Pandita Ramabai J 19-0285

INTRODUCTION
Pandita Ramabai was a social worker, scholar

and a champion of women’s rights, freedom
and education during the late 19th and early
20th centuries. Recognized as one of India's
most influential woman reformers, she was the
first to promote the welfare and education of
Indian widows.
BACKGROUND AND LIFE OF RAMABAI
•Born on April 23, 1858 in a Marathi speaking Brahmin family, as Rama Dongre.
•A learned, liberal Brahmin, Ramabai’s father Anant Shastri Dongare took it upon
himself to educate both his wife and his daughters, and was ostracised for his efforts.
•Pandita’S parents died during the Great Famine of 1876-78 when she was 16. She and
her brother, Srinivas, continued the family tradition of reciting religious texts.
•Her brother passed away in June 1880. During the same year, she married Bipin
Behari Medhvi, a Bengali lawyer.
•In deciding to marry Medhvi, who belonged to the socially ostracised lower caste she
did not allow considerations of her own high caste to come in the way.
•In 1882 Ramabai lost her husband to cholera. She educated her only daughter, all by
herself.
THE MAKING OF “PANDITA”
• Ramabai arrived in Calcutta in 1878 at the age of 19.

• Interestingly , the religious elite of the city warmly
welcomed her and encouraged her to study the Vedas and
Upanishads despite the prohibition on women to do so. She
impressed the religious elite of the city with her mastery
over Sanskrit language and texts and received the title of
'Pandita' (Scholar) and 'Saraswati' (Goddess of Learning).
• Ramabai soon took up her social reform agenda by
traveling widely in Bengal and addressing women on the
need for their education and emancipation, drawing heavily
on the mythological figures of educated and independent
ENDEAVOURS OF RAMABAI
• Ramabai's reading of Dharmashastras made
her deeply conscious of the contempt with which
women of all castes and men of the lower caste
were treated in these texts and moreover
discriminated.
• Just after two years of marriage, Bipin's death
forced widowhood on young Ramabai at the age
of twenty-four. After her initial experiences of
oppressive widowhood , Ramabai refused to be
confined to the domestic space and catapulting
ENDEAVOURS OF RAMABAI
• However, she failed to connect to the women in Maharashtra and felt alienated
asShe had no community, no social base and no real emotional bonds to fall
back upon. It led to her search for solace in religion and God. which could
simultaneouslvaccommodate her social agenda as well as her quest for
religious fulfilments. Thus, she got converted to Christianity by the Anglican
Church.
• Ramabai had a conflict with the Patriarchy of the Anglican church which was
harsh enough. She was offered a Professorship to teach male students. But
Bishop of Bombay protested against it.
• Thus, the major contestation in Ramabai's educational and missionary
activities was that of Patriarchy.
PHILOSOPHY OF PANDITA RAMABAI
• Ramabai asked the inhabitants of her home to become

Christians and to frame a distinct Program of
education to meet their needs.
• Ramabai observed caste as a significant defect in
Hindu society. It led to the enclosure of physical work.
And untrue importance of the intellect. Caste
associations stopped the development of a democratic
spirit and encouraged the narrow self-interest of the
people.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF PANDITA RAMABAI
In the field of women education, Pandita Ramabai was one of the early
pioneers and A champion of women's rights. Her upbringing made her play
the role of a women activist in her later life. Significant contributions of
Ramabai are:
• Ramabai fought for the rights of women. She opposed the child marriages.
• She promoted the girl's Education.
• After her husband’s death, Ramabai, who was 23, moved to Pune and
founded Arya Mahila Samaj in 1881 to promote the education of women
and their deliverance from the oppression of child marriage.
• In 1889, She established a Mukti Mission for the young widows. By 1900, this mission
gained popularity and hosted 2000 children and women attending the school, and
they were occupied in industrial production and training.
• She also came up with the establishment of Sharda Sadan. The aim of this Sadan was
to impart education, shelter, medical facilities and vocational, training to visually
challenged, widows and orphans.
• The curriculum made by Pandita Ramabai emphasized the following
subjects:Botany, Literature and Physiology. The training was an important aspect
and therefore was included in diverse fields such as farming, gardening,
carpentry,wood cutting, printing, tailoring, sewing, weaving and in industries. The
purpose was so that after training, they can join the relevant fields of their interests.
This was an excellent initiative to break the barrier of the cast.
• Different societies were framed for the purpose. Students were the active
members of these societies, the children got the opportunity to learn the
rules of these societies and were encouraged to hold charge of these tasks
effectively.
• In her book titled “The High Caste Hindu Woman”, published in 1887,
Ramabai highlighted social evils of the time such as child marriage, the
plight of child widows and the oppression of women in British India.
• Pandita Ramabai translated the Bible into Marathi in 1924. Her daughter
Manoramabai also established a new school and in 1919, government
recognition was finally granted to the Sharada Sadan School.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND RECOGNITION
• In 1919, the king of England granted her the “Kaiser-e-

Hind” award, one of the highest awards that an Indian
could enjoy during the colonial rule.
• Her tremendous contributions in the education and
welfare of Indian women have been celebrated time and
again in the decades following her death. On 26th
October 1989, the Indian Government honoured her life
and work with the issue of a commemorative stamp.
CONCLUSION
Ramabai is considered as a
national icon of women's
development movement in
India. Ramabai's most
significant heritage was her
efforts, the first in India, to
educate widows and the
pupils she left behind to
continue her work.
A PRESENTATION BY :
NEHA GUPTA
19/0285
B.A. (HONS) POLITICAL SCIENCE
SECTION “A”

Pandita Ramabai J 19-0285

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INTRODUCTION

Pandita Ramabai was a social worker, scholar

• Ramabai arrived in Calcutta in 1878 at the age of 19.

• Ramabai asked the inhabitants of her home to become

• In 1919, the king of England granted her the “Kaiser-e-

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