A place dear to Swami Vivekananda
PREMA NANDAKUMAR
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Swami Vivekananda's heroic strivings in America a century ago come alive at Ridgely Manor, with devotees restoring it with dedication.
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PHOTOS: BHUVANA LAKSHMI
PILGRIM SPOT: The Manor House,
Immediately after addressing the Parliament of Religions at Chicago in 1893, Swami Vivekananda became an undeniable force of transformation for many lives in America. Frank Leggett was one of them, and he invited the Swami to spend a few days in his farm at Connecticut. Swami found the place so conducive to meditative life that he visited the Ridgely Manor twice again, which included a ten-week stay in 1899.
Recently, under the inspiration of Swami Swahananda, the property has been acquired from the heirs of Leggett and made into a retreat for aspirants. It was here that Swami Turiyananda, Josephine McLeod and Sister Nivedita also stayed, listening to their master. And so to Ridgely I went on a lovely day which marked the advent of Spring in the Hudson Valley.
The Ridgely Manor is in the village of Stone Ridge reach, about ninety miles north of New York City. Francis Leggett had bought the property in 1892, built a huge mansion, and a few outhouses for sports activities like tennis. When he happened to attend the Swamiji's lectures, accompanied by his betrothed Betty and her sister Josephine Macleod, he glided naturally into the Ramakrishna Movement.
The tree that Swami Vivekananda planted
On his invitation, Swami Vivekananda stayed twice in Ridgely during 1895, for rest. By 1899, Francis had married Betty and "the heavenly pair" (as they were called by the Swami) entertained the Swami for ten months that year. It is not surprising then, that Ridgely Manor is a punya teertha for Indians abroad.
A simple entrance proclaiming Swami Vivekananda Retreat welcomes us to a beautiful driveway to the manor. On both sides one finds a spread of well-tended lawns. The Manor House is beautiful, with almost a picture-postcard perfection and has a portico with tall pillars to welcome us. As soon as we enter the main hall, the sofa with green upholstery arrests our eye. This is the sofa on which Swami Vivekananda sat and spoke on Eastern mysticism and global unity to his audience of Western admirers which included Sara Turnbull, Sister Nivedita, Josephine Macleod and the Leggett couple.
To our immediate right are the library and the shrine.
The entrance to the driveway leading to the Manor.
The shrine is elegant, simple with the portraits of Bhagawan Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda. The other prominent image is a striking brass icon of Durga, Rider of the Lion. When I entered the shrine on this glorious spring morning, the minister-in-residence, Parivrajika Geetaprana was reciting melodiously from the fourth chapter of Devi Mahatmyam. Thanks to the sparkling French windows, the trees in the background gave a perfect backdrop for the holy atmosphere.
Close presence
While walking reverently through the house, Swami Vivekananda remains a close presence. Here is the dining room with its ornate fireplace and furniture. Here is the chair in which the hostess sat, presiding over the meals while diagonally across her sat Swami Vivekananda. One of the loving reminiscences of these meals is how Swami Vivekananda did not care much for the stiff social formalities of New England. Often, he would rise to go away after he had eaten. Mrs. Leggett would then say gently that there would be ice cream for dessert. And the Swami would sink back in his chair smiling away!
A flight of stairs from the central hall leads up to the first floor which contains several bed rooms. One of them has a lovely fireplace with period-piece ceramic tiles that retell Biblical incidents like the Crucifixion and Samson bringing down the Hall of the Philistines.
The bedroom of Swamiji contains a four-poster bed and the view from the window looks upon almost an enchanted forest. I found the magnolia tree below the window in full blossom and a little away, Swamiji's Pine Tree, a sheer image of green. Swami Vivekananda's lectures in Eliot, Maine were given under a pine tree and Josephine had brought seedlings from that pine to Ridgely and planted them in the farm. One survived and is now a hundred years old.
As an ashram of the Sri Ramakrishna Order, the Ridgely Retreat is all that Swami Vivekananda dreamt about a place for quiet contemplation. It was certainly very dear to him.
The walls of the Manor have beautiful portraits of Josephine MacLeod and Mrs. Leggett, Swami Vivekananda and others associated with the Movement.
There are also the houses a little away from the Manor, now being used for lectures, stay and book collections. Swami Vivekananda's heroic strivings in America a century ago came to me with a new insistence when I walked around the Ridgely Manor which the devotees are restoring with great dedication. And I marvelled on how one man's firmness of purpose has worked so tremendously for the unification of mankind.
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