Swami Vivekananda monument installed in downtown Seattle
In another historic first, the Indian Consulate in Seattle said the city of Seattle has become the first municipal government in the United States to install a life-size statue of Swami Vivekananda in Westlake Plaza in downtown Seattle.The life-size bronze statue was unveiled by Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and Indian Consul General in Seattle Prakash Gupta.“Notably, this monument is Swami Vivekananda’s first city-sponsored installation anywhere in the United States,” the consulate said in a statement. “It is located in downtown Seattle’s famous ‘Westlake Plaza,’ a unique melting point in the heart of the city with more than 400,000 daily visits, millions of visitors monthly, and within walking distance of the Spheres (Amazon headquarters), the Seattle Convention Center, and the Seattle Center Monorail.”According to the Consulate General, Kent Mayor Dana Ralph, Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus, Tukwila Mayor Tom McLeod, Normandy Park Mayor Eric Zimmerman, Kirkland Mayor Kelly Curtis and other dignitaries from the Greater Seattle area attended the unveiling ceremony. The ceremony was also attended by a large number of community leaders from across the Indian-American diaspora, as well as members of the Bellevue, Bothell, Dupont and Redmond city councils.In his speech, Wilson emphasized that the establishment of the Swami Vivekananda Monument (SVM) in Seattle reflects the city’s spirit of inclusion and further strengthens cultural ties between India and the diverse metropolitan technology center of the Pacific Northwest of the United States.The Consulate said in a press statement that the Swami Vivekananda Memorial is a gift from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) to the City of Seattle in recognition of the city’s rich multicultural identity and spirit of tolerance, so it is appropriate to host the event on the occasion of ICCR Day.“The installation of the SVM is part of India’s broader cultural diplomacy initiative, promoted through the ICCR, to strengthen people-to-people ties between India and the U.S. Pacific Northwest,” the report said.
