Dayananda Saraswati: India, on 12th February 2022 paid tributes to Hindu reformer and Arya Samaj founder Dayananda Saraswati on his birth anniversary.

Key Facts:

• Born on this day in 1824, the noted Vedic scholar had launched a Hindu reform movement, denouncing idolatry and ritualism.
• The year 2022 is his 198th birth anniversary.

About Dayanand Saraswati:

• Dayananda Saraswati (12 February 1824 – 30 October 1883) was an Indian philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a reform movement of the Vedic dharma.
• He was a sanyasi (ascetic) from boyhood and a scholar.
• He believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas.
• He advocated the doctrine of Karma and Reincarnation.
• Among Dayananda's contributions are his promoting of the equal rights for women, such as the right to education and reading of Indian scriptures, and his commentary on the Vedas from Vedic Sanskrit in Sanskrit as well as in Hindi.
• Swami Dayanand established the Arya Samaj on April 7, 1875 in Bombay, with 10 principles that are beautifully based purely on God, soul and nature.
• He was the first to give the call for Swaraj as "India for Indians" in 1876, a call later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak.
• One of his most influential works is the book Satyarth Prakash, which contributed to the Indian independence movement.
• He brought about a complete overhaul of the education system of India by introducing Anglo-Vedic schools to offer students an updated curriculum which imparted both the knowledge of the Vedas and contemporary English education.
• Denouncing the idolatry and ritualistic worship, he worked towards reviving Vedic ideologies.
• Subsequently, the philosopher and President of India, S. Radhakrishnan called him one of the "makers of Modern India", as did Sri Aurobindo.
• Those who were influenced by and followed Dayananda included Madam Cama, Swami Shraddhanand, Shyamji Krishna Varma, Bhagat Singh, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Lala Lajpat Rai, Yogmaya Neupane, etc.