Swami Vivekananda was not just a spiritual figure — he was the ideological father of India’s revolutionary freedom movement. In this second episode of the Cultural Heritage of Bengal series, Surya Sarathi Roy traces how Vivekananda’s writings and speeches directly inspired Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and the entire Agni Yug of Bengal.
Roy argues that every pillar of Bose’s Azad Hind government — from foreign policy to the planning commission — was built on Vivekananda’s theology. Bengal’s Shakti sadhana tradition, he shows, was the spiritual fuel that ignited India’s armed revolutionary movement before spreading to Punjab, Maharashtra, and beyond.

About the Speaker:
Surya Sarathi Roy is a technologist, cultural heritage conservationist, researcher, and author with expertise in Indic history. His research spans the history and culture of Braj Mandal, Kurukshetra, Kalinga, Shri Jagannath culture, Mewar, and Maratha history. Coming from a family of revolutionaries, he is also a passionate student of archaeology, focusing on the enlistment of heritage sites and the conservation of ancient manuscripts. A Life Member and Researcher at INTACH New Delhi HQ, Surya Ji is also an Associate Member of ICOMOS, a UNESCO body dedicated to the conservation of archaeological sites worldwide. Currently, he serves as the Director for North India Operations at IHAR (Indian History Awareness & Research), a Houston-based NGO committed to research, preservation, and the practice of India’s cultural heritage and Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS). Additionally, he was appointed by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee as a Desk Reviewer for the UNESCO World Heritage Sites Panel for 2023 and 2024.