Swami Vivekananda - Folded Hands - California

Two photographs [91 & 92] of Swami Vivekananda were discovered at the Vedanta Society of Southern California’s Hollywood center. This photo was published in the June 2002 issue of Vedanta Voices, the southern California newsletter. The other photo, no. 92, was published in the July 2002 issue. It seems that over the last seventy years many photographs and other materials have accumulated in the Society’s archives. The archive committee is in the process of sorting through the collection. The archives’ director continues the story: “Sorting through the box of photos, I noticed two pictures of Swamiji I hadn’t seen before. The photographs are in excellent condition, but there is no descriptive information to give us a date or the circumstances surrounding the origin of the photos. Suspecting they might be new discoveries, we printed one of them in last month’s newsletter, hoping to get feedback from scholars who are more familiar with the life of Swami Vivekananda. Since then we have heard from several researchers who believe the photographs were probably taken in San Francisco in 1900.” The July newsletter states: “It appears that the photographs were donated to the Vedanta Society by Ida Ansell (Ujjvala), a devoted follower of Swamiji, who transcribed some of his talks in San Francisco. Ujjvala eventually moved to Los Angeles, where she became active at the Hollywood center. When she died in 1955, she left some of her personal belongings to the center, where she had been living for some time. About twenty-five years ago, her belongings were sorted in a preliminary manner and put in storage with other archival material. Calls from researchers over the past few weeks concur that Ujjvala is the most likely source of these photos.” It is not yet certain exactly where or when these two photos were taken. They certainly resemble the photos taken in San Francisco, except Swamiji looks heavier and his hair longer than in the other San Francisco photos [nos. 93-99]. His turban also is wound a little differently. In addition to his personal appearance, the studio backdrop in both photos differs from the other seven photos. This does not, of course, preclude the possibility that they were taken sometime during his stay in San Francisco possibly in a different studio, or the same studio at another time. Perhaps the Vedanta Society of Southern California will discover the details behind these photos in the future. We are indeed grateful that they have generously given their permission to publish these beautiful photos of the great swami. ❊ ❊ ❊ What we want is to see the man who is harmoniously developed great in heart, great in mind, great in deed. . . . Why not have the giant who is equally active, equally knowing, and equally loving? Is it impossible? Certainly not. This is the man of the future.” (CW[1978]6:49-50)