The Datta family of Calcutta was known for independent thinking. Vivekananda’s grandfather became an ascetic. His father, Viswanath, was a lawyer and an agnostic who questioned traditions. His mother, Bhuvaneswari Devi, was very religious. She named him Vireswara, but the family called him Narendranath.
In college, Naren loved sports, music, and Western philosophy. His teacher, Professor Hastie, called him a genius. His friend Brajendranath Seal became a famous philosopher. He joined the Brahmo Samaj briefly. Later, he discussed deep ideas with thinkers like Nikola Tesla and Robert Ingersoll. These diverse influences shaped his worldview.
This Wikimedia photograph shows Vivekananda’s mother, Bhuvaneswari Devi, in the year 1900.

Sri Ramakrishna was a great spiritual master, a ‘Paramahansa’ (fully enlightened). Though he had no formal education, he had many mystical experiences. As a priest of Mother Kali, he learnt about many religions, including Islam and Christianity from travelling teachers. His teachings were based on the paths of Knowledge (Vedanta) and Devotion (Bhakti).
In 1881, Narendranath asked Ramakrishna a famous question: “Have you seen God?” Ramakrishna answered confidently that he had. The master saw great potential in Narendra. However, Narendra was a logical person and did not believe him at first. Later, Narendra’s father died, and his family became very poor. This hardship made Narendra think deeply about life and spirituality. It is difficult to say exactly when Narendra accepted Ramakrishna as his Guru. Vivekananda once said that Ramakrishna was a man of knowledge (Jnani) on the inside but a man of devotion (Bhakta) on the outside. Vivekananda described himself as the opposite.
This Wikimedia photograph from 1886 shows the disciples of Ramakrishna at his funeral.

Narendra felt a strong call to become a monk. In 1891, he began a journey across India. He traveled under the name Swami Vividishananda, which means “one who desires to know.” He traveled from Kashmir in the north to Kanyakumari in the south. In Alwar, he met a Maharaja who criticized idol worship. To make him understand, Swami asked the Maharaja to spit on a portrait of his own father.
At Kanyakumari, he swam to a rock in the sea. He meditated there for three days and nights. He realized that India could only rise again through renunciation and service. He saw that the rich were indifferent to the poor. Therefore, he decided to take his message to the world to find help for India.
This Wikimedia image shows the Vivekananda Rock Memorial, built where he meditated in Kanyakumari.

After his meditation at Kanyakumari, Narendra decided to travel to the West. He first announced this plan in Madras. His followers collected money to help him travel to America. Before leaving, he visited his friend, the Raja of Khetri, to bless the Raja’s newborn son. It was the Raja who requested him to adopt the name Swami Vivekananda.
When news of his success in America reached India, many were surprised. Even his old friends did not realize at first that the famous “Swami Vivekananda” was actually their dear Narendranath.
This image shows how Vivekananda signed his name as Narendranath before he became a monk.

Friends advised Vivekananda to attend the Parliament of Religions in Chicago. However, he did not have the exact dates or an official letter to enter. He arrived two months early and survived with the help of kind strangers. In Boston, Professor Wright of Harvard gave him a letter of introduction. In Chicago, the Hale family became his lifelong friends.
On September 11, 1893, he addressed the audience as “my brothers and sisters of America” and instantly won over their hearts. He explained that all religions lead to the same God. He compared different religions to different water streams that all flow into one sea.
“As different streams, having their sources in different places, all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.”
He was invited to speak more than twelve times. People felt he spoke for all of humanity, not just one group.
This photograph shows the gathering at the World’s Parliament of Religions in 1893.

Buddhist, Jain & Brahmo Samaj delegates also attended the conference. Annie Besant represented the Theosophists. Theosophical Society of Chicago refused to help Vivekananda since he didn’t convert to their thinking. However, he never developed ill will for them. Vivekananda learned from all ideas even while criticizing them. He was a lifelong admirer of Buddhism – Bodh Gaya was the first tirtha he visited as a young man.
Vivekananda and his brother monks took a vow to become Sanyasis at Antpur on Christmas eve. Christmas is celebrated in a big way at Ramakrishna Missions even today. He admired the vigour of Muslims saying that India needed a Vedantic mind & a Muslim body. The Wikimedia image shows theosophists Annie Besant and Henrietta Muller. Muller financed Belur Math but later become estranged.

