MODERNHI

STORY
SOCI
O-CULTURALREFORM MOVEMENTS
ANDTHEIRLEADERS
Par
t5

ByAnkushShar
ma
Tr
ipl
eS
TheTheosophi
cal
Mov
ement:

Theosophi cal
wordiscompr i
sedoft woGreekwordTheosmeansGodandSophi a
meanswi sdom.TheTheosophicalSociet
ywasfoundedinlat
e1875,inAmer i
caby
RussianwomanHel enaPetr
ovnaBlav at
sky(
1831-
1891)andAmer i
canColonelHenry
SteelOlcottal
ongwi t
hAttr
oneyWi l
li
am QuanJudgeandanumberofot herindivi
dual
s
i
nterest
edi nt
hephil
osophypresentedbyMadameBl avat
sky.Theywerei
nspiredby
I
ndianthought sandCult
ure.Theaim oftheSoci
etywastoattai
nwisdom i
nor derto
real
izetheGodhood.

MadameBl av
atskyandHenr ySt
eelOlcottcamet oIndiaandestabl
i
shedthe
I
nternati
onalHeadquarter
softheosophicalSociet
yinAdy ar
,Madrasin1882.The
Amer i
canwor koftheSociet
ywaslookedov erbyWill
iam QuanJudgeaft
ertherestt
wo
founderscamet oIndi
a.

Aft
erthedeathofHenryOlcot
ttheworkoft heSociet
ywaslookedaf
terbyI
ri
shSoci
al
Acti
vi
stAnnieBesantasthepri
ncipall
eadersoftheint
ernat
ional
movementbasedi
n
AdyarMadras.AnnieBesantcamet oIndi
ain1893.
Thesocietybel
ievedthataspecial r
elati
onshipcouldbeestabli
shedbetweenaperson’
s
soulandGodbycont empl ati
on,prayer,rev
elati
on,et
c.i
tbeli
evedinrei
ncar
nati
onsand
karmaanddr ewinspi
rationfrom phil
osophyoft heUpnishads,samkhi
ya,yogaand
VedaantaSchoolsofthought.Itaimedt owor kforuni
versalbr
other
hoodofhumanity
wit
houtdisti
nct
ionofr ace,cr
eed,sex, casteandcolour
.

TheSer
vant
sofI
ndi
aSoci
ety
:

GopalKri
shnaGokhal
e(1866-
1915),t
heli
berall
eaderofI
ndianNati
onalCongr
ess
foundedTheServ
antsofIndi
aSociet
yin1905.G.KGokhalewassucceededas
Presi
dentbySr
ini
vasaShastr
iin1915aft
erthedeathofG.KGokhal
e.

GKGokhaleest
abli
shedthi
ssoci
etywi
ththeaimt otrai
nthepeoplet
odevote
t
hemselv
eswi t
hint
heservi
ceofI
ndiaasnationalmissi
onar
ies.TheSoci
etywor
kedf
or
i
mprovi
ngthecondit
ionsandwor
kedself
lesslyforf
aminereli
efaswell
.
Just
iceMov
ement
:

InMadr asal lthejobs( Gov ernmentJobs, Admi ni

strati
veSer vices, Representationin
Legislature)wer esecur edbyBr ahmi ns.Br ahmi nsclasswasdomi nantt hus,thepol i
ti
cal,
social,andeconomi cal di
v i
debet weenBr ahmi nsandnon-Br ahmi nsbecamemor e
th
apparenti nt hebegi nningoft he20 cent ury.On20Nov ember1916, ar ound30
promi nentnon- Brahmi nleader scamet ogethert oform Sout hI ndianLiber ati
on
Federat i
on( SI LF)Mai nleader swer eCNMudal iar,P.Tyagraja, TM Nai r.SILFlauncheda
mov ementt osecur ejobsandr epresent ati
onf orthenon- Brahmi nsint helegislat
ure
throught heirNewspaper -Justice.Af tertheirJusticepar t
ygai nedpopul aritywiththe
name‘ Justicepar ty’andmov ementcamet obeknownasj ust iceMov ement .Justice
Mov ementwasgai ningpopul arityandsuppor tamongt henon- Brahmi nsi nMadr as
Presidency .Thi sbecameacauseofconcer nf orIndianNat i
onal Congr ess.Af ewnon
Brahmi nCongr essleaderscamet ogethert olaunchMadr asPr esidencyAssoci at
ionto
countert her iseofJust icePar t
y .Laterin1944Just i
ceMov ementwasmer gedwi thSelf
respectMov ement .

Sel
frespectMov
ement
:

StartedbyE.V.
RamaswamyNai cker
.Hestar
tedhispol
it
ical Careerbyjoi
ningIndian
NationalCongressin1919.Hewasanon- Br
ahminandbel ievedthatBrahmini
cal
rel
igionandCulturear
ethepr i
mei nstr
umentofexpl
oit
ationoft helowercastes.He
resi
gnedi n1925whenhef eltthatthepar
tywasonlyservingt heint
erest
sofBr ahmins.
Hef el
tthatduet opr olongeddi scri
mi nationdonet oNon-Brahminst hesehav elostthei
r
SelfRespect .Developmentofsel f-
respecti ntheindiv
idual
swi l
lputast optocaste
discri
mination.Afterqui t
tingCongr ess,EVRst ar
tedSelfRespectMov ementi n1925.
SelfRespectwasi nspiredbyTami lli
terature.Hisgoalwast ogivenon- Brahminsa
senseofpr idebasedont heirDr avi
dianpast .I
talsomeantadeni aloft heSuperior
it
yof
theBrahmi nsandoft heBr ahmi n’
si mplicitfai
thinthesyst
em.Hi sfollower sgavehim
thetit
leof‘Per i
yar’means‘ theGr eatMan’ .Hestart
edaTami l
-l
anguagenewspaperKudi
Arasut otakeupt hecauseofsel f
-respectmov ement.Self
-RespectWeddi ngswere
donewi thoutaBr ahmi nPr iest.In1944Just i
ceMov ementwasmer gedwi thSel
f
respectMov ementandwasr enamedasDr avi
darKazhagam.

TheTempl
eEnt
ryMov
ement
:

Soci
alRef
orm Leader
sli
keSriNar
ayanGuru,N.
KumaranAsan,
T.K
Madhvan(
publ
icati
onDeshabhi
mani)et
c.di
dsigni
fi
cantwor
kinthi
sdi
rect
ion.

I
n1924happenedVai kom SatyagrahaledbyK.PKesav awaslaunchedi nKeral
ato
maket heso-call
edlowercast epeopletoenterthet emplesanduset her oadsl
eadi
ng
tothetemples.Thissat y
agrahagotsuppor tfr
om Punj abandMadur ai.GandhiJiar
ri
ved
i
nKer alat
osuppor tthemov ement .Againin1931, TempleEntryMov ementwas
organi
zedinKer al
apr ominentleaderbeingK.Kelappan,poetSubramani yam
Tir
umambu( thesingingswor dofKer al
a).Leader
sl ikeP.Kri
shnaPil
lai andAKGopalan
wereamongt heSatyagrahi
s.