Knowra Hindu reform movements Hindu reform movements Hindu reform movements sought to reshape Hindu beliefs and practices in response to social, political, and intellectual change, especially from the eighteenth century onward.
Brahmo Samaj : A nineteenth-century Indian reform movement that promoted monotheism, opposed idolatry, and campaigned against social practices including sati. Raja Ram Mohan Roy's movement joined religious reinterpretation with campaigns for social reform.
Bengal Renaissance : A nineteenth-century intellectual and cultural movement in Bengal marked by new debates about education, religion, society, and literature. Its reformers and institutions formed a major setting for early Hindu reform organizations.
Vedas : The oldest sacred texts of Hindu traditions, composed in Sanskrit and central to many accounts of Hindu religious authority. Reform movements disagreed over whether Vedic texts should govern contemporary belief and practice.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy : An Indian intellectual and social reformer who founded the Brahmo Sabha and campaigned against sati. Roy joined scriptural reinterpretation to public advocacy and helped establish organized Hindu reform.
Hindu nationalism : A political ideology that understands India as a nation defined in significant part by Hindu identity and culture. Some reform currents influenced Hindu political identity, though religious reform and nationalism are not the same project.
Arya Samaj : A Hindu reform movement founded by Dayananda Saraswati that advocated Vedic authority and rejected later religious practices. It pursued reform by treating the Vedas as the basis for renewed Hindu practice.
Orientalism : The study and representation of Asian societies by European scholars, often through frameworks shaped by colonial power. European translations and accounts of Hindu texts affected how reformers presented Hinduism to Indian and international audiences.
Bhakti : Devotional worship centered on a personal relationship with a deity, expressed through practices such as prayer and song. Bhakti traditions offered reformers influential models of religious devotion outside elite ritual alone.
Dayananda Saraswati : An Indian religious leader who founded the Arya Samaj and called for a return to Vedic authority. His program made Vedic restoration a powerful, distinct answer to religious and social change.
Dalit Buddhism : A modern Buddhist movement associated with B. R. Ambedkar that rejects caste hierarchy and offers an alternative to Hindu social order. Ambedkar's conversion movement answered caste oppression through religious exit rather than Hindu reform.
Show all 26