Raja Ram Mohan Roy

Context:

Under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM), the Ministry of Culture held inaugural ceremony to commemorate the year long celebration of the 250th Birth Anniversary of Raja Ram Mohan Roy recently in Kolkata.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was one of the earliest social reformers in the country, he was given the title “Raja” by the Mughal Emperor Akbar II.
He is called as the father of Modern India’s Renaissance.
He was one of the prominent voices against child marriages and Sati system, two of which were the most evil practices prevalent in India at that time.
In his early years in 1814 Raja Ram Mohan Roy started the Atmiya Sabha which propagated the idea of monotheism present in Vedanta and also to campaign against idolatry, caste rigidities, and other social evils.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was one of the first persons to estimate the amount that was being drained by the East India Company.
In 1828, Raja Ram Mohan Roy setup the Brahmo Sabha which later became Brahmo Samaj, was a socio religious moment to fight against the social evils.

The sabha functioned very actively with regular prayers, meditation and reading of the scriptures.
It preached against priesthood, rituals and sacrifices.
It is the first intellectual reform moment in India.
Later in 1866 it was spit into two, namely Brahmo Samaj of India and Adi Brahmo Samaj.
Brahmo Samaj of India was led by Keshub Chandra Sen and Adi Brahmo Samaj by Debendranath Tagore.

Source: THE HINDU.