Acharya Ramdev was one of the great leaders, educators, writers, freedom fighters, and powerful orators of Arya Samaj. He was born on 31 July 1881 in the village of Bajwada in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. His father Chandu Lal was a teacher in a school and he gave a special focus on Ramdev’s education. When Ramdev was 14 years old, he passed the Matric examination. For higher studies, he took admitted to DAV College, Lahore. In 1904, Ramdev passed the B.A. examination. Later, he worked hard for ‘Arya Pratinidhi Sabha’ Punjab and soon became the sub-editor of its weekly paper ‘Arya Patrika’.
Mahatma Munshi Ram (Swami Sharddhanand) was impressed with the innovative skills of Ramdev and appointed him as the Acharya (Head Teacher) of Gurukul Kangri. Gurukul Kangri was founded by Swami Sharddanand but it was Acharya Ramdev who developed that place as a pioneer education center in India. His contribution to expanding that center was significant. Acharya Ramdev emerged as a great educator of Arya Samaj. He was also a thoughtful scholar and writer and wrote many works.
His pioneer writings include Bharatvarsh ka Itihaas in three volumes, ‘Arya and Daysu’, ‘Digvijay Dayanand’, and ‘Vedic Dharma and Young India’. Acharya Ramdev was also very much concerned about the national movement of India in the 1930s. As a true Arya Samajist, he also participated in the freedom movement during that period. Acharya Ramdev was an Aryan freedom fighter who participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement and remained in jail for one year due to his anti-British activities.
Ramdev motivated other Aryan members to participate in the national movement. But in December 1934 the situation in Punjab became very sensitive due to communal riots. The local administration did not give permission for the golden jubilee function of Arya Pratinidhi Sabha. Finally, it was decided to change the dates of the function. Later, the golden jubilee anniversary was celebrated from 3 April to 13 April 1936 under the supervision of Acharya Ramdev. After that event, the health of Acharya Ramdev weakened. His health was not allowing him to work physically for the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Punjab. So he went to Dehradun and started living in Kanya Gurukul which was founded by him some years ago. On 9 December 1939, due to his ill health, he died at Dehradun.
Article Courtesy, Government of India, Ministry of Culture.
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