Swamy Vivekananda and the story of the stone bench of Bangalore

They are so common that nobody gives a second thought to them. They are  there everywhere-in parks, playgrounds, houses, malls, schools, hospitals and even in the most remote places.

However, not much attention is paid to them unless they have a history of their own or they have a tale to narrate.

They are the stone benches. These benches are designed in the most simple manner. There are plenty of them in and around Bangalore. But this one located in the Ramakrishna Matha in Bangalore is a special one.

This is the very bench on which one of India’s greatest citizens, Swamy Vivekananda sat.   

The Ramakrishna Ashrama in Basavanagudi is at the Bull Temple road and it is a well-known landmark of Bangalore. However, what is not well-known is that the Ashrama houses some of the rare exhibits or artifacts such as the stone bench.

The stone bench was not originally the property of the Ashrama. The bench was in Majestic locality n Bangalore till 1997 after which it came to the Ashrama.

This is the story of the stone bench.

It was 1892 and Bangalore then comprised of  the old petes and the Cantonment area. Majestic was developing then and the railway station was constructed there.

Swamy Vivekananda had come to Belgaum in 1982 and he arrived in Bangalore in December the same year from Belgaum via Dharwad. He stayed in the Kalappa Choultry near Majestic for a few days.

Kalappa Choultry in the 1890s was an alms house. Since he knew nobody in Bangalore,  he decided to stay on in the choultry. However, soon after his arrival, he became infected with chicken pox.

According to then Municipal laws, infections could only be treated by authorised doctors Since  Dr. P. Palpu, the Municipal Medical

Officer, was available, he was called in.

When the doctor met the Swamy, it took him just a few minutes to relies that Vivekananda was no ordinary person or monk. He then persuaded the young monk to leave the alms house and stay with him in Majestic area.

Coincidentally, Dr Palpu, an acquaintance of  K. Seshadri Iyer, the Dewan  of Mysore State. When the doctor met the Dewan, he told him about the extraordinary monk.

The Dewan, whose curiosity was aroused, met the monk and even he came under the influence of Vivekananda. Very soon, the Dewan introduced the monk to the aristocracy and the intelligentsia of Bangalore. He affectionately called Vivekananda  “Young Acharya”.

The Dewan then decided to personally introduce Vivekananda to then Maharaja of Mysore, Chamarajendra Wodeyar. He then invited Vivekananda to visit Mysore and be his guest.

By then, Vivekananda was cured of chicken pox and Dr. Palpu declared him fit to travel. Vivekananda travelled to Mysore, stayed for some time at the Niranjana Matha near Narayana Shastri Road and then shifted to the Dewan’s house on Seethavilas Road. He then called on the Maharaja and confounded him with his knowledge and expertise on all subjects.

The Maharaja, himself a scholar, was moved to remark,“Such

brilliancy of thought, such charm of personality, such wide learning and such penetrating religious insight”.

It was at Mysore that Vivekananda resolved to visit Chicago ad attend the World meet on Religions. He then left Mysore for Trivandrum and then to the United States.

Well, Vivekananda went to Chicago where he gave a stirring speech on September 11, 1893. The world then woke up to the greatness of Vivekananda. India too received news of  Vivekananda’s greatness. It was only then that Sugappa, a jeweler of Majestic in Bangalore, decided to preserve a stone bench in front of his house.

The bench was placed near the house of  Sugappa adjacent to the Kalappa choultry and Sugappa had noticed a young and handsome person sitting n the bench for several days. It appeared to him that the person liked the bench. However, after a few days, he noticed that the handsome person had disappeared. He thought nothing of it and it was only when new of Vivekananda taking the West by storm reached India that the jeweler realized that the young and handsome person who so frequently sat on the bench was none other than Vivekananda.

Sugappa and his descendents preserved the bench and in January 1997 they handed over the bench to the Ramakrishna Ashrama in Bangalore.

The ashrama decided to preserve the bench and its link to one of its most illustrious monks. On March 27, 2009, the bench along with a statue of Vivekananda was consecrated at a special function presided over by Swamy Bhaumananda, president, of the Pune branch of the Ramakrishna Matha.

The bench can still be seen today along with some other relics belonging to Sharada Devi.

  

The monk and a monarch

It was November 1892 and the Dewan of Mysore, K, Seshadri Iyer, had fixed an appointment for a monk with the reigning Wodeyar monarch, Chamaraja Wodeyar.

The young monk had come along with six other colleague to Mysore on an invitation from the Dewan who had met them at Bangalore.

The Dewan had been attracted by the language and scholarship of the monk who had stayed in Bangalore in Majestic and given discourses in Vedanta.

The monk stayed in Mysore from November 9 to November 24. He had been initially been put up at the Nirajnana Matha before being asked to shift to the Dewan’s house on Seetha Vilas Road in Mysore.

The Dewan had personally arranged for an interview with the monarch and the monk impressed the royal with his knowledge and fluency. Overcome by his magnetic personality, the monarch-Chamaraja Wodeyar-insisted that the monk stay for a few days in the Palace itself as a State guest.  

