Arya Samaj in Fiji - Early Activities of Arya Samaj

Early Activities of Arya Samaj

Arya Samaj’s work in Fiji received a boost with the arrival of Arya Samaj Missionary from India, Swami Ram Manoharanand Saraswati, who arrived in Fiji from Burma in 1913. Totaram Sanadhya, although himself a Sanatani, has written about the early contribution of Arya Samaj to providing education and religious education in Fiji and asked for them to send more educators to Fiji.

An Arya Samaji gentleman by the name of Ram Manoharanand Sarasvati went and he preached there, therefore these words of thanks. There is a very great need for this sort of religious instructor there, who knows Vedic principles and knows English as well.... We know that Arya Samaj is doing a lot of work, but aren't these givers of aid to the world, the Arya Samaj, able to send one more religious instructor to Fiji, for the benefit of our foreign-dwelling brothers?

The Arya Samaj appealed to those who wanted to build a revitalised Hinduism in Fiji suitable to the local conditions. Badri Maharaj, who built the first school for Indians in Fiji in 1898 was an Arya Samaji and so was the first Indian Lawyer to arrive in Fiji, Manilal Doctor, who had been involved in Arya Samaj in Mauritius and believed that Arya Samaj was the best sect for the individualized Indians in Fiji. The first school was built by Arya Samaj in Fiji was the Gurukul Primary School in Saweni, Lautoka in 1918.