Chart 381 - Social Reformers 1

Social Reformers 1 Chart

Spectrum Chart - 381 : Social Reformers 1

1. Gopal Hari Deshmukh - Gopal Hari Deshmukh was a social reformer from Maharashtra. He promoted emancipation (liberation) and education of women, and wrote against arranged child marriages, dowry system and polygamy, all of which were prevalent in India in his times. He wrote against the evils of the caste system which was strongly prevalent in India in his times & condemned harmful Hindu religious orthodoxy.

2. Bal Gangadhar Tilak - Bal Gangadhar Tilak was an Indian nationalist, teacher, social reformer, lawyer and an independence activist. He was the first leader of the Indian Independence Movement. Tilak was one of the strongest advocates of "Swaraj" (self-rule).

3. Mahadev Govind Ranade - Mahadev Govind Ranade was a distinguished Indian scholar, social reformer and author. He was a founding member of the Indian National Congress & owned several designations as member of the Bombay legislative council, member of the finance committee at the centre and the judge of Bombay High Court.

4. Gadge Maharaj - Gadge Maharaj was a saintly social reformer, a wandering mendicant who held weekly festivals with the help of his disciples across Maharashtra. His reforms and visions for villages in India are still a source of inspiration for various political parties and non-government organizations. He conducted his discourses in the form of "Kirtans" in which he would emphasize values like service to humanity and compassion. During his Kirtans, he would educate people against blind faiths and rituals.

5. Swami Vivekanand - Swami Vivekanand was the chief disciple of the Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. At birth, he was called Narendranath Datta. He was the founder of Ramakrishna Mission. He introduced Hindu philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and America.

6. Pandurang Shastri Athavale - Pandurang Shastri Athavale was an Indian philosopher, spiritual leader, social activist and Hinduism reformist, who founded the Swadhyaya Parivar in 1954. Swadhyaya is a self-study process based on the Bhagavad Gita which has spread across nearly 100,000 villages in India.

7. Raja Ram Mohan Roy - He was the founder of the Brahmo Sabha movement in 1828. His efforts to protect Hinduism and Indian rights by participating in British government earned him the title "The Father of the Indian Renaissance". He crusaded against social evils like sati, polygamy and child marriage. He also demanded property inheritance rights for women.

8. Pandita Ramabai - Pandita Ramabai was an Indian social reformer, a champion for the emancipation of women and a pioneer in education. She acquired a reputation as a Sanskrit scholar. Ramabai was also a poet and scholar. In order to learn more about the education of women and receive training for her lifelong battle to help unshackle the women in India, she visited most parts of India.

9. Vinoba Bhave - He was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called Acharya , he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is considered as a National Teacher of India and the spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi.

10. Sister Nivedita – Sister Nivedita was a Scots-Irish social worker, author, teacher and a disciple of Swami Vivekananda. In November 1898, she opened a girls' school in Bagbazar area of Calcutta. She wanted to educate those girls who were deprived of even basic education. During the plague epidemic in Calcutta in 1899 Nivedita nursed and took care of the poor patients. Nivedita had close associations with the newly established Ramakrishna Mission.

11. Gopal Krishna Gokhale - Gopal Krishna Gokhale was one of the social and political leaders during the Indian Independence Movement against the British Empire in India. He founded the Servants of India Society. The Society took up the cause of promoting Indian education in earnest and among its many projects organised mobile libraries, founded schools and provided night classes for factory workers.

12. Shantha Sinha - Shantha Sinha is an anti-child labour activist of international reputation. She headed the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) for two consecutive terms. As a rights activist, her contribution to reduction in child labour in nearly 500 villages of Ranga Reddy district in Andhra Pradesh is unparalleled. Recognizing her work, the Government of India appointed her as the first chairperson of the newly formed NCPCR. She was awarded the civilian honour of Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1998.

13. Anna Hazare – Anna Hazare is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency and investigate and punish corruption in public life. Hazare also contributed to the development and structuring of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan the third-highest civilian award by the Govt. of India in 1992 for his efforts in establishing this village as a model for others.

14. K. Veeresalingam Pantulu - Kandukuri Veeresalingam was a social reformer, writer of Andhra Pradesh. He encouraged education for women, remarriage of widows which was not supported by the society during his time. He also started a school in Dowlaiswaram in 1874. His novel Rajasekhara Charitramu is considered to be the first novel in Telugu literature.

15. Keshub Chander Sen - Keshab Chandra Sen was an Indian Bengali Hindu philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within the framework of Hindu thought. In 1855 he founded an evening school for the children of working men.

16. Swami Dayanand Saraswati - Swami Dayanand Saraswati was a Hindu religious leader who founded the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement of the Vedic tradition. He was the first to give the call for Swarajya as "India for Indians" – in 1876, later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak.

To Buy Chart - CLICK HERE