The country is celebrating the ‘National Youth Day’ today on the occasion of 155th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda and the micro blogging site Twitter has been flooded with tweets paying tribute to one of the greatest Indian spiritual leaders.
Swami Vivekananda was born on January 12, 1863 and his original name was Narendra Nath Datta.
He was the chief disciple of the 19th-century saint Ramakrishna and a key figure in introducing the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world.
The spiritual leader became famous in the western world after his powerful speech at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893.
The government in 1984 declared that his birth anniversary will be observed as the National Youth Day.
President Ram Nath Kovind paid tribute to Swami Vivekananda in a tweet as he wrote: “My tributes to Swami Vivekananda on his birth anniversary. In honour of this great scholar, monk and nation builder, we commemorate this day as National Youth Day.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also paid his respect to Swami Vivekanand. He tweeted: “I bow to Swami Vivekananda on his Jayanti. Today, on National Youth Day I salute the indomitable energy and enthusiasm of our youngsters, who are the builders of New India.:
Other Twitter reactions:
Congress: “Your nation, your voice – Here’s wishing the changemakers of our country a very happy #NationalYouthDay. It was first celebrated in 1984 by the Congress Govt to mark #SwamiVivekananda’s birthday.”
Ravi Shankar Prasad: “My Pranaam to #SwamiVivekananda Ji. His achievements and contributions to society are guiding light for all of us. I salute the energy, enthusiasm & entrepreneurial spirit of youth of India on #NationalYouthDay. Young India will make #DigitalIndia”