The Ministry of Culture held inaugural ceremony to commemorate the year long celebration of the 250th Birth Anniversary of Raja Ram Mohan Roy from May 22 in Kolkata.
- It will continue till next year 22nd May. The inaugural ceremony took place at Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation, Salt Lake, Kolkata, and at Science City Auditorium, Kolkata.
- An iconic statue of Raja Ram Mohan Roy was also unveiled in virtual mode at Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation, Kolkata.
About Ram Mohan Roy
- Ram Mohan Roy was born on May 22, 1772 in what was then Bengal Presidency’s Radhanagar in Hooghly district.
- He was born in a prosperous upper-caste Brahmin family.
- He was given the title of Raja by the Mughal emperor Akbar II.
- In 1814, he started the Atmiya Sabha (Society of Friends), to nurture philosophical discussions on the idea of monotheism in Vedanta and to campaign against idolatry, casteism, child marriage and other social ills.
- The Atmiya Sabha would make way for the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, set up with Debendranath Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore’s father.
- In 1817, he collaborated with Scottish philanthropist David Hare to set up the Hindu College (now, Presidency University).
- He followed it up with the Anglo-Hindu School in 1822 and, in 1830, assisted Alexander Duff to set up the General Assembly’s Institution, which later became the Scottish Church College.
- His relentless efforts led to the abolition of Sati under the governor generalship of William Bentinck in 1829.
- Roy argued for the property rights of women, and petitioned the British for freedom of the press (in 1829 and 1830).
- He died on September 27, 1833 in Bristol, England.
- Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidinor-A Gift to Monotheists was his one the greatest works.
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