An exhibition
The original photographs
Only about a hundred photographs of him are known. These are 55 of them, from 1886 to 1897, in the order they were taken, each with where and when it was made and what is known of it.
Kolkata, 1886–1887Plates 01–05
The disciple
Narendranath at twenty-three, in the last year of Sri Ramakrishna’s life, and the brotherhood that gathered at Baranagore after it.
Plate 01
Kolkata
1886
About 1886, when Narendranath was a young disciple of Sri Ramakrishna.
Plate 02
Kolkata
1886
About 1886, in the last months of Sri Ramakrishna's life.
Plate 03
Cossipore Garden House
1886
Judged from his appearance to have been taken about the time of Sri Ramakrishna's passing, in August 1886.
Plate 04
Baranagore Math
January 1887
The young monks and devotees at the Baranagore Math, the first monastery of the Order, on 30 January 1887.
Plate 05
Baranagore Math
January 1887
A variation of the Baranagore Math photograph, as printed in the 1912 edition of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. The names are in Swami Trigunatita's hand; Swamiji is listed first, as "Our King".
India, 1891–1893Plates 06–11
The wandering years
An unknown monk crossing India. He did not care to be photographed; these few were taken at the insistence of his hosts and disciples.
Plate 06
Jaipur
1891
The "wandering monk" pose, probably taken at Jaipur in 1891 at a disciple's insistence: the first photograph of him as a wandering monk.
Plate 07
Jaipur
1891
Probably taken on the same day as the "wandering monk" pose.
Plate 08
Belgaum
October 1892
Taken while he was the guest of Haripada Mitra, who arranged for the photograph.
Plate 09
Trivandrum
December 1892
Taken by Prince Martanda Varma of Travancore, an amateur photographer.
Plate 10
Place not known
Place not known at present; about 1892 or early 1893. Often identified as Belgaum, 1892, which is doubtful. It appears to have been taken on the same day as the next photograph.
Plate 11
Place not known
Place not known at present; about 1892 or early 1893. Often identified as Hyderabad, 1893, which is doubtful.
Chicago, 1893Plates 12–27
The Parliament
Seventeen days in September 1893: the delegate’s portraits, the platform of the Parliament of Religions, and the studio series by Thomas Harrison that carried his face across America.
Plate 12
Place not known
From his early days in America; place and date not known at present. Often said to be the Hale residence in Chicago, 1893, which is unconfirmed.
Plate 13
Chicago
September 1893
The East Indian group at the Parliament of Religions. From left: Narasimhacharya, Lakshmi Narain, Swami Vivekananda, H. Dharmapala and Virchand Gandhi.
Plate 14
Chicago
September 1893
As a delegate to the Parliament of Religions, his delegate's tag pinned to his robe. It appears to have been taken at the same time as the East Indian group.
Plate 15
Chicago
September 1893
On the platform of the Parliament of Religions, with Virchand Gandhi and H. Dharmapala; apparently on the afternoon of the opening day, 11 September 1893.
Plate 16
Chicago
September 1893
With Narasimhacharya at the Parliament of Religions: an unposed snapshot, one of the first pictures of him in America.
Plate 17
Chicago
September 1893
A session of the Parliament of Religions, taken on the morning of 21 September 1893, its eleventh day.
Plate 18
Chicago
September 1893
First published in Barrows' history of the Parliament, with his paper on Hinduism.
Plate 19
Chicago
September 1893
The famous Chicago pose, the first of the series taken by Thomas Harrison, several of which he autographed and inscribed.
Plate 20
Chicago
September 1893
One of the series taken in Chicago by Thomas Harrison. Inscribed in Bengali characters and in English: "One infinite pure and holy—beyond thought beyond qualities I bow down to thee".
Plate 21
Chicago
September 1893
A poster made during the Parliament of Religions by the Goes Lithographic Co., Chicago, from a Harrison photograph, and put up across the city.
Plate 22
Chicago
September 1893
One of the series taken in Chicago by Thomas Harrison. Inscribed: "Equality in all beings this is the sign of the free".
