Swami Vivekananda Born Narendranath Datta (1863- 1902) in Calcutta, capital of British India, Swami Vivekananda belonged to a traditional aristocratic Bengali Kayastha family. Spiritual from an early age, Vivekananda was fascinated by wandering monks and used to practise meditation. He played a major role in introducing yoga and the Vedanta philosophies to the West. It is because of him that Hinduism gained the status of a major world religion. Swami Parmananda Swami Paramananda (1884- 1940) was one of the early Indian teachers who went to the United States to spread the Vedanta philosophy and religion there. Paramananda founded the " Message of the East" in 1909, the first Vedanta periodical published in the United States which continued for 55 years, offering articles, poetry and commentary on all religions in its monthly and later quarterly, magazine.