Arya Samaj in Mauritius - History

History

The teachings of Arya Samaj was first introduced to Mauritius in 1897 by a group soldiers from the British Indian Army based there. On their departure in 1902, they left a copy of Satyarth Prakash and Sanskar Vidhi which became an inspiration for the establishment of the first Arya Samaj at Curepipe Road in 1903 by Bekarilal Singh, Lala Khemlall and Goorooparsad Duljeet. The trio were concerned at the detriorsating situation of the Hindu community in Mauritius, and despite early setback the Arya Samaj soon gained popular support.

The arrival of Manilal Doctor in 1907 provided impetus to the movement. Manilal, a lawyer by profession, published a regular Hindi magazine for the Arya Samaj. On 8 May 1911, another Arya Samaj was formed in Port Louis. The Samajs then combined to form the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Mauritius. The arrival of Chiranjiva Bharadwaj on 15 December 1911 provided further impetus to the Arya Samaj movement in Mauritius. Under his guidance Arya Samajs were established at places where Indians had settled in large numbers, such as Vacoas, Triolet, Labourdonnais, Pamplemousses and Rivière des anguilles. He conducted evening Hindi classes and toured villages to spread the message of the Vedas. Following opposition to the registration of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha by the Government, Bharadwaj registered the Arya Paropkarini Sabha in 1912 with headquarters in Port Louis where a new building was constructed.

The Arya Samaj sent young men to India to be trained as preachers and organised preachers from India to visit Mauritius. On such preacher was Swami Swantantranand who arrived in Mauritius in 1914. He further promoted the learning of Hindi and improved the Arya Patrika, a newspaper in Hindi which was the voice of the Arya Samaj. He returned to India in 1916 with Arya Samj well established and his work was furthered by Pandit Kashinath Kistoe, who had been sent to India for religious training. Kistoe took part in public debates with the orthodox Hindus but his greatest contribution was the establishment of Hindi schools. In 1924, the Arya Vedic School was established and subsequently two other primary schools were established. The DAV College of Port Louis was also established. Another preacher, Swami Vijayanand Saraswati arrived in February 1926 and used the latest audio visual aids to help with his lectures. He organised village processions and started shuddhi (conversion) ceremonies.