The day of Swami Vivekananda's historic speech at the Chicago Synagogue is celebrated as Digvijay Day

BY A STAFF REPORTER: Digvijay Day is observed every year on September 11 to mark Swami Vivekananda's historic speech in Chicago. In 1893 he joined the Parliament of World Religions as the representative of India and Hinduism. The inaugural World Congress of Religions was held from September 11 to September 27. It was attended by representatives from all over the world. Swami Vivekananda represented Hinduism in Parliament, and his opening remarks became well known and often quoted around the world.

Swami Vivekananda began his speech with a greeting, "America brothers and sisters!". He tries to explain the reasons for the discord between different communities and religions with the story of Kup Manduk. His speech included ideas on Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Judaism, and the rise of Christianity. With a small hint of criticism, he also pointed out that religion was not the only and most important need of Indians. In his last and final speech, he made a plea to the crowd for "help and not war," "assimilation and not destruction," "harmony and peace and not discord."