Prarthana Samaj

Hindu reformist organization centered
in Bombay, whose most important figure was M. G. Ranade (1842–1901). The
Prarthana Samaj’s reformist mission
focused more on social issues than on
theological or worship-related ones.
Their primary aim was to rid Hindu
society of “evils” such as child marriage
and the ban on widow remarriage.
Although its members were educated
and progressive, they were also religiously conservative and devout Hindus
with deep roots in the tradition. They
saw their work as a slow and gradual
process of reforming Hinduism by
removing its most objectionable practices rather than by radically remaking it
from start. In this they differed from the
522
Pranapratishtha
Brahmo Samaj, who attempted to
remake the tradition wholesale by
giving it a strong, quasi-monotheistic
emphasis, a quality heavily influenced
by European missionaries. The
Prarthana Samaj lost its steam by
the early 1920s, when social reform
associations became absorbed into the
Indian National Congress.