Vivekananda's Visit Remembered

June 21, 2004

Source: NWI Times

http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2004/06/21/news/porter_county/c65

On June 21, 2004 NWI Times reported, "On a winter day in 1894, a train dropped off a lone Hindu monk in the area where Von Tobel Lumber is now located. Finding no on there to meet him, Swami Vivekananda made his way to a nearby hotel at the site of what is now The Franklin House tavern. He later met up with his host and was taken to the nearby Memorial Opera House, where he gave a talk to what was described in the local Messenger newspaper as the largest audience ever assembled at the theater. Despite the popularity of the one-day visit, memory of it had nearly disappeared until it was recovered during an intentional search just more than two years ago, said local physician Arjun Gupta. Gupta and others now hope to share the memory and celebrate its importance with an evening of devotion and entertainment Saturday at the opera house, 104 Indiana Ave. The evening will include prayer, storytelling through dance and song, and a keynote address by Asim Chaudhuri, author of 'Swami Vivekananda in Chicago, New Findings,' said Gupta."