Reforms in South India History - General Knowledge of Modern India
Starting from Bengal, religious and social reform movements spread to other parts of India as well. Inspired by the Brahmo Samaj, the Veda Samaj was established in Madras in 1864 AD. It opposed caste discrimination and encouraged widow remarriage and women's education. Like the Brahmo Samaj, the Vedas also opposed the superstitions and orthodox customs of Hinduism and expressed their belief in one Supreme Being. The most prominent leader of the Veda Samaj was Chembeti Sridharalu Naidu. He translated the books of Brahmo Samaj into Tamil and Telugu languages. Later branches of Brahmo Samaj were established in some cities of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and soon after that also branches of Prarthana Samaj were established. Together these two societies worked to encourage social and religious reforms.
Kandukuri Veeresalingam was the most prominent leader of the reform movements of South India. He was born in 1848 AD in an orthodox Brahmin family of Andhra Pradesh. Influenced by the ideas of Brahmo Samaj, especially Keshav Chandra Sen, he devoted himself to social reforms. In 1876, he brought out a Telugu paper which was almost entirely devoted to social reforms. His greatest contribution was in the field of women's emancipation, which also included women's education and widow remarriage.
A movement was started in Kerala by Narayan Guru especially for the upliftment of the downtrodden and downtrodden of the society. Narayan Guru was born in 1854 AD. I was born in an Ejava family. The Ejava and some other castes were considered untouchables by the so called Hindu upper castes in Kerala. Narayan Guru received Sanskrit education and dedicated his life for the upliftment of Ejava and other downtrodden people. He established such temples in which there was no place for God and his idols. They established the first such temple by taking out stones from the nearby river. The following words were written on this stone - "This is a place where all people live in brotherhood without caste discrimination and religious enmity." Narayana Guru founded the Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam in 1903, which became an important organization for social reform. He advocated 'one caste, one religion and one God' for all.
Many social reformers of South India associated themselves with the reforms related to Hindu temples. In this sequence, he advocated the abolition of the Devadasi system prevalent in Hindu temples. He also demanded that the property of the temples should be the right of the public, not the priests. In many temples, the so-called lower castes did not have the right to enter, even the roads adjacent to the temples were restricted to them. Reformers launched a strong movement to end temple-entry and many other evil practices related to temples.
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