Swami Dayanand Saraswati and Kumaon

Prof Ajay Singh Rawat, Nainital (nainilive.com) – Arya Samaj is an Indian reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The Samaj was founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati on 7th April 1875 in Bombay. However the first Arya Samaj Mandir of India was established in Nainital and was situated in Tallital.

It was shifted to the present site after Independence owing to the efforts of Jasod Singh Bisht, the Chairman of Municipal Board, Nainital and R.B.
Shivdasani, the Commissioner of Kumaon those days. Influenced by the
philosophy of Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati, Pandit Gajanand Chimwal and his associates established the Satya Dharma Prakishni Sabha on 20th
May 1874 in Nainital. This was the beginning of the Arya Samaj Movement in Uttarakhand. On Wednesday 7th April, 1875 when Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati established the Arya Samaj in Bombay, the members of the Satya Dharma Prakashni Sabha in Nainital joined hands with the Arya Samaj.

Amit Sah, a local historian states, “Subsequently other branches of Arya Samaj were established in different parts of Kumaon during that period, 1880 in Jaspur, 1885 Kashipur, 1898 Haldwani and 1904 Ramnagar.”

Swami Dayanand Saraswati was a great Vedantic scholar whose mission
was universal brother hood. He believed that Hinduism had been
corrupted owing to its divergence from the founding principles of the
Vedas and had been misled by priesthood. His message, ‘Back to the
Vedas’ influenced several thinkers and philosophers world over.

According to Swami, “God is the original source of all that is true knowledge.” He preached respect and reverence for all human beings
supported by the Vedic notion of divine nature of the individual. He
enunciated 10 universal principles which enshrined the idea, “All
actions should be performed with the prime objective of benefiting
mankind.” The first five principles preach universal truth and the
last five speak of a noble society propagating civility, co-existence
and a disciplined life.

Arya Samaj as the name signifies is a ‘Samaj’ (organization or society) of Aryas (people who are noble). The word ‘Noble’ may be defined as a person who is knowledgeable, educated, of good character, kind, charitable, truthful and non-violent. Swami promoted equal rights for women such as right to education and reading of Indian scriptures. He was arguably the first to give the call of Swaraj and his book ‘Satyarth Prakash’ contributed significantly to the Independence Movement. His teachings influenced freedom fighters like Madam Cama, Swami Shradhanand, Lala Hardayal, Shyam ji Krishna Verma, Madan Lal Dhingra, Ram Prasad ‘Bismil’, Lala Lajpat Rai, Veer Savarkar and many others.

Swami Dayanand visited Kumaon in 1855. He came first to Gajanand Chimwal in his estate ‘Dhikuli’ in Nainital district. The same year he also visited Sitabani and Kashipur. In close proximity to Kashipur is Drona Sagar where he undertook penance. The place is named after Dronacharya of Mahabharata fame and according to tradition he trained the Pandava and Kaurava princes archery here. Concomitantly he sojourned in Garampani, Ranikhet, Dwarahat and Dronagiri in the hilly region of Kumaon.

The teachings of Dayanand Saraswati greatly influenced Khushi Ram when he came in contact with an Arya Samaji preacher Ram Prasad in 1907-1908. He had been fighting since 1906 that the autochthons of Uttarakhand should be addressed as Shilpkars and not Harijans, which was considered derogatory by them. He succeeded in his mission when they were mentioned as Shilpkars in the census of 1921.

He was also successful in his struggle against the priestly class and the Shilpkars were permitted to wear the sacred, which they had been not permitted hitherto. After his success the Congress leaders invited him to join the freedom struggle and in 1934 with his efforts the Shilpkar Movement became an integral part of the national stream of consciousness. Jayanand Bhartiya, Kotwal Singh Negi, Baldev Singh Arya, Diwan Singh Negi and Nardeo Shastri were also followers of Arya Samaji who played an important role in the freedom struggle in Uttarakhand.

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