Hindu reform movements facts for kids

Hindu reform movements are groups that wanted to make Hinduism better. They aimed to improve both religious practices and how society worked. These movements began in India, especially during a time called the Bengali Renaissance. They are also known as Neo-Hinduism or Hindu revivalism.

History of Hindu Reform

From the 1700s, India was ruled by the British. This period was called the British Raj. British rule greatly changed Indian society. Many Indian religious and social leaders wanted to combine Western ideas with Hindu culture. They also worked to modernize Hindu traditions.

Social Reformers

Many important leaders worked for social change. These include Swami Vivekananda, Dayananda Saraswati, Mahatma Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. Sunderlal Bahuguna started the chipko movement. This movement helped protect forests based on Hindu ideas about nature. Some groups also collected new religious writings called Vachanas. These were easier to understand than the old Vedas.

Religious Movements

Brahmo Samaj

The Brahmo Samaj was a social and religious movement. It was started in Kolkata in 1828 by Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Later, in 1850, the Brahmo religion was founded by Debendranath Tagore. He was the father of the famous poet Rabindranath Tagore.

Brahmo Samaj in South India

The ideas of Brahmo Samaj spread to South Indian states. These included Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala. Many people in these areas became followers.

In Kerala, Ayyathan Gopalan helped spread the ideas of Brahmo Samaj. He started a Brahmo Samaj center in Calicut (now Kozhikode) in 1898. Gopalan was a doctor. But he spent his life working for Brahmo Samaj. He was an active member of the Calcutta Sadharan Brahmo Samaj until he died.

Arya Samaj

The Arya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement. It believes in one God. Maharshi Dayananda founded it in Bombay in 1875. He was a spiritual teacher. He believed that the Vedas held perfect and true knowledge.

The Arya Samaj wanted to create a universal system based on the Vedas. Dayananda wanted to 'make the world noble'. This meant bringing Hinduism back to its original, universal teachings from the Vedas. The Arya Samaj started the Shuddhi movement in the early 1900s. This movement aimed to bring back people who had converted to Islam or Christianity to Hinduism. They also set up schools and missionary groups. Their work spread outside India too. Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, wrote about Arya Samaj. He said they helped introduce the idea of converting people in Hinduism.

Ramakrishna Movement

Swami Vivekananda was a very important person in Hinduism. He helped develop a new way of thinking in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He combined devotion (bhakti-märga) with the path of knowledge (gnana märga). His teacher was Sri Ramakrishna.

Swami Vivekananda's ideas and words inspired many people. This included Indians and non-Indians, Hindus and non-Hindus. Some famous people influenced by him were Rabindranath Tagore, Gandhi, Subhas Bose, and Sri Aurobindo.

See also