Pandita Ramabai was an Indian social reformer and pioneer in women's education in 19th century India. She became renowned as a Sanskrit scholar at a young age after her father educated her despite social opposition. Ramabai went on to establish several schools to provide education to widows and oppressed women, including the Mukti Mission which still operates today. She advocated for women's rights and criticized child marriage and the mistreatment of widows in Hindu society.

1. Pandita Ramabai
Pandita Ramabai (23 April 1858 – 5 April 1922) was an
Indian social reformer, a champion for the emancipation
of women, and a pioneer in education. She acquired a
reputation as a Sanskrit scholar.
1 Early life
Ramabai was born on 23 April 1858 in Canara district
of British India (now in Karnataka). Her Family be-
longs to Mala Kattemane Dongare Family. Her father,
Anant Shastri, was an intellectual Brahmin, who from his
study of Hindu texts, believed that women should be edu-
cated. His second wife, Ramabai’s mother, Lakshmibai,
was a child bride nine years of age. Against the prevail-
ing Hindu traditions, he decided to educate her. The vil-
lage Brahmins responded by ostracizing him, so Shastri
left the village to make a home in the forest. The fam-
ily moved from place to place. Whenever he could her
father would lecture on the need for female education.
He taught Ramabai to read and write Sanskrit, as well as
how to interpret vedic texts. By the age of twelve, Ram-
abai had memorized 18,000 verses from the Puranas. Be-
sides Sanskrit, Ramabai learned the Marathi, Kanarese,
Hindustani, and Bengali languages.[1]
When her parents died in the 1877 famine, Ramabai and
her brother decided to continue their father’s work. She
and her brother traveled all over India. Ramabai’s fame
as a lecturer reached Calcutta, where the pandits invited
her to speak.[2]
In 1878, Calcutta University, conferred
on her the title of Pandita, as well as the highest title of
Saraswati in recognition of her interpretations of various
Sanskrit works.[3]
The theistic reformer Keshab Chandra
Sen gave her a copy of the Vedas, the most sacred of all
Hindu literature, and encouraged her to read them.
After the death of her brother in 1880, Ramabai mar-
ried Bengali lawyer, Bipin Behari Medhvi and they had a
daughter whom they named Mano. Medhvi was a Sudra,
so her marriage was inter-caste, even though it was con-
sidered inappropriate for a Hindu to marry into a lower
caste. They were married in a civil ceremony on 13
November 1880. Ramabai resolved to spend her life at-
tempting to better the status of women in India. She stud-
ied and discussed issues which surround Indian women,
especially Hindu traditions. She spoke against the prac-
tice of child marriage and the resulting constraints on the
lives of child widows. Husband and wife had planned
to start a school for child widows, when Medhvi died in
1882.[1]
After Medhvi’s death, Ramabai moved to Pune where she
founded Arya Mahila Samaj, which is Sanskrit for “No-
ble Women’s Society”. The purpose of the society was
to promote the cause of women’s education and deliv-
erance from the oppression of child marriage. When in
1882 a commission was appointed by Government of In-
dia to look into education, Ramabai gave evidence before
it. In an address to Lord Ripon’s Education Commission,
she declared with fervor, “In ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred the educated men of this country are opposed to
female education and the proper position of women. If
they observe the slightest fault, they magnify the grain of
mustard-seed into a mountain, and try to ruin the charac-
ter of a woman.” She suggested that teachers be trained
and women school inspectors be appointed. Further, she
said that as the situation in India was that women’s con-
ditions were such that women could only medically treat
them, Indian women should be admitted to medical col-
leges. Ramabai’s evidence created a great sensation and
reached Queen Victoria. It bore fruit later in starting of
the Women’s Medical Movement by Lady Dufferin.[1]
In 1883 Ramabai received a scholarship to train as a
teacher in England. During her time there she converted
to Christianity and joined the Anglican Church. She de-
veloped a more clear vision at this time for what would
become her future ministry in India. She dreamed of
founding schools in India that combined education and
industry. She also realized the need for Kindergarten
school in India. In 1886 she was invited to America so
she intently studied the kindergarten systems in Amer-
ica. When she returned to India, she started homes for
the destitute and Christian churches. Ramabai combined
her Christian ideals with her Indian culture to promote
change in India. She also lectured across America for
three years on the plight of women and child widows in
India; and when the Ramabai Foundation was formed in
America to collect funds for her projects in India, more
than $30,000 was collected. More than 10,000 copies of
her book, High Caste Hindu Women were sold in Amer-
ica, the profits from which were used give shelter to des-
titute women in India.
It was there that an association was formed to fund her
school for child widows. By April 1889 she had started
a home-cum-school in Bombay, which she named as
Sharda Sadan. This was the first home for widows in
Maharashtra- the only other home was in Bengal, started
by a Mr. Sen, As Ramabai was a Christian and the school
was funded by missionaries, local citizens viewed it with
extreme caution and wariness. She brought in Sharada,
1

