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Vaniyambadi in North Arcot, Vellore District, Tamilnadu is the place
where Vani, the Goddess of Learning, who had lost the faculty of
speech through Brahma's curse, regained it through the blessings of
Lord Shiva.
Indeed, history repeats itself.
The Shiva in Swami Vivekananda inspired a good soul, Sri Venkatasami
Naidu of hitherto dumb Vaniyambadi. Thereafter, the Voice of
Vaniyambadi reverberated through North Arcot District. Sri
Venkatasami Naidu was an ardent social reformer.
The photograph of a monk in a Tamil daily stole his heart; he was
thrilled by the speeches of the monk. It was none other than Swami
Vivekananda, the Lion of Vedanta. Sri Naidu was overwhelmed by the
essence of Sawamiji's message. The service mentality in him began to
bloom. He gave away all his wealth to the poor around. He memorised
Swamiji's speeches. Clad in saffron and sporting a turban, he
dressed up like Swamiji and reproduced these speeches in Tamil, with
verve and gusto to an ever-increasing audience. He would conclude,
"So said Swami Vivekananda in America". It was much later that he
came to know of Sri Ramakrishna.
Thus was sown the seed of the Ramakrishna Order in North Arcot
District of Tamil Nadu out of the many Vivekananda Societies started
by Sri Naidu and his friends, the one at Nattarampalli alone has
become a full-fledged Math.
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