SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS

REFORMS.
S O C I A L R E F O R M H O L D S T H E K E Y N O T O N LY
FOR REDUCING DISTRESS BUT ALSO FOR
CHANGING PERSONAL AND COMMUNITY/SOCIAL
L I F E I N WA Y S T H AT C A N P R O V I D E C O N D U C I V E
CONDITIONS FOR A CONSTRUCTIVE AND
POSITIVE APPROACH TO LIFE, UNLEASHING
C R E AT I V I T Y A N D I M P R O V I N G T H E W O R L D .

DAYANAND SARASWATI.
In April 1875, Dayanand
established the Arya Samaj in
Bombay. Formed with the
motto Krinvanto Vishvam
Aryam (Make this world
noble), the socio-cultural
movement aimed to reform
society by raising awareness
among people about Vedic
knowledge.
MAHATMA GANDHI.
SWAMI VIVEK ANANDA .
Back in India, in 1915,
The first Vedanta Society, the Mahatma Gandhi founded
Vedanta Society of New York, an ashram, or spiritual
was founded by Swami monastery, open to all
Vivekananda in November 1894. castes of people. He wore
Many of the existing Vedanta just a simple loincloth and
Societies are affiliated, either shawl, and dedicated
formally or informally, with the himself to prayer and
Ramakrishna Order, the fasting.
monastic order, which led to the
formation of Ramakrishna
Mission.
COMPARATIVE CHART ON THE
REFORM MOVEMENT.
Western India  South India
 Kandukuri Veeresalingam was one
 Prarthana sabha was found in
of the social reformer in south
Bombay under the supervision
india. It was the widow remarriage
of R.G. Bhandarkar and and women’s education at
Mahadev Govind Ranade. It particular
consisted the same aim of the  Sri Narayana Guru, the greatest
Brahmo samaj. It succeeded in pioneer, relentless, lifelong
the abolition of the caste system. struggle against the caste system.
 It focused on
 Widow remarriage.
 Women’s education.
 Raising the marriageable age.
.

Muslims
 They too had the same problem like the Hindus,
religious orthodoxy, superstition and socio-economic
backwardness.
 Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan started a reform movement
called the Aligarh Movement. His greatest
achievement was the Anglo-Oriental College at
Aligarh in 1875. He mainly focused on the backward
condition of women and asked for the removal of
purdah and spread of education for women.
Parsees
 The reform movement among the parsees was lead by
Dadabhai Naoroji and other like-minded people.
 Religious reform association was set up to start a
movement against religious orthodoxy.
 The main concern in Parsee was the education of
women, raising the marriageable age of girls and
widow remarriage.

 Sikhs
 The Singh Sabha was set up in Amritsar and lahore and the religious
and social reformers among the sikhs. It set up a college and opened
a lot of schools they promoted the Gurmukhi script and punjabi
literature.
 The reformers also launched a movement led by the Shiromani
Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee against the corrupt practices of
the gurudwaras and freed them from the control of the managers of
the gutudwara.
THE IMPORTANCE OF WOMAN’S EDUCATION
IN INDIA.
 “IF YOU EDUCATE A MAN YOU EDUCATE AN INDIVIDUAL, HOWEVER, IF YOU
EDUCATE A WOMAN YOU EDUCATE A WHOLE FAMILY. WOMEN EMPOWERED
MEANS MOTHER INDIA EMPOWERED”. - PT. JAWAHARLAL NEHRU. WOMEN
EDUCATION IN INDIA PLAYS A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE OVERALL
DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY. IF IT IS SAID THAT EDUCATION IS THE KEY
TO ALL PROBLEMS, THEN IT WON'T BE IMPROPER. THINKERS HAVE GIVEN A
NUMBER OF DEFINITIONS OF EDUCATION BUT OUT OF THESE DEFINITIONS,
THE MOST IMPORTANT DEFINITION IS THAT WHICH WAS PUT FORTH BY M.
PHULE. ACCORDING TO M. PHULE, "EDUCATION IS THAT WHICH
DEMONSTRATES THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT IS GOOD AND WHAT IS
EVIL". IF WE CONSIDER THE ABOVE DEFINITION, WE COME TO KNOW THAT
WHATEVER REVOLUTIONS THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN OUR HISTORY,
EDUCATION IS AT THE BASE OF THEM AND EDUCATION MEANS MODIFICATION
OF BEHAVIOUR IN EVERY ASPECT, SUCH AS MENTALITY, OUTLOOK, ATTITUDE
ETC. EDUCATED WOMEN NOT ONLY TEND TO PROMOTE EDUCATION OF THEIR
GIRL CHILDREN, BUT ALSO CAN PROVIDE BETTER GUIDANCE TO ALL THEIR
CHILDREN. MOREOVER EDUCATED WOMEN CAN ALSO HELP IN THE
REDUCTION OF INFANT MORTALITY RATE AND GROWTH OF THE POPULATION.