| Name(s) |
PANDITA RAMABAI Saraswati |
| Date of
Birth |
April 23, 1858 |
| Date of
Death |
April 05, 1922 |
|
Identity |
Indian social reformer and a champion
for the emancipation and education of women |
|
Date-wise Events / Works |
- A learned woman knowing seven languages, she also
translated the Bible into her mother tongue - Marathi
- from the original Hebrew and Greek.
- 1870:
By the age of 12, she had memorized thousands of verses
from the Puranas.
- 1877:
After the death of her parents during this year, she travelled across India
and delivered lectures at various places and stressed everywhere the
need for women's education.
- 1878: Calcutta University conferred on her the title of
Pandita, as well as the highest title of Saraswati,
in recognition of her interpretations of various Sanskrit works.
- 1880: She got married to a Bengali lawyer of a lower caste
well against the then prevailing customs.
- 1882:
After her husband's death during this year, she moved to Poona where she
founded Arya Mahila Samaj with an objective to
promote the cause of women's education and deliverance from the
oppression of child marriage.
-
1883: She received a scholarship to train as
a teacher in England.
-
1889: She established the Mukti Mission in
Pune, as a refuge and a Gospel witness for young widows deserted and
abused by their families; she also established Krupa Sadan,
a home for "fallen” women, who had been cast out of society.
-
October 26, 1989: In recognition of her
contribution to the advancement of Indian women, the Government of
India issued a commemorative stamp.
-
1896: During a severe famine she rescued
thousands of outcast children, child widows, orphans, and
other destitute women and brought them to the shelter of Mukti and
Sharada Sadan.
|
|
Other Events &
Developments |
-
Her father relentlessly fought for imparting education to
women, despite opposition from the society.
-
She learnt basic Sanskrit and vedic texts
from her father.
-
Her fame as a lecturer came to be known all over India and she was
soon invited by various forums and institutions to speak.
-
There she developed a more clear vision for what would become her
future mission in India.
-
While in England, she adopted Christianity.
-
She also lectured across America for three years on the
plight of women and child widows in India.
-
When the Ramabai Foundation was formed in America to collect funds
for her projects in India, more than $30,000 was collected. Sale
proceeds of 10,000 copies of her book 'High Caste Hindu
Women' were used to give shelter to destitute women
in India.
|
|