Plate 23
Chicago
September 1893
One of the series taken in Chicago by Thomas Harrison. Inscribed: "Thou art the only treasure in this world".
Plate 24
Chicago
September 1893
One of the series taken in Chicago by Thomas Harrison. Inscribed: "Thou art the father the lord the mother the husband and love".
Plate 25
Chicago
September 1893
One of the series taken in Chicago by Thomas Harrison. Inscribed: "Virtue is the only friend that follows us even beyond the grave. Everything else ends with death."
Plate 26
Chicago
September 1893
One of the series taken in Chicago by Thomas Harrison.
Plate 27
Chicago
September 1893
The closing session of the Parliament of Religions, on the evening of 27 September 1893.
1894–1895Plates 28–39
The teacher in America
After the Parliament: summer classes under a pine at Green Acre, a studio on Union Square in New York, and Thousand Island Park.
Plate 28
Chicago
1894
Taken in the year after the Parliament of Religions.
Plate 29
Green Acre
August 1894
Seated with his class under the "Swami's Pine" at Green Acre, in Eliot, Maine.
Plate 30
Green Acre
August 1894
Under his pine with one of his classes. Sarah Farmer is seated to his left; Charles Malloy stands.
Plate 31
Green Acre
August 1894
From left: Swami Vivekananda, Sarah J. Farmer, M. H. Gulesian and Dr. Edward Everett Hale.
Plate 32
Green Acre
August 1894
Standing with folded arms under his pine.
Plate 33
Green Acre
1894
Taken during his stay at Green Acre, and reproduced in 1899 in a Watertown, Massachusetts, newspaper.
Plate 34
New York
1895
Taken at the Prince Studio, 31 Union Square, probably between February and June 1895.
Plate 35
New York
1895
Taken at the Prince Studio. Often mistaken for Chicago, 1893.
Plate 36
New York
1895
Taken at the Prince Studio. Also often mistaken for Chicago, 1893.
Plate 37
New York
April 1895
The impression of his palm, taken on 6 April 1895, which appeared in Cheiro's Language of the Hand.
Plate 38
Thousand Island Park
July 1895
From the summer he taught a small group of students at Thousand Island Park.
Plate 39
Thousand Island Park
July 1895
The head-and-shoulders print. The original bears the name of the studio, Lamson & Van Camp.
1895–1896Plates 40–52
London
Two seasons of lectures and classes in England, ending with the portraits taken before he sailed for India.
Plate 40
London
1895
From his first visit to England, in the autumn of 1895. His first public lecture in London was given at Prince's Hall on 22 October.
Plate 41
London
1895
From his first visit to England, in the autumn of 1895.
Plate 42
London
1895
From his first visit to England, in the autumn of 1895.
Plate 43
London
1895
From his first visit to England, in the autumn of 1895.
Plate 44
London
1895
From his first visit to England, in the autumn of 1895.
Plate 45
London
1895
From his first visit to England, in the autumn of 1895.
Plate 46
London
1896
From his second stay in England, in 1896.
Plate 47
London
December 1896
One of the portraits arranged by Miss Emmeline Souter before he left England for India.
Plate 48
London
December 1896
Taken shortly before he left England for India.
Plate 49
London
December 1896
Taken shortly before he left England for India.
Plate 50
London
December 1896
Taken shortly before he left England for India.
Plate 51
London
December 1896
Taken shortly before he left England for India.
Plate 52
London
December 1896
Taken shortly before he left England for India.
Colombo, 1897Plates 53–55
The return
January 1897: home after nearly four years, to a welcome he had not expected.
Plate 53
Colombo
January 1897
Taken on his return from the West, between 15 and 19 January 1897. An early print bears the name of the photographer, A. W. Andree.
Plate 54
Colombo
January 1897
A closer view of the previous photograph.
Plate 55
Colombo
January 1897
Taken on his return from the West. The pose recalls the Chicago pose of 1893.
Index of plates