After the Chicago conference, Vivekananda lectured across the United States. He made many close friends, but some newspapers wrote negative articles about him. These reports worried his followers but Vivekananda took these lightly and said, “I am surprised you take missionaries’ nonsense seriously.”
To make his work permanent, his American friends helped him start the first Vedanta Society in New York in 1894. Later, a friend invited him to Thousand Island Park for a spiritual retreat. Twelve students joined him there. Vivekananda began the retreat with a talk on the teachings of Jesus Christ as a sign of respect.
This memorial marks the site where Vivekananda held his famous spiritual retreat.

After Sri Ramakrishna passed away, Vivekananda organized temporary homes for his fellow monks at Baranagar & Alambazar. When he returned from America in 1897, he decided to build a permanent center. He chose Belur, near Kolkata, as the site for the new monastery. There was a debate about the mission’s goal. Should it focus only on personal meditation or on serving others?
Vivekananda chose a path of service. He defined three main goals: (1) knowledge for material and spiritual well being ; (2) encourage arts and industries; and (3) spread the vedantic ideas of Sri Ramakrishna. Today, the Ramakrishna Mission has more than 200 branches worldwide. It continues to serve humanity through education, healthcare, and spiritual guidance.
This Wikimedia image of Ashish Bhatnagar shows Belur Math, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission.

His married sister Haramani committed suicide. It was not the first suicide in his family and Vivekananda was deeply affected by her death. He looked at Indian society and called it “neither Hindu nor Vedantins, just ‘don’t touchists’ ” – a reference to the many restrictions placed on women & in the name of caste system.
He exhorted Hindus to be proud of the holy land of India. He advised his followers to avoid both outdated and conservative leaders as well as misguided rationalism of westerners. He was impressed by women’s independence in the West. One of his favourite disciples was Sister Nivedita (Margaret Noble) who he thought was an inspiration to Indian women.
The Wikimedia image is an 1898 photo of Vivekananda with Josephine Mcleod, Olea Bull & Sister Nivedita.

Two Christian missionaries lost temper and savagely criticized Hinduism in a discussion. Swamiji seized one by the collar, and said, ‘If you abuse my religion, I will throw you overboard.’ Later, with a disciple in Calcutta, he asked, ‘What would you do if someone insulted your mother?’”
While genuinely fond of Christ’s teachings, Vivekananda was frustrated by the activities of some missionaries. He was called the father of Hindu nationalism due to his vigorous defence of Hinduism.
The Wikimedia image is an 1885 photo of a young Vivekananda meditating.

Netaji said, “Swamiji was a full-blooded masculine personality—and a fighter to the core. He was consequently a worshipper of Sakti and gave a practical interpretation to the Vedanta. A yogi of the highest spiritual level in direct communion with truth, (he) had consecrated his life to the moral and spiritual uplift of his nation and of humanity. If he had been alive, I would have been at his feet.” Vivekananda once said, “…the first Gods we have to worship are our own countrymen.”
The image shows Vivekananda’s statue at the Indian parliament.
Source: Subhas Chandra Bose On Swami
Vivekananda – VivekaVani,

Vivekananda said that different forms of spiritual discipline work for different ages. At one time it was the practice of austerities. In some other time it was divine love. At some other time philosophy and renunciation. He advocated unselfish service of others (Karma-yoga) for modern times. He advocated this discipline for the Indians because they were under the spell of tamas, inertia. He said, “Arise, awake and stop not, until the goal is reached.”
Personally, he combined all – mysticism & mediation, intense bhakti of Maa Kali, knowledge of Vedanta and restless action.
The Wikimedia image is his photo from Chicago 1893 where he has written “One infinite pure and holy – beyond thought beyond qualities I bow down to thee.”