Question

Arya Samaj was founded in which of the following places?
A) Pune
B) Ahmedabad
C) Gandhinagar
D) Bombay

Answer 1

Hint: Swami Dayanand founded the Arya Samaj, with 10 principles that are beautifully focused solely on Heaven, soul and nature.The organisation brought about enormous changes in Indians' religious perceptions.He enshrined the principle that "all actions should be performed with the prime objective of benefiting mankind" by forming this culture, as opposed to following dogmatic rituals of revering idols and symbols.

Complete answer:
Arya Samaj was a Hindu reform movement founded by Dayananda Saraswati on 10th April 1875 in Bombay. It promoted values and practices based on the beliefs of the Vedas. People of this community believed in one god and rejected worshipping of idols. It was probably the first Hindu Organization to introduce proselytization in Hinduism, it means converting into hinduism.

Dayananda Saraswati began his efforts to reform the orthodox Hinduism in the country by establishing Gurukul emphasizing on vedic values, culture, sanatana dharma and virtue. Education was given to both boys and girls and this also helped Indians relieve from the pattern of British Education.

The very first Vedic School was established in 1869 at Farrukhabad and about 50 students were enrolled that year. Because of its success, more schools were opened at Mirzapur, Kasganj, Aligarh and Varanasi. Along with Vedas, Upnishads, Aranyaka, Kashika, Nirukta, Mahabhasya, Ashtadhyayi and Darshanas were also taught.

After Dayananda’s visit to Calcutta, lectures were given in Hindi instead of Sanskrit. Hindi started having an effect on a large scale of people. Dayanand was assassinated in 1883 but The Arya Samaj continued to grow and especially in Punjab. It is believed by some authors that because of the activities of the samaj, antagonism between Hindus and Muslims started brewing. Then Shraddhanand led the Shuddhi movement aiming to convert people back to Hinduism who were for any reason converted to any other religion.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘D’.

Note: Arya Samaj campaigned againts caste discrimination, widow remmariage and education of women. It also estab;ished chapters for Indian population in British colonies like Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa and Guyana.