NEWS: CELEBRATION

Unveiling Ceremony of the Commemorative Plaque on the building of the house at 39 Rue Gazan 7514 Paris  where Swami Vivekananda stayed in 1900

With the support of the Town Hall of the 14th District  of Paris, the Embassy of India  and the  Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris (CIUP) , the Centre Vedantique Ramakrishna, Gretz and the Maison de l'Inde, Paris jointly organised the unveiling  ceremony of the commemorative plaque on  the great universalist, spiritual leader, social reformer and the founder of the Ramakrishna Mission, the great patriot  Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), at 39 rue Gazan, 75014 Paris, where he stayed for some time in 1900.

The ceremony was held  on 8 March from 12h00 onwards. The plaque was unveiled by the Chargée des Affaires of the Embassy of India, Mrs Gaitri Kumar, Mayor of Paris, 14th District Mr Pascal Cherki, Deputy Mayor of the City of Paris,  Mrs Danièle Pourtoud, Déléguée Générale of the CIUP, Mrs Carine Camby, Deputy Mayor of Paris, 14th District Mr Paul Roussier, Adviser of the Mayor of Paris Mr Hermano Sanchez, First Secretary of Press, Information and Culture, of the Embassy of India Mrs Nina Tshering La, President of the Centre Vedantique Ramakrishna,Gretz, Swami Veetamohananda, Director of the Maison de l'Inde (India House), Paris,  Dr Bikas C Sanyal, Cultural Attaché of the Maison de l'Inde, Mrs Priti Sanyal and President of the Residents' Committee  of the Maison de l'Inde Mr Sudhir Bhatt among others. The unveiling ceremony was followed by a meeting at the Salle Indira Gandhi of the Maison de l'Inde where all the visitors assembled.  Dr BIkas C Sanyal gave the welcome address for all the guests. He mentioned that this was the second in the series of events organised with the active participation of the Centre Vedantique Ramakrishna, Gretz and the Maison de l'Inde, within the framework of the 150th Birth Anniversary Celebrations  of Swami Vivekananda. The first one was hosted  by the Town Hall of Paris 14th District.    Swami Veetamohananda spoke about the relevance of the messages of Swami Vivekenanda in different spheres the contemporary world. Mr Cherki spoke about the contribution of the Swami to the world and the proud privilege Paris had to host this great man. Mrs Camby spoke about the greatness of the civilsation of India which produced such universalist stalwarts like Vivekananda and Tagore. Mrs Kumar spoke about significance of the people to people interchange on great ideas emulated by the great Swami.  The ceremony enjoyed a devotional touch with the songs of a former resident and renowned singer Sharmila Roy Pommot who sang a song, Vivekananda used to sing for His Master Sri Ramakrishna and another song  sung by Sarada accompanied by Naren on guitar, both adherents of the Gretz Centre. The song in French was written by Naren. The ceremony was followed by a tour of the  exhibition of about forty large portraits of Swamiji which were prepared by Swami Devatmananda of the Gretz Centre for the Centenary celebration of the Participation of Swami Vivekananda   in the Chicago Parliament of Religions held at UNESCO in October, 1993.