The Vivekananda Rock Memorial stands on a rock about 500 meters (1,640 feet) off the mainland at the southern tip of India, in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. Eknath Ranade led the Vivekananda Rock Memorial Committee and is listed as its architect. It was inaugurated in 1970.
The design blends temple styles from across India, drawing on the Ramakrishna Math at Belur in West Bengal and on Tamil Nadu architecture. It has the Vivekananda Mandapam, the Shripada Mandapam, a shrine at the footprint of the goddess, and the Dhyana Mandapam, a meditation hall. Narayan Sonavadekar sculpted the statue.
E. Thanumalayan, a student, modeled the first blueprint in paraffin wax. Ranade gathered signatures from 323 members of Parliament and ran a one-rupee donation campaign. A state-run boat service reaches the rock, and a glass bridge connects the memorial with the Thiruvalluvar statue.
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