page_title: Parliament of the World's Religions
section_title: 1893 Parliament
hierarchical_section_title: Parliament of the World's Religions / History / 1893 Parliament
caption_attribution_description: English: From left to right: Virchand Gandhi, Hewivitarne Dharmapala, Swami Vivekananda, (possibly) G. Bonet Maury.
context_page_description: There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World's Religions, the first being the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. The event was celebrated by another conference on its centenary in 1993. This led to a new series of conferences under the official title Parliament of the World's Religions with the same goal of trying to create a global dialogue of faiths.
context_section_description: In 1893, the city of Chicago hosted the World Columbian Exposition, an early world's fair. So many people were coming to Chicago from all over the world that many smaller conferences, called Congresses and Parliaments, were scheduled to take advantage of this unprecedented gathering. One of these was the World's Parliament of Religions, an initiative of the Swedenborgian layman (and judge) Charles Carroll Bonney. The Parliament of Religions was by far the largest of the congresses held in conjunction with the Exposition. John Henry Barrows, a clergyman, was appointed as the first chairman of the General Committee of the 1893 Parliament by Charles Bonney.
  The Parliament of Religions opened on 11 September 1893 at the World's Congress Auxiliary Building which is now The Art Institute of Chicago, and ran from 11 to 27 September, making it the first organized interfaith gathering. Today it is recognized as the occasion of the birth of formal interreligious dialogue worldwide, with representatives of a wide variety of religions and new religious movements, including:
  The Jain preacher Virchand Gandhi was invited as a representative of Jainism.
  The Buddhist preacher Anagarika Dharmapala was invited as a representative of "Southern Buddhism", the term applied at that time to the Theravada.
  Soyen Shaku, the "First American Ancestor" of Zen, made the trip.
  An essay by the Japanese Pure Land master Kiyozawa Manshi, "Skeleton of the philosophy of religion" was read in his absence.
  Swami Vivekananda, a Bengali Kayastha caste Indian monk, represented Hinduism as a delegate, introducing Hinduism at the opening session of the Parliament on 11 September. Though initially nervous, he bowed to Saraswati, then began his speech with salutation, "Sisters and brothers of America!". To these words he got a standing ovation from a crowd of thousands, which lasted for two minutes. When silence was restored he began his address. He greeted the youngest of the nations on behalf of "the most ancient order of monks in the world, the Vedic order of sannyasins, a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance!"
  Christianity was represented by G. Bonet Maury who was a protestant historian invited by Swami Vivekananda
  Islam was represented by Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb, an Anglo-American convert to Islam and the former US ambassador to the Philippines.
  Rev. Henry Jessup addressing the World Parliament of Religions was the first to publicly discuss the Bahá'í Faith in the United States (it had previously been known in Europe). Since then Bahá'ís have become active participants.
  Theism or the Brahmo Samaj was represented by Pratap Chandra Majumdar.
  The Theosophical Society was represented by the Vice-President of the society, William Quan Judge and by activist Annie Besant.
  New religious movements of the time, such as Spiritualism and Christian Science. The latter was represented by Septimus J. Hanna, who read an address written by its founder Mary Baker Eddy.
  Absent from this event were Native American religious figures, Sikhs and other Indigenous and Earth-centered religionists; these religions and spiritual traditions were not represented until the 1993 Parliament convened.
caption: Swami Vivekananda on the platform of the Parliament of Religions September 1893. On the platform (left to right) Virchand Gandhi, Anagarika Dharmapala, Swami Vivekananda[3], G. Bonet Maury and Nikola Tesla.
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