Contemporary groups, collectively termedHindu reform movements,reform Hinduism,[1][2]neo-Hinduism,[2] orHindu revivalism, strive to introduce regeneration and reform toHinduism, both in a religious or spiritual and in a societal sense.[3] The movements started appearing during theBengali Renaissance.[4]
From the 18th century onward, India was colonised by theBritish. This process of colonisation had a huge impact on Indian society: social and religious leaders tried to assimilate intoWestern culture and moderniseHindu culture.[5]
InKerala the faith and principles of Brahmo Samaj and Raja Ram Mohun Roy had been propagated byAyyathan Gopalan, and reform activities had been led by establishing Brahmo Samaj in 1898 in the Calicut (nowKozhikode) region. Gopalan was a doctor by profession, but dedicated his life to Brahmo Samaj, and was an active executive member of the CalcuttaSadharan Brahmo Samaj until his death.[1][9][10][11][12][4][13][14]
It aimed to be a universal structure based on the authority of theVedas. Dayananda stated that he wanted 'to make the world noble', i.e., to return Hinduism to its universality of the Vedas. To this end, the Arya Samaj startedShuddhi movement in early 20th century to bring backHinduism to people converted toIslam andChristianity, set up schools and missionary organisations, and extended its activities outside India.Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India in his book,The Discovery of India credits Arya Samaj in introducingproselytization in Hinduism.[16]
Swami Vivekananda was a central personality in the development of another stream of Hinduism in late 19th century and the early 20th century that reconciled the devotional (bhakti-mārga) path of his guruSri Ramakrishna (of the Puri dashanami sampradāya) with thegnana mārga (path of knowledge). His ideals and sayings have inspired numerous Indians as well as non-Indians, Hindus as well as non-Hindus. Among the prominent figures whose ideals were very much influenced by them wereRabindranath Tagore,Gandhi,Subhas Bose,Satyendranath Bose,Megh Nad Saha,Sister Nivedita, andSri Aurobindo.[17][18]
^The Future of the environment : the social dimensions of conservation and ecological alternatives. Pitt, David C. London: Routledge. 1988.ISBN0-415-00455-1.OCLC17648742.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^Dalit: The Downtrodden of India. Himansu Charan Sadangi. Isha books. 2008.
^Rammohun Roy, Raja, 1772?-1833. (1996).Sati, a writeup of Raja Ram Mohan Roy about burning of widows alive. B.R. Pub. Corp.ISBN8170188989.OCLC38110572.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^Śāstrī, Śibanātha, 1847-1919. (1948).Men I have seen; personal reminiscences of seven great Bengalis. Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.OCLC11057931.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^Seminar on Perspectives of the Bengal Renaissance (1976 : Rajshahi University) (1977).Reflections on the Bengal renaissance : [papers read at a seminar, "Perspectives of the Bengal Renaissance"]. Institute of Bangladesh Studies, Rajshahi University.OCLC557887410.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Bose, Ram Chandra (1884).Brahmoism; or, History of reformed Hinduism from its origin in 1830. Funk & Wagnalls.OCLC1032604831.
Beckerlegge, Gwilym (2006). "Neo-Hinduism". InClarke, Peter B. (ed.).Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements. London; New York: Routledge. pp. 435–436.ISBN9-78-0-415-26707-6.
Dense, Christian D. Von (1999),Philosophers and Religious Leaders, Greenwood Publishing Group
Killingley, Dermot (2019). "Rammohun Roy and the Bengal Renaissance".The Oxford History of Hinduism: Modern Hinduism. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 36–53.doi:10.1093/oso/9780198790839.003.0003.ISBN9780198790839.
Michaels, Axel (2004),Hinduism. Past and present, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press
Renard, Philip (2010),Non-Dualisme. De directe bevrijdingsweg, Cothen: Uitgeverij Juwelenschip
J. Zavos,Defending Hindu Tradition: Sanatana Dharma as a Symbol of Orthodoxy in Colonial India, Religion (Academic Press), Volume 31, Number 2, April 2001, pp. 109–123.
Ghanshyam Shah,Social Movements in India: A Review of the Literature, New Delhi, Sage India, 2nd ed. (2004)ISBN0-7619-9833-0
