Swami Vivekananda at Chicago

The East Indian Group 3. This photograph appeared for the first time in Neely’s History of the Parliament of Religions and Religious Congresses at the World’s Columbian Exposition published in Chicago in 1893. From left to right: “Narasimha Chaira [Narasimhacharya of Chennai], Lakeshnie Narain [Lakshmi Narain, a barrister from Lahore], Swami Vivekananda, H. Dharmapala [Anagarika Hewivitarne Dharmapala, a Buddhist from Ceylon and later the founder of the Mahabodhi Society in Kolkata], and Vichand Ghandi [Virchand Gandhi, a lawyer of Mumbai and the chief exponent of the Jain religion.]” 3 This same photograph, as it appears in The World’s Congress of Religions, edited by J. W. Hanson, and published in 1894, is stamped WB Conkey Co., Chicago. According to the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress in Washington, D. C., “WB Conkey was one of the many ‘official’ publishing companies involved in the World’s Columbian Exposition. Charles Dudley Arnold was the official photographer for the WCE, however, many other photographers took photographs at the fair.” ❊ ❊ ❊ I am here amongst the children of the son of Mary, and the Lord Jesus will help me. They like much the broad views of Hinduism and my love for the Prophet of Nazareth. I tell them that I preach nothing against the Great One of Galilee. I only ask the Christians to take in the Great Ones of Ind along with the Lord Jesus, and they appreciate it. (Letters, 39)