Bengal celebrates heartily as 'the eternal youth' turns 156

Kolkata: The 156th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda was observed all across the state on Friday. A special event was held at Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission. Swami Sarvalokanandaji and Ajitatmananda addressed the students and urged them to dedicate their lives for a greater cause.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took to Twitter saying: "We observe this day as 'Vivek Chetna Utsab' in Bengal. May his life be an example for the youth of India to always work for the betterment of the country". Two students of the institution — Sarnava Mondol and Atlanta Ghosal spoke at the event. Rupak Midya, a student of Narendrapur Residential College, sang a song.

Swami Vivekananda Institute for Environment and Management organised a day-long programme at Aikatan in Salt Lake. Swami Vedagyananda, Bhaskar Gupta, noted academician and Arunava Majumdar, noted environmentalist, spoke at the event.

A programme was held at Sovabazar Rajbati, where Swamiji was felicitated on February 1897. A book on Swamiji was also released.

Hundreds of people visited Belur Math since Friday morning. There was special police arrangement outside Belur Math to manage traffic.

People from different parts of the state started pouring into the place since morning and there were special arrangements to ensure that people do not face any trouble while returning back.

The state government also organised several other programmes to pay tribute to Swami Vivekananda. Programmes were organised at all blocks. The state government has extended its support for organising Vivek Chetana Utsav in block level. A similar programme has also been organised in all the wards of municipality and municipal corporation areas, including Kolkata. Rallies were organised across the state. Messages of Swami Vivekananda were spread among people through different programmes. Many senior political leaders and ministers, including the state Power minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, participated in the rallies. Aroop Biswas, the state Youth Services and Sports minister, paid floral tribute to Swamiji at Vivekananda Park opposite SSKM Hospital on Friday morning. Cultural events to mark the occasion were also organised at different places. Different competitions were also organised, in which students and youths participated. The Chief Minister has announced that character-building programmes will be taken up in schools.

Keeping this in mind, many organisations held different seminars and symposiums with the same aim.