The Story Of Vivekananda Rock Memorial –
A Saga In Nutshell
Once we cross the roaring waves to reach the rocks, when the boat tosses in the sea, we still feel enthralled – We are going to put our feet on a divine surface…. The rocks where Swamiji meditated for three days (presumably on 25th, 26th and 27th December, 1892) before he made up his mind to go to Chicago and address the World Parliament of Religions.
Once we land on the rocks and see Swamiji’s statue with masculine beauty and the unique way of rock carving and the calm and quiet meditation hall with the repeated pronouncement of “OM” from the sound system, we really reach a state of silent, spiritual ecstasy which one can not fathom at all. Naturally so many thoughts bubble in the mind. When we come across the beauty of the magnificent monument we cannot but remember Sthanu Achary who was the engineer, designer and work supervisor. One wonders if such artistic construction and sculpture was possible in the 1970s. But, at the same time we Indians are indebted to several great souls who had rendered selfless service even at the cost of their life for making the ‘memorial a dream come true’. They are unsung heroes. If senior RSS leader Eknath Ranade was the man who made the dream of Vivekananda Rock Memorial a reality, there are less known men, again RSS workers from Kozhikode who performed the ground work for the realisation of the dream.
What they did was a noble, sincere bhumipooja. Sri P.B. Lakshmanan is the only surviving person out of eight Sangh swayamsevaks who left their native place, Kozhikode to accomplish a Herculean task for the sake of the cultural sovereignty of the country.
This correspondent met P.B. Lakshmanan. He lives in Kanyakumari Vivekananda Kendra along with this better half. Both his sons and daughter are settled. Lakshmanan narrated the whole story of his involvement. He was the Mukhya Sikshak of an RSS sakha in Vellayil beach, Kozhikode.
Sometime in 1962, then RSS Vibhag Pracharak P. Madhavji and Zilla Pracharak V.P. Janardhanan summoned himself and his colleagues. It was a mission to be performed in Kanyakumari: A 6 feet tall Vivekananda statue to be installed on the rocks in connection with the centenary of Swamiji. Before that they should remove a cross installed on the rock. Lakshmanan and Balan, a swayamsevak from Kollam sakha, Kozhikode agreed and set out for Kochi. From there they organised a boat and took it to Kanyakumari by road. As soon as they reached there, Christian forces threatened them with dire consequences if they did not quit the place. Then comes then RSS Pranth Pracharak late Dathaji Didolkar. He told Lakshmanan and Balan that cross should be removed before Vijayadashami (Dusserah). That day itself Lakshmanan, Balan and 3 others went to the rocks by boat; they were very careful not to attract the attention of the Christian fishermen. The iron drill tool they had used failed to break the cross. They rowed back to the shore and organised a stronger drill belonging to road builders. They removed the cross before 10 PM in the night, without the knowledge of the opponents. Next morning, Church leaders were taken by surprise to see that their efforts had been smashed. They discussed the matter with the Christian Circle Inspector of Police and installed one more cross in the night. Obviously it was a police-Christian nexus. Their plan was to clamp CrPC Section 144 the next morning so that no Lakshmanan or Balan or any one else would never be able to touch the cross again. Lakshmanan, a shrewd Sangh worker, got wind of the plan. Pat came his decision. He wanted to remove the cross immediately, before the police came and district administration clamped the 144. Himself and his friends could see the presence of the boats of Christian fishermen around the rock with their musclemen on board; Lakshmanan’s friends were less in number and were not so enthusiastic and optimistic about a successful adventure. But, Laxmanan was determined; he set out with 4 friends. When they reached the rocks by 6.30 am, Christian musclemen had already left under the impression that Lakshmanan and friends would not do any adventure, especially after the daybreak. Lakshmanan told the colleagues: “I will break the cross; you fight until the last man dies”. Balan showed the signal from the shore. Lakshmanan and his team finished the job and came back to mainland. The Christian fishermen followed their boats. Church bell kept on ringing. Hundreds of believers came out and congregated. Lakshmanan and team had no way to escape. They took positions with lathis. It scared the opponents. They did not dare to come closer. By that time came RDO and police force. The vicar of the church shouted that “these dogs should be beaten to death”. But, RDO’s position was different. He ordered the crowd to disperse, lest he would order to shoot. The vicar and believers dispersed.
Afterwards, RSS leaders met the Tamil Nadu government authorities. Government was not ready to give any permission for constructing any Vivekananda monument on the rocks. Lakshmanan says that CM Bhakthavalsalam was dead against the idea. His worry was about the Christian vote bank in Kanyakumari and possible loss of an assembly seat. They asked RSS leaders to approach the union government. Lakshmnan and friends heard that Church meeting had decided to kill whoever come forward in connection with Swamii Rock Memorial. Sangh workers met and decided to resist any sort of Christian designs at any cost. Later they were attacked by a mob in the street. Obscene words were showered on them. Even school kids were deployed to attack the RSS workers.
