Dayananda Saraswati was an Indian philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a reform movement of the Vedic dharma. He was the first to give the call for Swaraj as "India for Indians" in 1876, a call later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak. Denouncing the idolatry and ritualistic worship, he worked towards reviving Vedic ideologies. Subsequently, the philosopher and President of India, S. Radhakrishnan called him one of the "makers of Modern India", as did Sri Aurobindo.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Hinduism:
Arya Samaj is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values of based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati on 10 April 1875. Members of the Arya Samaj reject idolatry.
Pandit Sudhakar Chaturvedi was an Indian independence activist, Vedic scholar, Indologist, and claimed supercentenarian. At the claimed age of 122 years, 313 days, some Indian newspapers reported him as the oldest Indian ever.
Gurukula Kangri is a public central deemed to be university u/s 3 of the UGC act 1956 located in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India. It is fully funded by UGC. It is a NAAC "A" grade Accredited. Situated near the bank of the Ganges about 6 km from Haridwar and about 200 km from New Delhi. Gurukula Kangri has 24 academic departments covering Engineering, Applied Sciences, Vedic Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences and Management programs with a strong emphasis on Vedic and Modern Sciences and technological education and research.
Hinduism was first introduced by Sindhi settlers who migrated to Ghana after India was divided in 1947. It was spread to Ghana actively by Ghana's Hindu Monastery headed by Swami Ghananand Saraswati and by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Hinduism is the fastest growing religion in Ghana.
Suriname has possibly the highest proportion of Hindus who are Arya Samajis, compared to any other country. In Suriname, the Hindu population had split, with roughly 20% following the teachings of Swami Dayanand Saraswati, founder of the Ārya Samāj, and 80% following the Sanatan Dharm. According to the census of 2012 the number of Ārya Samājĩs is 16,661. The arrival of Arya Samaj preachers in Suriname, in 1929, caused a rift in the Hindu community, between the followers of Sanatan Dharm and the Ārya Samāj.
Arya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement in South Africa. Like other parts of the world where people of Indian origin are settled, the teachings of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, founder of the Arya Samaj, made their way to South Africa during the beginning of the twentieth century. The Arya Samaj encouraged Indian South Africans to take pride in their heritage and culture and promoted education and social reform.
The Arya Samaj was founded in Nairobi on 5 July 1903, at a meeting at the home of Jai Gopal attended by forty-five people. The small group of Arya Samajis immediately began plans for a centre for its members and on 11 September 1903, the foundation for the first Arya Samaj building in East Africa was laid. Today there is a seven-storey building on this site.
Arya Samaj in Tanzania had been in existence since the early 1900s and prior to independence the whole of East Africa was served by a single Arya Samaj. After independence a separate Pratinidhi Sabha was formed in Tanzania on 19 July 1974.
Arya Samaj has existed in Singapore since 1927 and runs Hindi classes at its premises through the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Schools System.
Arya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement in Mauritius. Established in 1911, the Arya Paropkarini Sabha was officially registered in 1913. Since its creation Arya Samaj has had a great influence on the religious, social, educational and political lives of the people of Indian origin on the island. It has endeavoured to uphold the principles and ideals set forth by Maharishi Dayanand and his reformist movement. Some of the more notable ideals are women parity and free access to education. It has provided Hindus with a choice of progressive Hinduism, has promoted education with particular emphasis on Hindi and established orphanages, primary schools, colleges and tertiary institution.
The earliest efforts to establish the Arya Samaj in Trinidad and Tobago were made by visiting missionaries in the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1930s their activities led to the establishment of a new organisation, which first was called the Arya Samaj Association, but later was renamed Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Trinidad. The main activity of the sabha was giving support to the construction of Aryan temples and schools. Unfortunately the organisation was frequently plagued by split-offs, which caused a decrease of its membership.
The teachings of Swami Dayanand reached Guyana in the early 1900s but it was the arrival of missionary Bhai Parmānand in 1910 that led to the growth of Arya Samaj throughout the Colony. The Ārya Samāj doctrine rejects the idea of caste and the exclusive role of brahmins as religious leaders. The movement preaches monotheism and opposition to the use of images in worship as well as many traditional Hindu rituals.
(Acharya) Narendra Bhooshan (Acharyaji) was an Indian linguist, Vedic Scholar, orator, writer, translator, journalist and publisher. He was a scholar in Sanskrit, Malayalam, Hindi and English.
Pundit Ganga Prasad (1871-1968) was an Arya Samaji writer and a member of Indian National Congress who was solely responsible for bringing anti-conversion laws to negate the Christian missionary activities. He also believed in Aryan invasion theory. He opposed the Partition of India and was a staunch and ardent follower of Mahatma Gandhi. He served as professor of Meerut College at Allahabad University and as chief judge at Tehri, Garhwal District, from which post he retired to serve the Arya Samaj full-time. He was the father of Swami Satya Prakash Saraswati, another notable Arya Samaji author.
Lala Hansraj also known as Mahatama Hansraj, was an Indian educationist and a follower of Arya Samaj movement founder, Swami Dayanand. He founded, with Gurudatta Vidhyarthi, the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Schools System (D.A.V.) in Lahore in 1886, where the first D.A.V. school was set up in memory of Dayanand who had died three years earlier.
Dr Chaturbhuj Sahay ; known as Guru Maharaj, 3 November 1883 – 24 September 1957, was an Indian mystic and capable master. Due to the spiritual atmosphere at home the love of God was sown within him in early childhood, and his heart was colored with a slight color of detachment. From a young age he used to meet Saints and Yogiraj or learned ascetics (Sanyasi), and was influenced by several religious traditions.
Sanātanī (सनातनी) is a term used to describe Hindu movements that incorporate various teachings from the Vedas, Upanishads, and other Hindu texts such as the Ramayana and Bhagavad Gita, which itself is often described as a concise guide to Hindu philosophy and a practical, self-contained guide to life.
