HYDERABAD: Till date, Swami Vivekananda is known for his speech at The World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago, where he represented Hinduism. He visited Chicago on September 11, 1893 — an important date in modern history. But not many know that the philosopher had visited Secunderabad days before leaving for Chicago. He gave a speech at Mehaboob College on ‘My Mission To West’ on February 13 that year.
For this, the Rama Krishna Math has decided to recognise February 13 as ‘Vivekananda Yuva Divas’ and wants the day to be celebrated every year to inspire the youth of our country in whom Swami Vivekananda had immense faith.
During this visit to Secunderabad, Vivekananda was hosted by Babu Madhusudan Chatterjee, the mint master of the Nizam’s Royal Mint.
It was he who had invited him to the city to plan his Chicago speech. Vivekananda reached the city on February 10 and was received by over 500 dignitaries at the railway station.