The ChronoMapia™ of Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda is a hero to millions of people in India and around the world. Every aspect of his life is a great inspiration. In his life, we find that his every act, every day and every thought, was for the upliftment of mankind.
The study of his life is not only fascinating but also is very important. It gives immense motivation and energy to lead our life. When we study his life we find two aspects. First and foremost, is the message that he gave to mankind. The message of strength and freedom. Man making and divinizing life is the core, the CONTENT of his teaching. The other aspect is the CONTEXT. Which includes the events he faced, the places he visited, the people he met. All make up the STAGE of his life. The stage which enabled his message to spread worldwide. His message and his life both are more relevant today than in the past and perhaps, will be more relevant in the future.
This series is intended to focus on the CONTEXT aspect of his life. We will talk about the chronology of events and see his travels on the world map. We will take up an interesting journey of Swami Vivekananda’s entire life. We will try to understand his life, step by step.
His short life, of just about 39 years, was full of dramatic incidents and happenings. Surprisingly, only about 10 years of his life, are about his main public activities. And even more surprising, is that he was along with his master, Sri Ramkrishna, for only about 5 years. But that short association changed his life completely.
There are so many events intensely packed in the life of Swamiji. In the subsequent episodes of this series, we will have a detailed look at those fascinating events. Here, you can see a detailed version of Swamiji’s life, chronologically arranged. You will find citations, page numbers of reference books, photographs of important people, places and other interesting contents on the website.
Main Index
We have classified the life of Swamiji in few broad ‘Volumes’ and each Volume will have a few chapters. Please watch the videos for each chapters and go through the ‘Detailed timeline’ links to see even more details.
Volume 1: Early life
From 1863 (Swami Vivekananda’s Birth) To 1886 (Sri Ramkrishna’s MahaSamadhi)
01: Birth and childhood (1863 to 1870)
This Timeline covers Swamiji’s life from his birth upto age 7, i.e. from 12th Jan 1863 to 1870
02: School Days (1871 to 1873)
This Timeline covers Swamiji’s life from age 8 to 10, in Calcutta
03: High School Days (1874 to 1876)
This Timeline covers Swamiji’s life from age 11 to 13, in Calcutta
04: At Raipur (1877 to 1879)
This Timeline covers Swamiji’s life from age 14 to 16, mostly spent in Raipur.
05: Youth Days (1880 to 1881)
This Timeline covers Swamiji’s life from age 17 to 18, mostly around his home and college.
Volume 2: With Guru
From 1882 (first meeting with Sri Ramakrishna) To 1886 (Sri Ramkrishna’s MahaSamadhi)
05: Youth Days (Jan 1880 to 1881)
This Timeline covers Swamiji’s life from age 17 to 18, mostly around his home and college.
06: Meeting Sri Ramrkishna (Dec 1881 to 1882)
This Timeline covers Swamiji’s life from age 18 to 20, with frequent visits to Dakshineshwar.
07: Disciple in Making (1882 to 1883)
This Timeline covers events in life of Swami Vivekananda, from his age 19 to 20, mainly spent at Dakshineshwar.
08: Sprouts of Renunciation (1884)
This Timeline covers events in life of Swami Vivekananda, during his age 21, spent at his home and Dakshineshwar.
09: Sri Ramkrishna’s illness (1885)
This Timeline covers events in life of Swami Vivekananda, at his age 22, when Thakur was shifted to Shyamapukur due to illness.
10: Last days of Sri Ramkrishna (1885 – 1886)
This Timeline covers events in life of Swami Vivekananda, from his age 22 & 23, when Thakur was at Cossipore, till Thakur’s MahaSamadhi, 16 Aug 1886.
Volume 3
Austerity and Spiritual Practices (साधना काल, साधना यात्रा)
From 1886 (Sri Ramkrishna’s MahaSamadhi)
To 1890 (Wandering in North India)
11: Establishing Baranagar Math (1886)
Covers Swamiji’s life events, At age 23, spent at Cossipore, Baranagar and antpur
12. Vows of Sanyaas (1887)
Covers events, when Swamiji at 24 took Sanyaas, events at Baranagar and Antpur…
13: Wandering begins (1888)
This Timeline covers events in life of Swami Vivekananda, during his age 25, when he started travelling around India as a wandering monk, often changing his name/identity.
14: Return after short tour (1889)
This Timeline covers events in life of Swami Vivekananda, during his age 26, when he returned to Baranagar after his short northern tour in 1889.
15: At Ghazipur’s Pavhari Baba (1890: 1st Half)
1st Half 1890: Swamiji spent almost 3 months at Ghazipur, meeting Pavahari Baba. Then he returned to Baranagar in April.
16: In the Himalayas (1890: 2nd Half)
2nd Half 1890: From Baranagar, Swamiji went to Bhagalpur, Vaidyanath, again in Ghazipur, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Nainital upto Almora. From their, he visited, Hrishikesh, and came to meerat by the end of 1890.
Volume 3
Knowing India (भारत अध्ययन)
From 1891 to 1893 (Western and Southern India)
He travelled and aquired a lot of knowledge about the people of India as a whole.
17: In Delhi and Rajasthan (1891)
Swamiji traveled in Rajasthan throughout 1891. There are many notable incidents during this time. His age was 28 years.
18: Wandering in Gujarat (1891)
After Rajasthan, Swamiji went to Western India, Starting with Gujrat in 1891. Here he spent his longest time traveling in India. His age was 28 years.
19: In Maharashtra (1892)
After Gujarat, Swamiji visited many places in Maharashtra, including Mahabaleshwar, Pune, and Mumbai. This proved to be one of his intellectual tours.
20: Southern India (1892 ending)
Swamiji went to Belgaum, Goa, Mysore, Cochin, and finally Kanyakumari. Here he meditated on India for 3 days and ‘Hit upon a plan’ to transform India.
21: In Madras and Hyderabad (Early 1893)
On Jan 1893, from Rameshwaram, Swamiji went to Pondicherry, Madras (Chennai), and Hyderabad. In Madras (Chennai) he gathered some of his best disciples.
22: Preparing for the America visit (1893 1st half)
From Madras (Chennai), Swamiji went to Bombay (Mumbai), from where he took the steamer to America on 31 May 1893
Volume 4
Preaching in the West (प्रचार यात्रा)
From 1893 to 1896, His 1st Western Tour.
(coming…)
More timelines coming…
We are adding more detailed timelines as we chart out more data with citation, stay tuned…
Volume 6
Awakening India (भारत जागरण)
From 1897…
(coming…)