Then comes Eknath Ranadeji, the erstwhile general secretary of RSS. He had just completed the compilation of Vivekananda philosophies under the title, “Rousing Call to Hindu Nation”, a mission assigned to him by not less a person than Param Poojaniya Guruji Golwalkar, second Sarsanghchalak of RSS. Vivekananda Rock Memorial was his next mission. Ranadeji was a man of iron will and the respect and the regard he commanded within RSS organisation was second only to that Guruji had. There was a saying within the organisation that ‘if you want to relocate Qutub Minar with all feathers in tact, go to Ranadeji; he will do it for you’. Naturally Ranadeji was made the organising secretary of Vivekananda Rock Memorial Committee. Mannath Padmanabhan, reputed social worker from Kerala headed the committee and veteran RSS pracharak late K. Bhaskar Rao was a committee member. Ranadeji met Tamil Nadu CM Kamaraj and Dewaswom Minister Bhakthavalsalam for getting the state government’s permission to build the memorial on top of the Vivekananda rocks.
The response was not encouraging. Later on Bhakthavalsalam took over as CM as per the Kamaraj Plan. The new CM maintained that union education and culture minister Prof. Humayoon Kabir has raised some objections hence state government could not do anything. Moreover he expressed his worries about the safety of the statue from the fanatic miscreants around. He was obviously referring to the Christian people who had already spread the gossip that the Kanyakumari and the rock were the places of Kanyaka (virgin) Mary hence Kanyakumari. They even went to the extent of propagating that the cross “Hindu vandalists” had smashed was there on top of the rock for 400 years. Ranadeji met Prof. Humayoon Kabir. Kabir told that he had only told that any sort of construction on top of the rock would kill the scenic beauty hence he was even against the Gandhi Mandapam on the seashore. He added that he should not be dragged into the controversy since it is up to Bhakthavalsalam government to take a decision; centre did not interfere in these sorts of matters ! Ranadeji realized that it was his ripe time to bat. He met prominent political leaders of the whole country one by one. Eknathji met President Dr S Radhakrishanan, Lal Bahadur Shastri, M.C. Chagla, President of Ramakrishna Mission, Sankaracharya of Kanchikamakoti-peetam, etc. Sasthriji had promised to take him to Pt. Nehru, but unfortunately Nehru fell ill around that time ! All Ranadeji met were for memorial on the rocks.
Then he met Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia and Bengal Communist leader Renu Chakroborthy who influenced all Bengali comrades successfully. When Ranadeji met communist leaders from Kerala, the mission was easy, thanks to the communist enmity towards Christians which arose from the bitter experiences of liberation struggle launched against the first democratically elected communist government in 1959. Ranadeji’s meeting with DMK leader C.N. Annadurai, an ardent admirer of Swami Vivekananda, was very fruitful. Himself and his party colleague V. Nedunchezhian agreed to join the Memorial Committee. Meeting with Republican Party leader Gaikawad was successful too. M.S. Aney, oldest MP from Maharashtra, came up to present the petition to Nehru. Ranadeji met each and every MP of both houses and convinced them about the need of the rock memorial.
He met each and every chief minister and governor and cabinet minister. He made the VIPs he met in states the office bearers of the respective state committees. At last 6 Congress MPs raised the matter in the Lok Sabha on 27th November, 1963. Then follows the memorandum signed by 323 MPs, with a forwarding letter by M.S. Aney, addressed to both PM Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Bhakthavalasalam. The letter was an appeal for the earliest approval for a befitting memorial for Swamiji on the rocks off Kanyakumari shores. The signatories were cutting across party and religious lines, Congress, Bharathiya Jan Sangh, Swathanthra Party, various Socialist Parties, undivided Communist Party of India, etc. The changed scenario and the hint of a rise of Vivekananda waves among the politicians and MPs played a persuasive effect on both PM and CM. But, the same time Eknath Ranadeji’s vision about his goal was crystal clear. He was determined to keep away from political games and obviously he did not moot any politicised campaign or protest movement against the delay in permission for the memorial. Naturally Eknathji’s exemplary kind of steps reaped rich dividends. Nehru wrote to CM Bhakathavalaslam. Bhakthavalsalam declared the permission for the rock memorial on 24th September, 1964. Eknathji’s selfless, idealistic, well orchestrated steps disarmed the ruling apparatus both centre and in the state. Even during his Napoleonic campaign he preferred to lead a model Sangh Pracharak’s life.
T. Asokan, first Kerala state general secretary of ABVP (1965 – 1969) revealed, his experiences with Eknathji, to Organiser. Himself, president Prof. V. Ramanathan, organising secretary Prof. Puthezhath Ramachandran and national organising secretary Prof. Giriraj Kishore were in Thiruvananthapuram in 1968 to conduct ABVP’s state conference there. When they went to Kanyakumari they were taken by surprise to see the accommodation of the former RSS general secretary. It was the space underneath the staircase of a humble hotel near Kanyakumari temple. Some books, couple of kurtas hanging in the cloth-line, a bed sheet and a pot of drinking water were his luxuries ! His sanyasin-like life made the impossible a reality – Yes, Qutub Minar relocated !! Sthapathi S.K. Achari and his team completed the work in record time and monument made of stones stands in the midst of the oceans. Every state governments, except for the EMS-led Communist government of Kerala, donated handsome sums towards the construction costs. But, when C. Achutha Menon-led Communist government, supported by Congress, replaced EMS government, Kerala cleared the moral debt and donated its share. Lot of individuals, both rich and poor, did not hesitate to donate money.
