Thursday 15 January 2015

12th January : National Youth Day (India)

Since 1985, Government of India is celebrating "National Youth Day" on 12th January. 12th January is the birth day of Narendranath Datta aka. Swami Vivekananda.

He was an Indian Hindu monk and an ardent follower of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.  He is the one who  extolled Hinduism at the Parliament of the Worlds's Religions in Chicago in 1893, at the age of 30.  He started his opening speech at the Parliament with "Sisters and Brothers of America....". This opening line exemplified the tolerance and brotherhood of Hinduism and he received a standing ovation for more than 3 minutes.

He strongly believed that youth are the pillars of the future.  Once he said that "Give me few men and women who are pure and selfless and I shall shake the world". His quote: "Arise, awake and Stop not until the Goal is reached" is the inspiration for many Indians.

After his foreign tour he returned to India through Ramanad.  The young King of Ramanad, Bhaskara Sethupathi who funded Vivekananda's trip to Chicago, knelt before Swamiji and offered his own head to step on before it touches the Indian soil. In memory of this incident, the site is called "Kunthukaal". From this we can understand that how deep he inspired the youth of our nation, regardless of status in the society.

Shown below are few stamps depicting Swamiji and King Sethupathi. Also shown are commemorative coins issued in 2013.









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