A trip to Vivekanandar Illam

Last week I had an opportunity to visit Vivekanandar Illam with my Best Friend.

An ardent admirer of Swami Vivekananda, I feel so proud and happy for having visited this place.

Once an Ice House, Vivekanadar Illam now is a repository of the rich Cultural and Spiritual Heritage of India. Swamiji had stayed there for a full week and meditated on the future of India.

I wanted to explain about this Illam but now I feel everyone should visit this place to understand it better.

As soon as we enter we find this big statue of Swamiji.

From here we turn to our left and enter this historical place. The ground floor portrays the history of the place and how it was changed to Vivekanadar Illam from an Ice House.

The path to the next floor includes a huge stall for books, CDs, Photos of the Ramakrishna Ashram with unique collections. The next floor is full of paintings. Visual depictions of various ideas and facts is a treat for the eyes.

Various avatars of Vishnu, extract from a few Tamil Literary works, Indian evolution in spirituality, great spiritual leaders of India are a few of the varied paintings depicted.

The second floor is where we find a gallery of pictures on Swami Vivekananda right from his birth, his travel across the globe, his famous speech in The Parliament of Religions, his friends and disciples, etc quickly talking about the life history of Swamiji.

Now we move to the Third Floor. Entry to the third flooor opens up a big hall, to the right of which is a photograph of Swamiji. Or is it really just a photograph? I could see Swmiji looking into my eyes. This floor is still full of charge and vibrations and is calm and enlightening that you could feel the presence of Swmiji there. Its a blissful experience up there. You could feel a current pass all over your body, charge you with nothing but positive thoughts and from nowhere your heart rejoices with joy and happiness. This is no exaggeration. After so many years, after so many renovation work happening there, its an amazing fact that you feel all kinds of experiences up there.

You turn to your left. There is a dimly lit room, mats spread out, fresh flowers decorating the photograph of meditating Swamiji. I sat there for about 20 minutes or so. No thinking, no expectation, just a peaceful 20 minutes enjoying the place, its calmness, its peace, its vibrations, and experiencing a distant voice lecturing like bombs of fire. May be it was my imagination too...but this dream was also a pleasant one... Imagining as if Swamiji is talking to me, though I didnt pay attention to what was being said. Feeling that I am hearing his voice itself drowned me into the ocean of happiness.

Please take time off to visit this place.

Purity, patience and perseverance!

Bliss!