Ranadeji had later written in his memoirs that Kalyana Sundaram, CPI leader from Tamil Nadu was pleased to be a vice president of the committee. Then West Bengal deputy chief minister Jyoti Basu did not get his party colleagues’ approval to be a vice president. But he did not object when his wife was assigned by Ranadeji to collect money for the noble cause. One rupee coupon was a unique method which helped collection possible even among students throughout the country. He recollected that the collection and accounts audit was completed in record time, thanks to the meticulous and idealistic modus operandi of RSS workers. When President V.V. Giri inaugurated the Vivekananda Rock Memorial on 2nd September, 1970 it turned a red-lettered day. Still Eknathji did not have an iota of wish to rest. He expanded the activities of Vivekananda Kendra. Its activities were spread among the tribals and other deserving sections. Bachelor whole-timers working among the tribal communities in North Eastern states are role models for social workers in modern India.
Sri. A. Balakrishnan General Secretary of Vivekananda Kendra told Organiser: Vivekananda Kendra runs lot of activities for the national integration. It helps to bring the misguided societies back to the mainstream of national life. Kendra runs 75 schools in backward places. Nine of them are in Andaman Islands and 3 in Tamil Nadu. One school in Nagaland, 18 in Assam and 35 in Arunachal Pradesh. Technical education institutions are also there in Arunachal and Assam. Kendra runs 4 hospitals in Assam, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. Lot of gramavikas and rural development activities are being carried out in Arunachal, Assam, Odisha, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Several projects in promoting natural resources development, non-conventional energy like bio-gas plant and solar energy, Kendra-designed low cost houses, indigenous medicines, yoga training, etc. are going on. Kendra has got publications in English, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarathi and Assamese.
Yuv Bharathi is a famous English monthly. Vivekananda Vedic Vision is an effective activity in Kodungallur, Kerala. Lot of bachelor whole-timers are coming out every year to translate Swamiji’s ideals into fruition through the path shown by the luminary like Eknath Ranadeji. Vivekananda Kendra in Kanyakumari is co-ordinating the aforementioned activities. Balakrishnanji was emotional with respects and gratitude when he referred to the names of the first batch of Sangh workers who came to Kanyakumari from Kozhikode to perform the basic ground work for rock memorial, that is a “risky” bhumipooja. They are P. Lakshmanazn, Balan, Vasu, Aravindan, Gangadharan, Prabhakaran, Narayanan. M.K. and Prakashan.
Sri P. Parameshwaran, veteran Sangh Pracharak, Director of Bharathiya Vichara Kendram, Kerala and President of Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari, told Organiser that when we are in the midst of the arrangements for Swami Vivekananda’s 150th birthday celebrations, mind and thoughts fly back to Swami’s centenary celebrations.
At that time then Sarsanghchalak Poojaniya Guruji assigned respected Eknath Ranadeji, the Sarkaryavah of RSS, to accomplish the Himalayan task of constructing a befitting memorial for Swamii on the Vivekananda Rocks, off Kanyakumari. Eknathji did not leave any stone unturned; he forgot sun and moon; he sacrificed everything for the fulfillment of the divine assignment he got from Sarsanghchalak Guruji; his eyes were set on a single goal: Swami Vivekananda Rock Memorial. He knew that it was not a cake walk. Ultimately he saw and showed that the dream of millions of Indians was materialized. That is what we see in the form of Vivekananda Rock memorial on top of the rocks where three oceans commingle. Parameshwarji added that but for Eknathji’s iron will, we would have witnessed there a church dedicated for Kanyaka Mary; the entire Kanyakumari area would have been Christianised for ever. Since Eknathji proved the pride and prestige of Hindutva, now, despite their large population, Christians are unable to establish their supremacy.
Swamiji’s centenary was a beginning. Now, the revival of Hindutva will go forward. Vivekananda Kendram organizes numerous programmes, in this connection, throughout the nation. This revolutionary mission enjoys the support of Sangh. Kanyakumari is the source of it. A Thirupathi temple will come up in Kanyakuamri soon. A Haridwar-like Bharath Matha Temple also is in the anvil. Authorities have agreed to permit to install a statue of Swamiji in the Kerala capital, the second statue in the whole state, the first one being in Kochi.
Vivekananda Kendra publishes a book compiling the articles, poems or speeches of 101 prominent personalities on Swamiji. It will be a combination of both Malayalam and English. And, Eknathji is the inspiration for all these noble endeavours.
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