Pandita Ramabai

Ramabai Dongre Medhavi called Pandita Ramabai (* April 23, 1858, † April 5, 1922 ) was an Indian Christian social reformer and activist.

She was a writer, scientist and fought for better living conditions of Indian women. Apart from most parts of India they also visited England (1883 ) and the United States ( 1886-88 ). Her father was a Sanskrit scholar Anant Shastri Dongre, her mother Lakshmibai. The father taught the daughter ( against the customs of his time, the only men reserved the learning of Sanskrit ), the Puranas, so also Ramabai later made ​​a name as a Sanskrit scholar. The title Pandita was conferred for the in-depth knowledge of the Hindu religious scriptures.

Although coming from a respected Brahmin family, she married in 1880 originating from the lowest, the Shudra caste Babu Bipin Behari Madhavi lawyer, which caused resentment among orthodox Hindu circles. When the husband died at twenty-three, she did not play the traditional high-caste widows intended role and converted to the Anglican Church, which caused a scandal that reached into liberal society of Calcutta.

Ramabai received a scholarship to study medicine in England. However, she acknowledges there set a hearing, which she could not follow lectures. During her stay, she wrote the feminist classic "The High Caste Hindu Woman, " an attack on Scripture traditions like child marriage, polygamy, widow burning and the traditional use of widowhood. The written in their native language Marathi book was translated into English and received wide in England and America. In India, however, they took the written for an Indian audience work on not good.

Pandita Ramabai also translated the Bible into Marathi language.

In the 1890s, she toured the U.S. and wrote a book about the American people and culture from the perspective of a traveler, was recently published under the title Pandita Ramabai 's American Encounter in English translation. It draws a comparison between the status of women in the U.S. and India and calls for a deepening of the Indian reform course. The book also exerts critique of American society, particularly to racial discrimination. In the U.S., Ramabai raised money for a school that she founded after her return to India.

Ramabai Mukti Mission founded in 1889 the ( " mukti ", Marathi = " liberation" ) near Pune in Maharashtra State, India as a refuge for young widows, who are back from their families. In the Mukti Mission at times found over 3000 young widows recording.

The Pandita Ramabai Mukti Mission is still active today, providing for the needy, widows, orphans, as well as for the blind housing, education and vocational training ready.

Pandita Ramabais work was honored by the Indian government with a special stamp of 26 October 1989.

Anniversaries

• Evangelical: April 5, in the name Evangelical Calendar
• Anglican: April 30