The founders of the Paramhansa Mandali founded in Maharashtra believed in which one of the following?
- (a)Social distancing along caste lines
- (b)Glorification of caste system
- (c)Forbidding widow remarriage
- (d)One God and in breaking caste rules
Correct — D, one God and in breaking caste rules. The Paramhansa Mandali, a secret socio-religious reform society founded in Maharashtra around 1849, held that there is one God and worked to break down caste distinctions. On admission, members were expected to eat food prepared by people of the so-called lower castes, a deliberate rejection of caste taboos. It grew out of the rationalist reform current associated with the Manav Dharma Sabha and reformers such as Dadoba Pandurang. Its beliefs were the very opposite of glorifying caste or forbidding widow remarriage.
- (a)Social distancing along caste lines — The Mandali attacked caste barriers; it did not seek to keep castes apart.
- (b)Glorification of caste system — It rejected the caste system and worked to break its rules, the opposite of glorifying it.
- (c)Forbidding widow remarriage — Reformers of this stream supported widow remarriage and social reform; they did not forbid it.
The Paramhansa Mandali was one of the earliest 19th-century reform societies of western India. Because openly defying caste invited social punishment, it functioned as a secret society: members believed in one God, opposed idolatry and caste, and pledged to break caste rules — famously by sharing food cooked by lower-caste people. It is regarded as a forerunner of the later Prarthana Samaj.
The clue 'secret society ... in Maharashtra' signals a reform body that quietly attacked caste and idolatry. That immediately rules out any option that upholds caste or bans widow remarriage.
- Founded around 1849 in Maharashtra (Bombay); it operated as a secret society.
- Its members believed in one God and opposed idolatry.
- Members broke caste rules, e.g. by eating food cooked by lower-caste people.
- It grew from the Manav Dharma Sabha stream (Dadoba Pandurang) and preceded the Prarthana Samaj (1867).
- Confusing the Paramhansa Mandali with Ramakrishna Paramahansa or the Ramakrishna Mission — unrelated.
- Assuming a caste-reform society would still bar widow remarriage.
Asked on the beliefs of the Paramhansa Mandali — monotheism and the breaking of caste rules.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Paramhansa Mandali of western India functioned as a secret society mainly because
- (a)it was a political revolutionary group
- (b)openly defying caste rules invited social punishment
- (c)it was banned by the British government
- (d)it opposed British education
Answer(b) openly defying caste rules invited social punishment — so its anti-caste activity stayed secret.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Paramhansa Mandali is regarded as a forerunner of which later Maharashtra reform body?
- (a)Arya Samaj
- (b)Prarthana Samaj
- (c)Ramakrishna Mission
- (d)Aligarh Movement
Answer(b) Prarthana Samaj — the monotheistic, anti-caste reform society founded in Bombay in 1867.