President of India Shri Ramnath Kovind on December 26, 2019 addressed the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. The President recalled that Kanyakumari held a special place in the life of Swami Vivekananda. He pointed out that the Swamiji had spent three days in meditation in Kanyakumari, before embarking on his famous trip to Chicago for addressing the World Conference of Religions.
About Vivekananda Rock Memorial, (VRM )
- The VRM is a Shrine dedicated to the memory of Swami Vivekananda the great Indian Philosopher and teacher who also founded the Rama Krishna Mission. It was formally inaugurated in 1970.
- The VRM is built atop a monolith of black granite of about one mile long, spectacularly rising up from the serene blue waters of the Indian Ocean. It is in this very rock that the Swami is said to have sat and meditated for days until he received the wisdom to go to the far west to preach the message of universal love and brother-hood of mankind, thus propelling him to join the parliament of religions held in Chicago where he gave his famous sermon on the universal ideas of vedanta.
- The VRM has two distinct areas namely, the Sreepada Mandapam and the Sabha Mandapam. The entire complex is built upon a single rock and the wholestructure – walls, ceiling, roof etc. are made of chiselled polished grey & light pink granite stones. All interior floors are of polished stones. PCC cement mortar has been used as binding material in between granite blocks used for constructing walls. Central and side domes are of granite stone while terrace stones are covered with Surki concrete (brickpieces, sand, lime, mud etc.) and then plastered with cement.
- The nearest Shore to the VRM is Kanyakumari
