Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda, known in his pre-monastic life as Narendra Nath Datta, was born in an affluent family in Kolkata. His father, Viswanath Datta, was a brilliant lawyer and his mother Devi Bhuvaneshwari, was a devout woman. In 1879, Narendra entered the Presidency College, Calcutta for higher studies. After one year, he joined the Scottish Church College, Calcutta and studied philosophy. He is the valiant monk who proclaimed in America the greatness of Hinduism and of Indian culture at a time when the West regarded India as a land of barbarians. For pictures, videos and lots more, go to Swami Vivekananda's Profile