2. 2 3 AWARDS AND HONORS
a young Indian lady, after whom the Sadan was named
while she was pregnant. But as Sharada refused Pan-
dita’s urge to take up Christianity, Ramabai drove her out
11 days after her delivery which was strongly criticised.
Sharada fell ill and eventually died. Ramabai moved to
Poona, name changed to Mukti Sadan. When they were
hit by the 1900 famine, Ramabai and her helpers were
able to rescue several hundred women. According to
ManMohan Kaur there were as many as 1900 people in
the Sadan. A school was organized. 400 children were
accommodated in the Kindergarten, A training school for
teachers wad also opened and an Industrial School with
gardens, fields, oil press, dairy, laundry, ovens, etc. It
also taught sewing, weaving, and embroidery.
Later on, she traveled extensively to see for herself the
plight of many young women and widows condemned to
life as temple prostitutes in Northern India. In a lecture
given in June 1882, she pronounced, “Men look on us
women as chattels: we make every effort to deliver our-
selves from this situation. But some will say that this is a
rebellion against man, and that to do this is sin. To leave
men’s evil acts unrebuked and remain unmoved before
them is a great sin.”
She wrote a book about her travels to the United States
“Status of Society of United States and a travelogue” and
it has been published in English translation as Pandita
Ramabai’s American Encounter. The book is a traveler’s
account of the people and culture of the United States.
It contains a pointed comparison of the status of women
in the U.S.A. and India, and suggests that India should
follow the path of reform, but is not without criticisms
of American society, particularly its race problem. The
work was almost immediately acclaimed as one of the
greatest books of the time and was soon used as a text-
book at the University of Bombay.
In 1889, Ramabai established the Mukti Mission in Pune,
as a refuge and a Gospel witness for young widows de-
serted and abused by their families; she also established
Krupa Sadan, a home for “fallen” women, who had been
cast out of society. Ramabai also started 'Sharda Sadan',
which also provided housing, education, vocational train-
ing and medical services for many needy groups includ-
ing widows, orphans and the blind. In Sanskrit and most
Indian languages MUKTI means liberation. In her spot-
less widow’s white, Ramabai most often arose before 4:00
A.M. and worked until half past eight at night.
In 1896, during a severe famine Ramabai toured the vil-
lages of Maharashtra with a caravan of bullock carts and
rescued thousands of outcast children, child widows, or-
phans, and other destitute women and brought them to the
shelter of Mukti and Sharada Sadan. A learned woman
knowing seven languages, she also translated the Bible
into her mother tongue - Marathi - from the original He-
brew and Greek.[3]
By 1900 there were 1,500 residents and over a hundred
cattle in the Mukti mission and she was also involved in
establishing a Church at Mukti. The Pandita Ramabai
Mukti Mission is still active today, providing housing,
education, vocational training, and medical services, for
many needy groups including widows, orphans, and the
blind.[4]
Ramabai was also a poet and scholar. In order to learn
more about the education of women and receive train-
ing for her lifelong battle to help unshackle the women in
India, she visited most parts of India, and even went to
Britain (1883) and the United States of America (1886–
88). During this time she also translated textbooks and
gave lectures throughout the United States and Canada.
Somehow she also found time to write and get published
one of her most important books, The High-Caste Hindu
Woman. This was also the first book that she wrote in
English. Ramabai dedicated this book to Dr. Anandibai
Joshi, the first Indian woman to earn a medical degree
through training in Western medicine, who died in Febru-
ary 1887, less than six months after returning to India
from America. The High Caste Hindu Woman, which,
according to her beliefs, “showed” the darkest aspects of
the life of Hindu women, including child brides and child
widows, sought to expose the oppression of women in
Hindu-dominated British India.
2 Family life
As Pandita Ramabai involved herself in social service,
there was little family life for her. Her childhood was
full of hardships, she lost her parents early and her hus-
band expired within two years of marriage. She had also
to educate her only daughter, Manorama Bai. She did
this well: Manorama completed her BA at Bombay Uni-
versity; went to the USA for higher studies; returned to
India, and worked as Principal of Sharada Sadan, Mum-
bai. With her help, Pandita Ramabai established Chris-
tian High school at Gulbarga (now in Karnataka), a back-
ward district of south India, during 1912, and her daugh-
ter was Principal of the school. In spite of the relentless
criticism, Ramabai remained focused on her goal of help-
ing widows. In 1920 Ramabai’s body began to flag and
she designated her daughter as the one who would take
over the ministry of Mukti Mission. But Manorama’s un-
timely death was a shock to Ramabai. Nine months later,
Ramabai, who had been suffering from septic bronchi-
tis, went to be with her Lord and her daughter. She died
on 5 April 1922, a few weeks before her 64th birthday.
Her contribution to social reforms, community service
and Christianity in India is much appreciated.[5]
3 Awards and honors
“Pandit” and “Saraswati” at Bengal (before going to
Britain), recognizing her skills in Sanskrit. Kaisar-i-Hind
medal for community service in 1919, awarded by the

3. 3
British Government. She is honored with a feast day on
the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on
5 April.
On 26 October 1989, in recognition of her contribution
to the advancement of Indian women, the Government of
India issued a commemorative stamp.
4 References
[1] “Sarla R. Murgai”. Utc.edu. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
[2] My Story by Pandita Ramabai. Pub: Christian Institute for
Study of Religion and Society, Bangalore.
[3] “Intl' Christian Women’s History Project & Hall of Fame”.
Icwhp.org. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
[4] “Untold Tale of Revival: Pandita Ramabai | Grace Valley
Christian Center”. Gracevalley.org. Retrieved 2015-05-
15.
[5] Panditha Ramabai Sarasvathi - Book in Kannada (1962)
Pub by Christ Sahitya Sangha, Bangalore
5 Sources
• Helen S. Dyer, Pandita Ramabai: the story of her
life (1900) online
• Pandita Ramabai, Pandita Ramabai’s American En-
counter: The Peoples of the United States (1889), still
in print.
• Clementina Butler (1922). Pandita Ramabai Saras-
vati: Pioneer in the movement for the education of
the child-widow of India. Fleming H. Revell Com-
pany, New York.
• Jay Riley Case, “An Unpredictable Gospel” (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2012)
6 External links
• Life Testimony of Pandita Ramabai
• Pandita Ramabai materials in the South Asian
American Digital Archive (SAADA)
• The Story of Ramabai
• A Short History of Mukti Mission

4. 4 7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
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