Stories told by Vivekananda being animated

The first part of the DVD series 'Putuler Golpo' (Story of Puppets) in Bengali was released here today.

The Hindi and English versions will be out soon, officials said.

The DVD has four animated stories which were told by Swami Vivekananda during a series of lectures on Karma Yoga in 1895 in New York.

Swami Hararupananda, who conceptualised the project, said they have identified 15 such stories which would be animated in the future.

"Young minds are more attracted to the visual medium these days and so we are trying to spread the message of moral and spiritual values in a modern way," he said.

"Besides Vivekananda, we will also animate stories told by Ramakrishna and those in Vedanta literature," he said, adding that they have been looking for co-producers for the project.

The 19th century saint Swami Vivekananda, who founded the order of Ramakrishna Mission at Belur Math here, a few km from Kolkata, was a master story teller.

"He had learnt this art from none other than his guru Sri Ramakrishna, who could drive home universal truths, especially the spiritual truths, through touching, vivid stories," Swami Divyananda, secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Sardapitha, said.