Brahmo Sabha On 20 August 1828 the first assembly of the
Brahmo Sabha was held at the North Calcutta house of Firingi Kamal Bose. This day was celebrated by
Brahmos as
Bhadrotsab (ভাদ্রোৎসব
Bhadrotshôb; "
Bhadro celebration"). These meetings were open to all people irrespective of religion, caste, creed, gender. The format of worship was defined by
Raja Ram Mohan Roy – which included reading of the Vedas by two Telegu Brahmins, followed by an explanation of Vedanta and
Upanishads in
Bengali by Utsavananda Bidyabagish, followed by Brahmasangeet composed by Rammohun or his friends. The songs were performed by top classical musical exponents Krishnaprasad and Bishnu Chakraborty and percussion was played by the country's top maestro Golam Abbas. On 8 January 1830 influential progressive members of the closely related
Kulin Brahmin clan scurrilously described as
Pirali Brahmin (
i.e. ostracised for service in the Mughal
Nizaamat of Bengal) of Tagore (
Thakur) and Roy
Zameendar family, mutually executed the
Trust Deed of Brahmo Sabha for the first
Adi Brahmo Samaj (place of worship) on Chitpore Road (now Rabindra Sarani),
Kolkata, India with
Ram Chandra Vidyabagish as first resident superintendent. On 23 January 1830 or 11th
Magh, the
Adi Brahmo premises were publicly inaugurated (with about 500 Brahmins and 1 Englishman present). This day is celebrated by Brahmos as
Maghotsab (মাঘোৎসব
Maghotshôb "
Magh celebration"). In November 1830 Rammohun Roy left for England.
Akbar II had conferred the title of 'Raja' to Rammohun Roy.
Brief eclipse of Brahmo Sabha By the time of Rammohun's death in 1833 near Bristol (UK), attendance at the
Samaj dwindled.
Dwarkanath Tagore provided the funds for the upkeep of the Samaj and Ram Chandra Vidyabagish kept up the flame burning, and arrived each week to perform the divine service as laid out by Rammohun.
Tattwabodhini period On 6 October 1839,
Debendranath Tagore, son of Dwarkanath Tagore, established
Tattvaranjini Sabha which was shortly thereafter renamed the Tattwabodhini ("Truth-seekers") Sabha. Initially confined to immediate members of the Tagore family, in two years it mustered over 500 members. In 1840, Debendranath published a Bangla translation of
Katha Upanishad. A modern researcher describes the Sabha's philosophy as
modern middle-class (bourgeois) Vedanta. Among its first members were the "two giants of Hindu reformation and Bengal Renaissance",
Akshay Kumar Datta, who in 1839 emerged from the life of an "anonymous squalor-beset individual", and
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the "indigenous moderniser".
First Covenant and merger with the Tattwabodhini Sabha On 7th Pous 1765 Shaka (1843) Debendranath Tagore and twenty other Tattwabodhini stalwarts were formally invited by Pt. Vidyabagish into the Trust of Brahmo Sabha. The Pous Mela at Santiniketan starts on this day. From this day forth, the Tattwabodhini Sabha dedicated itself to promoting Ram Mohan Roy's creed. The other Brahmins who swore the First Covenant of Brahmoism are: • Shridhar Bhattacharya • Shyamacharan Bhattacharya • Brajendranath Tagore • Girindranath Tagore, brother of
Debendranath Tagore and father of Ganendranath Tagore • Anandachandra Bhattacharya • Taraknath Bhattacharya • Haradev Chattopadhyaya, the future father-in-law to Mahacharya
Hemendranath Tagore • Shyamacharan Mukhopadhyaya • Ramnarayan Chattopadhyaya • Sashibhushan Mukhopadhyaya
Foundation of the Brahmo Samaj In 1861 the Brahmo Samaj was founded at
Lahore by Nobin Roy. It included many Bengalis from the Lahore Bar Association. Many branches were opened in the
Punjab, at
Quetta,
Rawalpindi,
Amritsar etc.
First secession Disagreement with the Debendranath Tagore and
Keshub Chandra Sen came to a head publicly between the period of 1 August 1865 till November 1866 and the followers of Keshub created the "Brahmo Samaj of India". This period is also referred to in the histories of the secessionists as the "First Schism". Keshab Chandra Sen was influenced by
Sri Ramakrishna teachings and gradually adopted them in his personal life and philosophy.
Current status and number of adherents While the various Calcutta sponsored movements declined after 1920 and faded into obscurity after the
Partition of India, the
Adi Dharm creed has expanded and is now the 9th largest of India's enumerated religions with 7.83 million adherents, heavily concentrated between the states of
Punjab and
Uttar Pradesh. In the Indian census of 2001 only 177 persons declared themselves a "Brahmo", but the number of subscriber members to Brahmo Samaj is somewhat larger at around 20,000 members. == Social and religious reform ==