Brahmasamāj

"The Brahmo Samaj movement is considered one of the most powerful and influential religious movements during the eighteenth century in India. Starting its journey in Calcutta, the Samaj soon spread its idea to the other parts of India. The idea was spread in a period, when the British rulers were expanding the reach of Indian railways all over India and the communication system was also improved a lot. With the help of the easy communication, the Brahmo Samaj movement quickly spread its ideas into the other prominent presidencies like Punjab, Sind, Bombay and Madras. In 1846, a branch of Brahmo Samaj was established in Dacca (present day Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh) and during the 1850s and 1860s; several young Bengalis got influenced by the Brahmo doctrine.
By the 1860s, the influence of Brahmo Samaj started to spread in South India. A learned and well educated Brahman of Cuddalore, named Sridharalu Naidu became influenced with the ideology of the Brahmo Samaj and he went to Calcutta to know further about the Brahmos. After spending a year studying Brahmo ideology, Naidu returned to South India and dedicated himself to spread the Brahmo philosophy. However, though Naidu did not get significant success initially, a visit of Keshub Chandra Sen to Madras in 1864 helped a lot in the formation of Brahmo Samaj in Madras. The Brahmo Samaj was first established as Veda Samaj in Madras before Naidu transformed it to Brahmo Samaj in both name and content, during the later half of 1860s. Naidu also travelled throughout the South India and helped founding new branches of Brahmo Samaj with able help from Doraiswami Iyengar. The Brahmo Samaj was founded in the places like Salem, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Mangalore, etc.
The Brahmo Samaj has led a number of social and religious reform movements. The Samaj actively participated in almost all social reform movements that include abolition of the caste system and dowry system, emancipation of women and improving the educational system. The Brahmo Samaj also reflected the ideologies of the Bengal Renaissance. The Samaj actively opposed the religious practice of Sati in Hinduism and also supported widow remarriage movement led by Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. In the contemporary period, the Brahmo Samaj is concentrated on making certain social reforms. These reforms include the denunciation of polytheism, reform of educational system, spread of knowledge by universal access to information, legal reform especially in fields of personal and secular law, opposing corrupting influences like intoxicants, television, etc.
The doctrine of Brahmo Samaj was propounded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy and later enriched by the other members of the Samaj. Brahmo Samaj laid emphasis on the worship of one formless omnipresent God. Ram Mohan never claimed that he had founded a new religion different from Hinduism. However, he always opposed the evil practices of Hinduism. Ram Mohan Roy strongly cited scriptural sources to justify his contention that Sati was not required by Hindu law and was instead an erroneous accretion. He described Sati as an example of degenerated Hinduism. Roy was adhered to theism and to him; God and his presence were proven by the complexity of reality. Roy envisioned God as the "almighty superintendent of the universe". He also strongly opposed the debarring of women from education and believed that the elaborate and useless rituals, idolatry and polytheism should disappear. There are certain doctrines of Brahmo Samaj that are still followed by the Brahmos. The members of Brahmo Samaj have no faith in any scripture as an authority; they have no faith in Avatars; they denounce the polytheism and idol-worship; they oppose the caste restrictions; and they also make faith in the doctrines of Karma and Rebirth optional" (IndiaNetzone: Brahmo Samaj [Stand: 03. 01. 2015])