The ''Swami Vivekananda'' statue is a bronze statue of the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Indian monk

Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...

(1863–1902), located in Golpark neighbourhood in the Indian city of

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. The original statue, made of

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

and unveiled in 1966, was the oldest statue of Swami Vivekananda in the city. The old statue was replaced by a new, taller one in 2005.

History

Old marble statue

The original statue of Swami Vivekananda at Golpark was seven feet tall and made of marble. It was installed in 1966, sixty-four years after Vivekananda's death. In 2005, it was moved to the Mission's Golpark campus to make room for a new, larger statue.

Bronze statue

In 2005, the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture decided to replace the old marble statue with a taller bronze one. Swami Gahanananda, the president of the institute, said in May 2005 that the old statue did not fit well with the urban development of Golpark and South Kolkata area—it was "dwarfed" by the new high-rises—and that many devotees of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda requested that the institute replace it. The bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda is twelve feet high and is mounted on an eight-foot-tall cement pedestal. The statue was made by Anit Ghosh of the

Government College of Art & Craft The Government College of Art & Craft (GCAC) in Kolkata is one of the oldest Art colleges in India. It was founded on August 16, 1854 at Garanhata, Chitpur, "with the purpose of establishing an institution for teaching the youth of all classes ...

. The

Kolkata Municipal Corporation Kolkata Municipal Corporation (abbreviated KMC; also Calcutta Municipal Corporation) is the local government of the Indian city of Kolkata, the state capital of West Bengal. This civic administrative body administers an area of . Its motto, '' ...

provided rupees for the work. Subrata Mukherjee, who was the Mayor of Kolkata at that time, said that the city agreed to the financial contribution after being "shown a few letters from devotees suggesting the installation of a giant statue of Swamiji at Gol Park in place of the old one." He added, "This is a necessity, in the light of overall development of the Gol Park area."

After installation

The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture was given the responsibility for carrying out maintenance of the park and adjacent area at Golpark by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation in 2006. A major two-month renovation of the park was undertaken in 2010, using funds provided by the Times Foundation; improvements included new lighting for the statue.

Location

Golpark is a landmark in South Kolkata. It is a circle-shaped fenced park, which is surrounded by a traffic roundabout. The statue is located at the middle of the park. The

Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture (RMIC) in Kolkata, India, is a branch of the Ramakrishna Mission founded on 29 January 1938 as an outcome of the commemoration of Sri Ramakrishna's Birth Centenary Celebrations, the institute has gr ...

, a branch of the

Ramakrishna Mission Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) is a Hindu religious and spiritual organisation which forms the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as the ''Ramakrishna Movement'' or the ''Vedanta Movement''. The mission is named after and inspired by th ...

which was established by Swami Vivekananda, is located across the street.

References

Notes

Citations

{{Statues in India Memorials to Swami Vivekananda Bronze sculptures in India Statues in India Monuments and memorials in Kolkata Culture of Kolkata Colossal statues in India 1996 sculptures 2005 sculptures 1996 establishments in West Bengal 2005 establishments in West Bengal