Religions reach out to each other in the Parliament of the World’s religions. Several such meetings have been held. The most notable of them was the Parliament of the World’s Religions held at Chicago in 1893. This was the first attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. History was made in September of 1893, when representatives of Eastern and Western spiritual traditions gathered under one roof. Chicago played host to the Parliament. Sikhs were absent from the meeting. Swami Vivekananda made a stirring speech, a speech that sparked off Western interest in Indian values.
A Parliament of world religions was held again at Chicago in 1993. Since then, a parliament has been convened every five years in a major city. The last one was held at Melbourne in 2009.
