 2015
Picture of the Week #118 - Wat Arun (Const 17th Cent CE)
Picture © Rohan A Singh
Wat Arun used to house the famous Emerald Buddha statue until it was shifted to its present location, at the Wat Phra Kaew in the Grand Palace Complex in Bangkok, ThailandMonday, January 12, 2015
Swami Vivekananda - The Traveler
Swami Vivekananda was a monk and a philosopher. He was born on 12th January 1863 CE (in Calcutta) and today the world is celebrating his 151st Birth Anniversary. Amongst many of his famous deeds, his introduction of Hinduism at the Parliament of World's Religion in Chicago in the year 1893 CE is remembered across the world by many. It was thanks to the hundreds of conventions and lectures addressed by him, in the west, that the Hindu concepts of Yoga, Transcendental Meditation e.t.c. were embraced warmly by the people of the west. He founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission, both named after his guru.
Vivekananda Rock in Tamil Nadu, located 50 metres off the mainland of India, is the spot where Swami Vivekananda meditated in the winter of 1892 and attained enlightenment. A memorial, seen in the pic, stands to commemorate that incident.
The reason why he features in Path Rarely Taken - The Travel Blog is because he, as a wandering monk traveled across the lengths and breadths of India (from Ayodhya to Ernakulam, from Srinagar to Kanyakumari, from Lahore to Sri Lanka and across America and England) for five years from 1888 CE to 1893 CE to understand the religious and (the prevalent) social norms of those times and to give lectures. He didn't travel because he had some business to do, he traveled because he wanted to 'see' unlike others who travel to see only what they want to see; a salient feature of a true traveler !
An illuminated Vivekananda Memorial, on Vivekananda Rock at nighttime.
He travelled by foot and by the means of railway (with just a couple of books, a staff and his water pot along with him) and even though the purpose of his travels were religious in nature (just like Hiuen Tsang and Fa Hien) he had an open mind, an open heart, the curiosity to know, the intelligence to understand and the wisdom of not judging anyone. These qualities, I personally believe, are present in only those people who are true travelers by heart !
Path Rarely Taken - The Travel Blog pays respect to his eminence, Swami Vivekananda (a true traveler), on his 151st Birth Anniversary !
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Friday, January 9, 2015
Picture of the Week #117 - Vivekananda Rock Memorial, Tamil Nadu
Picture © Rommel A Singh
January 12th 1863 was Swami Vivekananda's (born Narendra Nath Dutta) birthday and this year the world will celebrate the 151st birth anniversary of this iconic Philosopher who introduced Hinduism to the modern world ! Located off the coast of Tamil Nadu, India; Vivekananda Rock is located at the tri-junction of Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Palk Strait. Swami Vivekananda attained enlightenment after meditating on this rock, in the year 1892 CE. Accompanying Vivekananda Rock out in the Ocean is another rocky outcrop upon which stands a giant statue of the great Indian poet Thiruvalluvar.
