150 years of Arya Samaj

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi released commemorative coins marking the 200th birth anniversary of Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati and the 150th anniversary of Arya Samaj’s service to society on October 31. 

• PM Modi addressed the International Arya Mahasammelan in New Delhi. He appreciated the role of the organisation in the freedom struggle.

• The International Arya Mahasammelan 2025 programme forms a key part of the Gyana Jyoti Festival. The Summit brings together representatives from Arya Samaj units across India and abroad.

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.

• 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.