UPSC Decode

 The most profound reform movement which can be also termed as a revivalist movement in the late 19th century India was the Arya Samaj. Started in western India by Swami Dayanand Saraswati in1875. Lahore became the center of Arya Samaj. Only Vedas were considered as infallible. Though they believed in other Hindu religious texts also but according to them, only Vedas were infallible. They attacked Puranas, polytheism, idolatry, child marriage, and domination of the priestly class. He adopted Hindi for reaching out to the masses. After Dayanand’s death in 1883, the Samaj lay scattered. The most important attempt to unite the Samaj and its activities was the founding of the Dayanand Anglo Vedic Trust and Management Society in Lahore in 1886.

Reasons of Downfall of Samaj: The foremost was the Shuddhi program, to open the doors of Hinduism for those who had embraced other religions. Shuddhi provided for the reconversion of such persons to Hinduism. This movement was primarily directed against the Christian missionaries, who had converted a large number of Hindus, particularly from the depressed classes to Christianity. Another controversial issue was the protection of the cow. In 1882 the Arya Samaj formed a ‘Cow Protection Association’. However, this antagonized the Muslim theologists and resulted in serious Hindu Muslim riots. To know extra about arya samajclick.