Ravishankar Maharaj | |
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| Born | Ravishankar Vyas 25 February 1884 |
| Died | 1 July 1984 (aged 100) Borsad, Gujarat, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation(s) | Activist, social worker |
| Spouse | Surajba |
| Parent(s) | Pitambar Shivram Vyas, Nathiba |
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Ravishankar Vyas, better known as Ravishankar Maharaj, was an Indian independence activist, social worker and Gandhian from Gujarat.
Ravishankar Vyas was born on 25 February 1884, Mahashivaratri, in Radhu village (now in Kheda district, Gujarat, India) to Pitambar Sivram Vyas and Nathiba, a Vadara Brahmin peasant family. His family was native of Sarsavani village near Mahemdavad. He dropped out after the sixth standard to help his parents in agriculture work. [1] [2] He married Surajba. His father died when he was 19 and his mother died when he was 22. [3]
He was influenced by Arya Samaj philosophy. [2] He met Mahatma Gandhi in 1915 and joined his independence and social activism. [2] He was one of the earliest and closest associates of Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and along with Darbar Gopaldas Desai, Narhari Parikh and Mohanlal Pandya, the chief organizer of nationalist revolts in Gujarat in the 1920s and 1930s. He worked for years for rehabilitation of Baraiya Koli and Patanvadiya Kolis of coastal central Gujarat. [4] [5] He founded Rashtriya Shala (National School) in Sunav village in 1920. He left his rights on ancestral property against wish of wife and joined Indian Independence Movement in 1921. He participated in Borsad Satyagraha in 1923 and protested against Haidiya Tax. He also participated in Bardoli Satyagraha in 1928 and was imprisoned by British authority for six months. He participated in relief work of flood in 1927 which earned him recognition. He joined Gandhi in Salt March in 1930 and was imprisoned for two years. [6] In 1942, he also participated in Quit India Movement and also tried to pacify communal violence in Ahmedabad. [1] [4] [3]
After independence of India in 1947, he devoted himself to social work. He joined Vinoba Bhave in Bhoodan Movement and travelled 6000 kilometres between 1955 and 1958. In 1960s, he organised and supported Sarvodaya Movement. [5] Ravishankar Maharaj inaugurated Gujarat state when it was created on 1 May 1960. [7] He also opposed the Emergency in 1975. Until his death, it was a tradition that every newly appointed Chief Minister of Gujarat visit him for blessings after taking oath of office. He died on 1 July 1984 in Borsad, Gujarat. [1] [3] [8] [9] The memorial dedicated to him is located at Adhyapan Mandir, Vallabh Vidyalaya, Bochasan. [10]
He wrote about education, rural reconstruction and Kolkata. [11] [1]
The Government of India released postal stamp in his honour in 1984. Ravishankar Maharaj Award for social work, worth ₹1 Lakh, is instituted by Department of Social Justice, Government of Gujarat in his honour. [12]
Jhaverchand Meghani has written Manasai Na Diva based on his experiences with him during his social work among tribals. [13] Pannalal Patel has also written a biographical novel Jene Jivi Janyu (1984) on him.
Mahadev Haribhai Desai was an Indian independence activist, scholar and writer best remembered as Mahatma Gandhi's personal secretary. He has variously been described as "Gandhi's Boswell, a Plato to Gandhi's Socrates, as well as an Ānanda to Gandhi's Buddha".
Pannalal Nanalal Patel was an Indian author known for his contributions in Gujarati literature. He wrote more than 20 short story collections, such as Sukhdukhna Sathi (1940) and Vatrakne Kanthe (1952), and more than 20 social novels, such as Malela Jeev (1941), Manvini Bhavai (1947) and Bhangyana Bheru (1957), and several mythological novels. He received the Jnanpith Award in 1985. Some of his works were translated as well as adapted into plays and films.
Sarvōdaya is a Sanskrit term which generally means "universal uplift" or "progress of all". The term was used by Mahatma Gandhi as the title of his 1908 translation of John Ruskin's critique of political economy, Unto This Last, and Gandhi came to use the term for the ideal of his own political philosophy. Later Gandhians, like the Indian nonviolence activist Vinoba Bhave, embraced the term as a name for the social movement in post-independence India which strove to ensure that self-determination and equality reached all strata of Indian society. Samantabhadra, an illustrious Digambara monk, as early as the 2nd century A.D., called the tīrtha of Mahāvīra by the name sarvodaya.
Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi, popularly known by his pen name Ghanshyam Vyas, was an Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer from Gujarat state. A lawyer by profession, he later turned to author and politician. He is a well-known name in Gujarati literature. He founded Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, an educational trust, in 1938.
Narhari Dwarkadas Parikh was a writer, independence activist and social reformer from Gujarat, India. Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, he was associated with Gandhian institutes throughout his life. He wrote biographies, edited works by associates and translated some works. His writing also reflected Gandhian influence.
Kheda District was also known as Kaira District in British Raj. Kheda District one of the thirty-three districts of Gujarat state in western India. It is part of the region known as Charotar, consisting of Kheda and Anand districts. Kheda was Former Administrative Capital In British Raj. Now Nadiad is the administrative headquarters of the district.
The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 was the first satyagraha movement led by Mahatma Gandhi in British India and is considered a historically important rebellion in the Indian independence movement. It was a farmer's uprising that took place in Champaran district of Bihar in the Indian subcontinent, during the [British colonial period]. The farmers were protesting against having to grow indigo with barely any payment for it.
The Bardoli Satyagraha, was a farmers' agitation and nationalist movement in India against the increased taxation of farmers by the colonial government. It demanded a cancellation of the 22% tax hike being levied in Bombay Presidency. The movement began on 12 June 1928. It was eventually led by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and its success gave rise to Patel becoming one of the main leaders of the independence movement.
Ravishankar Raval (1892–1977) was a painter, art teacher, art critic, journalist and essayist from Gujarat, India. He worked for the magazine Vismi Sadi until it closed in 1921, and then founded the cultural magazine Kumar.
The history of Gujarati literature may be traced to 1000 AD, and this literature has flourished since then to the present. It is unique in having almost no patronage from a ruling dynasty, other than its composers.
Indulal Kanaiyalal Yagnik was an Indian independence activist and a Member of Parliament from 1957 to 1972. He was a leader of the All India Kisan Sabha and one who led the Mahagujarat Movement, which spearheaded the demand for the separate statehood of Gujarat on 8 August 1956. He is also known as Indu Chacha. He was also a writer and film maker.
Nanabhai Bhatt was an Indian educator, writer, thinker and Indian independence activist. Bhatt was a contemporary of educators Gijubhai Badheka and Harbhai Trivedi. The three worked to advance rural education. Bhatt died on 31 December 1961. He has written a number of books on Indian Cultural Heritage which include Ramayana na Patro, Mahabharat Na Patro, Mahabharat Ni Akhyaikayo 1-2, Bhagawat kathao. Ghadatar and Chanatar is his autobiography.
Gopaldas Ambaidas Desai (1887–1951) also called Darbar Gopaldas Desai was a prince who ascended the throne of the State of Dhasa currently known as Gopalgram in Saurashtra and a noted Gandhian political and social activist. He is remembered as the first prince in India who gave up his principality to become a freedom fighter against the British Raj.
Swami Anand was a monk, a Gandhian activist and a Gujarati writer from India. He was the manager of Gandhi's publications such as Navajivan and Young India and inspired Gandhi to write his autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth. He wrote sketches, memoir, biographies, philosophy, travelogues and translated some works.
Muni Jinvijayji was a scholar of orientalism, archeology, indology and Jainism from India.
Jhinabhai Ratanji Desai, better known by his pen name Snehrashmi, was a Gujarati language author and Indian independence activist.
Bachubhai Popatbhai Ravat was a Gujarati editor and art critic from India.
The Kheda Satyagraha of 1918 was a satyagraha movement in the Kheda district of Gujarat in India organised by Mahatma Gandhi during the period of the British Raj. It was a major revolt in the Indian independence movement. It was the second Satyagraha movement, which was launched 7 days after the Ahmedabad mill strike. After the successful Satyagraha conducted at Champaran in Bihar, Gandhi organised the movement to support peasants who were unable to pay the revenue because of famine and plague epidemic.
Manubhai Lallubhai Jodhani was a Gujarati writer, folklorist, ornithologist, botanist and editor from Gujarat, India. He had published more than 15 books.
Swapnastha was a Gujarati poet and story writer. His works were influenced by communism.
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