Arya Samaj (redirected from Arya Samaja)

Arya Samaj: see Saraswati, Dayananda.

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Arya Samaj

Reform sect of Hinduism, founded in 1875 by Dayananda Sarasvati, in order to reestablish the Vedas as revealed and infallible truth. The Arya Samaj opposes idolatry, ancestor worship, animal sacrifice, a caste system based on birth rather than merit, untouchability (see untouchable), child marriage, pilgrimages, and temple offerings. It upholds the sanctity of the cow, samskaras, oblations to fire, and social reform, including the education of women. Strongest in western and northern India, it is governed by representatives elected to samajas (“societies”) at the local, provincial, and national levels, and it played an important role in the growth of Indian nationalism.

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Arya Samaj 

(in Hindi, Society of the Aryans), a religious, reformist, and educational society in India, which originated in 1875 and was basically composed of members of the petit bourgeois intelligentsia. Its founder was Dayananda Sara-svati. The Arya Samaj called for the independence of India and the rebirth of its national culture. It fought against the caste system and espoused the advancement of enlightenment and the enactment of religious and customary social reforms. The activity of Arya Samaj prepared the ground for the awakening of national consciousness and the development of the national liberation movement. In 1891 the society had about 40,000 members. In contemporary India it exists as a small religious group.

L. I. IUREVICH