Monument dedicated to swami

FINEVIEW — More than 200 people gathered July 31 in a section of Wellesley Island State Park adjacent to Thousand Island Park's Rock Ridges Nature Trail to unveil and dedicate the Vivekananda Rock Memorial Monument.

The crowd was made up of Thousand Island Park neighbors as well as followers and admirers of Swami Vivekananda, the noted religious figure of India, who in the summer of 1895 spent seven weeks in Thousand Island Park in the cottage now known worldwide as Vivekananda Cottage.

The swami's stay at the park followed his triumph at the first Parliament of the World's Religions held in connection with the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. It was through his addresses at that parliament, followed by a whirlwind series of lectures throughout America, that Swami Vivekananda became widely known. Often referred to as the first Indian spiritual teacher to make a mark in the West, he is regarded by many as the pioneer of the interfaith movement — a spiritual renaissance that today continues to grow in popularity.

The new memorial monument, installed by the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York, in New York City, in cooperation with the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, marks the spot where the swami sat in deep meditation on the final day of his stay at Thousand Island Park. As noted on the memorial's bronze plaque, "boarding a steamer to take leave of the Islands, he said, 'I bless these Thousand Islands.'"

The dedication began with a procession of the attendees through the wooded trail leading to Vivekananda Rock. Once there, they were to witness the spiritually charged Vedic chanting (Sanskrit hymns) by the Ramakrishna Vivekananda Center's choir. Swami Yuktatmananda, spiritual leader of the center (a branch of the Ramakrishna Order of India), led the program with a talk on Swami Vivekananda's universal message, based upon the spiritual unity of humankind and harmony of all religions. Swami Yuktatmananda then placed a garland of red and white carnations on the plaque as an offering to Vivekananda.

Participants in the program included Kevin A. Kieff, regional director of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Steve Taylor, Thousand Island park builder and designer, his wife, Nellie Taylor, representing the Thousand Island Park Rock Ridges Nature Trail, and Swami Vidananda (Barry Zelikovsky), a monastic member of the center, who read out the inscription of the memorial plaque, followed by reading an account of the event that occurred at the historic site in 1895.

Mr. Taylor is a year-round resident of the park and a longtime friend of the center. He took the lead in presenting the center's appeal for the memorial to the state park authorities. He designed the stone base for the bronze plaque and the stone benches on either side of the monument.

The actual stonework was performed under Mr. Taylor's supervision by stone mason Roger Roch of Croghan, Mr. Zelikovsky said.

"Being inspired by this, we decided to install a similar monument in front of the Vivekananda Cottage itself," he said. "Steve and Roger did the work on both. The Thousand Island Park Administration and nature trail people also helped."

Mrs. Taylor's late father, Thomas Mitchell Jr., restored the cottage in 1947 and donated it to Swami Nikhilananda and it became the property of the Ramakrishna Vivekananda Center.

The ceremony concluded with the choir's musical rendition of Swami Vivekananda's poem, "The Song of the Sannyasin," composed at Thousand Island Park, and expressive of the high spiritual mood that characterized the swami's experience at Thousand Island Park.