During his stay at the Palace, the monarch made every effort to make the monk’s stay comfortable. He also had a range of discussions with the monk over various topics, including religion, philosophy and even statecraft.

One day, both the Dewan and the monk went to the private quarters of the monarch.

The Monarch humbly asked the monk what he could do for him. The monk did not say anything but he began expounding the mission of his life. As the monk became more and more involved in describing his mission, the monarch and the Dewan found themselves spellbound under the oratorical skills of the handsome and erudite ascetic.

The monk covered a variety of issues and said India’s real wealth was its rich culture, history and philosophy. What India now needed was a push in science and technology. India, the monk said, had enough of religion and philosophy to give to the West. “I am, therefore, going to America to give them our religion and philosophy”, he said. “In return, the West must help us improving our social and economic condition”.

The monarch was not only taken aback by the eloquence of the monk and his stirring ideas, but also by the bold and frank manner in which he had expressed himself. He immediately offered to bear the expense of the trip to America. The monk refused politely.

The monk spent several days at the Palace and when the time came for him to leave Mysore, the monarch and the Dewan were unwilling to let him go. “Stay for some more days, they both urged the monk.

The monk pointed to the unfilled task that he had to address immediately and once again urged them to let him go. The monarch then asked for a souvenir. He said he would record the monk’s speech.

The monk agreed and so the monarch decided to record his speech for posterity. The device to record voices then wad called a phonograph and the monarch had the finest device of the age. The monk spoke into the device and even today it is preserved in the Mysore Palace.

The phonograph still survives but the voice has dulled and is at times indistinct. But one cannot fail to note the sincerity and strength of expression that still comes across even after more than a century of its recording.

Another aspect that is worth mentioning here is the enduring friendship between the monk and the monarch. When in Chicago, the monk wrote to the Monarch. And when the monarch died,  the monk, who was in America, mourned his loss.

The monk is none other than Swamy Vivekakanda, who is often described as the greatest Indian of the twentieth century.

The greatest Indian in Mysore

A few days ago the birthday of one of the greatest Indians,  Swami Vivekananda, passed almost unnoticed. Several events of the past, including the brutal rape of a girl in Delhi, the beheading of an Indian Jawan in Jammu and Kashmir had overshadowed the anniversary  

Politicians as usual barely paid lip service to this great Indian. Perhaps none of them knew that the Swami had spent a considerable amount of time in Karnataka and it is from here that he went to Chicago in the United States where he delivered the world famous address of his at the world conference of religions.

When he was in Karnataka, the Swamy had stayed at Bangalore, Mysore and Belgaum where he had meditated, given discourses and mingled with the local populace.

It was in 1892 that Vivekananda came to Bangalore. He stayed there for some time before he came down to Mysore in November the same year.

He had met the Dewan of Mysore, K. Seshadri Iyer, at Bangalore and the Dewan had invited him to come to Mysore. Of the sixteen disciples of  Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, six, including Vivekananda, had come to Mysore.

Vivekananda had accepted the invitation of the Dewan and came to Mysore where he stayed in the royal city for over two weeks. He  met the reigning monarch and went away to the US deeply impressing one and all with his simplicity, scholarship and keen sense of  right and wrong.

Initially, he stayed at the Niranjana Matha before he settled down at the Dewan’s mansion next to the matha and stayed there. The then Dewan, Seshadri Iyer, was deeply impressed with Vivekananda and he also introduced the young ascetic to the then Maharaja, Chamarajendra Wodeyar.

The place where Swami Vivekananda stayed in Mysore is now a memorial. He also gave a public discourse in Sanskrit at Sadvidya School.

Vivekananda attended a religious meet in the Amba Vilas Palace where a discussion on Vedanta was going on. Vivekananda was one of the invitees and he left everyone, including the Maharaja, stunned with his depth of though and simplicity of  philosophy. The Maharaja then made Vivekananda the State guest. Vivekakanda advised  the Maharaja on several issues of religious and public importance.

When the maharaja died in December 1894, Vivekananda was in the United States. He wrote from there saying,  “The Maharaja of Mysore is dead-one of our greatest hopes”.

The Niranjan Matha is located on Seethavilas Road. It has been renovated. However, there is a funny story about the building. Though the Mysore City Corporation in 2007 announced a grand project to renovate the building, the plans had to wait. Why? Nobody knew who owned the building.

It was then discovered that the Department of Public Instruction was the custodian of the property. Thus it was the Department  that had the authority of the property when plans for its revival was initiated.

This building is an important cultural structure as it was here that Vivekananda conducted regular prayer meetings and also held classes in Sanskrit.

It is from Mysore that Vivekananda went to United States to attend the World Conference of Religions. Vivekananda had gone to the meet to represent India. He brought the house down by beginning his address with “My brothers and sister of America”.

Not one to be put down by deliberate acts of slight or provocation, he noticed that some Hindu texts had been paced at the bottom of a group of books. Christian texts had been placed on top.

When this was pointed out to Vivekakanda, he did not bat an eyelid and said Hindu texts has to be at the bottom as they are the foundation of all other texts. Remove them and the rest come tumbling down.