Sun Jan 12 06:17:43 UTC 2025: ## Swami Vivekananda’s Little-Known Hyderabad Visit Before Chicago Speech
**Hyderabad, India –** A newly unearthed account reveals a previously undocumented visit by Swami Vivekananda to Hyderabad in February 1893, just months before his landmark address at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago. While his Chicago speech is renowned for introducing Indian culture to the West, this Hyderabad visit sheds light on a pivotal moment in his journey.
According to a biography, “The Life of Swami Vivekananda by His Eastern and Western Disciples,” and confirmed by Swami Bodhamayananda, president of the Ramakrishna Math, Vivekananda delivered a lecture at Mahboob College in Secunderabad. The lecture, titled “My Mission to the West,” was attended by over a thousand people, including Europeans. During his stay, he met with prominent figures including the Nizam’s personal secretary, Sir Khursheed Jah, and toured historical sites like Golconda and Charminar. He stayed with Babu Madhusudan Chatterjee, a superintending engineer under the Nizam’s government.
This Hyderabad visit, while less famous than his Chicago triumph, is significant because it marked a stage in Vivekananda’s preparations for his mission to the West. While in Mysore, he discussed his plans with the Maharaja, who offered to fund his trip to America, a proposition Vivekananda initially declined before accepting. His subsequent three-day meditation at Kanyakumari further solidified his resolve.
The revelation comes as a surprise, as photographic evidence of this visit is unavailable. Swami Bodhamayananda notes that Vivekananda was not yet widely known at the time of his Hyderabad visit, gaining international fame only after his return from the West in 1897 and the founding of the Ramakrishna Mission. Mahboob College commemorated the anniversary of Vivekananda’s lecture in 2023. The college’s principal, Ramakrishna, confirmed the historical event to the BBC. The account underscores the depth and breadth of Vivekananda’s travels and preparations before his impactful Chicago speech.
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