Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve Today is his 156th birth anniversary. He was born on April 18, 1858 and left us on November 9, 1962. He was a preeminent social reformer of his time in India in the field of welfare of womankind. He was born in a lower middle-class Chitpāvan Brahmin family. Karve continued the pioneering work of Mahatma Phule and Savitribai Phule in promoting womens education. Maharshi Karve was one of the pioneers in India in breaking with extraordinary fortitude and perseverance the above harsh social mores against womankind. He promoted education of women and freedom for widows to remarry if they wished to do so. The Government of India recognized his reform work by awarding him its highest civilian award, Bhārat Ratna in 1958, (the year in which, incidentally, he completed his 100 years of life. He lived for four more years.) In 1896, Karve established a Hindu Widows Home Association and started in Hingane, a village then in the outskirts of Pune in Maharashtra, Mahilāshram, a shelter and a school for women, including widows. He started Mahilā Vidyālaya in 1907; the following year, he started Nishkām Karma Math (Social Service Society) to train workers for the Widows Home and the Mahila Vidyalaya.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Apr 2014 06:27:41 +0000
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