• Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at his statue in the historic Promenade Gardens in Georgetown, Guyana. The statue was installed in commemoration of Gandhiji’s 100th birth anniversary in 1969.

• PM Modi also paid floral tribute at the Arya Samaj monument located close by. This monument was unveiled in 2011 in commemoration of 100 years of the Arya Samaj movement in Guyana.

• It is an important landmark celebrating the contributions of the Arya Samaj movement to the spiritual and cultural development of the Indian community in Guyana. 

• The Arya Samaj movement was introduced in Guyana in the early 20th century to revive traditional Vedic principles and challenge social practices such as caste discrimination.

• It played a pivotal role in promoting education and empowering women.

• It symbolises the resilience of the Indo-Guyanese community and their efforts to preserve their heritage in a foreign land.

What is Arya Samaj?

• The Arya Samaj is a significant socio-religious reform movement founded by Swami Dayananda Saraswati in 1875, aiming to reestablish the Vedas as the ultimate and infallible truth. 

• It challenged practices and beliefs considered as later corruptions of the Vedic tradition and emphasized returning to the purity of early Hinduism.

Core Principles and Practices:

Rejection of Later Accretions:

• Arya Samaj rejects practices like idol worship, animal sacrifices, rituals for ancestors, and caste-based discrimination by birth.

• It opposes social evils like child marriage, untouchability, and priestly dominance.

• It encourages merit-based caste systems, aligning with the varna principles described in the Vedas.

Social Reform Efforts:

• Actively promotes female education and inter-caste marriages.

• Establishes institutions such as schools, colleges, orphanages, and widow homes.

• Engages in famine relief, medical work, and other humanitarian initiatives.

Doctrinal Beliefs:

• Upholds karma (moral causation) and samsara (cycle of rebirth).

• Believes in the sanctity of the cow and efficacy of Vedic rituals like oblations to the fire.

• Emphasizes the samskaras — rituals marking life’s significant stages.

• Geographical Reach: Arya Samaj’s influence has been strongest in northern and western India, where it gained widespread support, especially during the colonial period.

• Legacy: Arya Samaj has contributed significantly to education, cultural revival, and social progress both in India and among Indian diaspora communities globally.

• Institutions established under its banner have been instrumental in spreading rational Vedic teachings, fostering equality, and improving social welfare.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)