Brahmo Samaj Essay

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Brahmo Samaj: Founded as Brahmo Sabha on 20th August, 1828 by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, it was renamed Brahmo Samaj about a year later. Brahmo Samaj was first rationalistic and intellectual movement in India. It believed in one universal God and prayer, meditation, reading from Upanishads was used as a medium to worship God. There was no place for temple, rituals, sacrifices, priest etc. in the Samaj. It believed in progressive social practices and propagated it. After death of Raja in 1833 the Samaj found a new leader in Debendranath Tagore who joined Brahmo Samaj in 1842 and infused a new life into it. Under his leadership new branches of Sabha were established in various towns of India. Earlier Tagore founded Tattvabodhini Sabha in 1839 that engaged in search of spiritual truth. Debendranath Tagore reshaped Brahmo Samaj and gave it a shape of formal religion. He compiled prayers, books and even prescribed Brahmo form of worship. Debendranath handed over the leadership of Samaj to young and dynamic Keshab Chandra Sen and made him Acharya. Keshab Chandra Sen who joined Samaj in 1858 and popularised the movement in Bengal and in other parts of India. He helped in transformation of Brahmo Samaj into an All India Movement. Under him leadership scriptures of all religion were read at Samaj meetings. Keshab Chandra Sen openly opposed caste system. He advocated inter-caste marriages and opposed child marriages, polygamy etc. He was instrumental in enactment of number of social legislations like passage of Widow Remarriage Act, 1856, legalisation of non-ritualistic or Brahmo form of marriages by enactment of Native Marriage Act of 1872 (popularly known as the Civil Marriage Act). It fixed the minimum age for the groom and bride at 18 and 14 respectively. The radical views and preaching’s of Keshab Chandra Sen got him into trouble and
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