Birth Anniversary of Raja Ram Mohan Roy: Know About the Father of Bengal Renaissance

Raja Ram Mohan Roy Jayanti (Birth Anniversary of Raja Ram Mohan Roy): Highlights

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy was born on 22nd May 1774.
• He was a great social reformer.
• He founded Brahmo Samaj.
• He abolished Sati pratha, child marriage, polygamy and many more evil practices.
• He is known as the ‘Father of Bengal Renaissance’.
• He knew several languages.He contributed to Indian literature a lot.
• He passed away on 27 September 1883.
• Spiritualism is the only way bringing equality and peace worldwide eradicating all evil practices.

Who Was Raja Ram Mohan Roy?

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a great social reformer who is known as the ‘Father of Bengal Renaissance’ or the ‘Father of Modern India’. His immense contribution in different fields made him famous worldwide.

This year on 22nd May, it is the 249th birth anniversary of Raja Ram Mohan Roy. He belonged to a rich Hindu Brahmin family in Radhanagar village of Hooghly district in Bengal city. His father also was a great scholar named Ramakanto Roy. His mother’s name was Tarini Devi.

Interesting Facts About Raja Ram Mohan Roy

• Mughal emperor Akbar ll honoured Roy with the title Raja, since then he became famous as Raja Ram Mohan Roy.
• He married thrice. Two of them passed away early while the third one outlived him.
• He was a polyglot who knew several languages.
• Being a monotheist, he believed in one God opposing idol worship.
• Contribution of Raja Ram Mohan Roy
• He formed an Atmiya Sabha.
• He translated Vedic scriptures and Upanishads into English.
• He founded Brahmo Samaj in 1828.
• He abolished numerous evil practices during the 18th and 19th century.
• He abolished Sati pratha.
• In 1822, he founded the ‘Sambad Koumudi’ newspaper.
• He published Mirat-ul-Akbar journal in Persian language.
• He established various colleges.
• Religious Reforms by Raja Ram Mohan Roy
• In 1822, he founded Sambad Koumudi newspaper.

He published a Mirat-ul-Akbar journal in Persian language that helped people to form their opinion on several issues during the regime of East India Company.

He established the first Bengali language newspaper

He founded an Atmiya Sabha (friendly association) society to discuss and translate Vedas and Upanishads.

He led the foundation of Brahmo Samaj that emphasized human dignity, and criticised idolatry.

Educational Reforms by Raja Ram Mohan Roy

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy established the first English school in 1816.
• He established Hindu College at Calcutta in 1817 for the reforms in Hindu Society that was also known as Young Bengal Movement.
• He was in favour of teaching Mathematics, Geography and Latin instead of focusing on Sanskrit only. This promoted these courses. He believed that these languages are vital for the development of any country.
• He established Vedanta College to propagate Hindu monotheism ideology. He was against idol worship and emphasized on worshipping one God.

Social Reforms by Raja Ram Mohan Roy

• One of his prominent works was the abolition of Sati Pratha in which the widow was forced to burn alive on the pyre of her husband’s dead body.
• In 1829, due to his efforts, Lord William Bentick passed a law to stop the Sati Pratha system.
• He raised his voice against idol worship opposing the principle of Trinity.
• He opposed Caste system, Child marriage, widow re-marriage.
• He uplifted the condition of women by emphasising on women education.

Slogan of Raja Ram Mohan Roy

He rejected the doctrine of the Trinity and had amonotheism approach that believed in a single, unitarian God. The same reflects from one of his slogans also. It is:-

“God is one. He has no end. He exists in all the living things on the Earth.”