Reforms in Hindu Religion

As the Hinduism does not have a founding father, many spiritual leaders and Gurus had played a major role in guiding Hinduism through the ages of history. Other than this, active Hindu communities all over the world had been contributing towards the regeneration of Hindu beliefs, which is collectively called contemporary Hindu movements.

Spiritual leaders

Some of the reforms seem to be individual philosophies based on their critical view points on Vedic Tradition, exploring different aspects of Hinduism. The notable names from the past are Adi Shankaracharya, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda, Ramana Maharshi, and Sri.Aurobindo, Swami Sivananda, Narayana Guru and Paramahansa Yogananda.

The recent years had witnessed the emergence of new spiritual Gurus like Satya Sai Baba, Maharshi Mahesh Yogi, Swami Chinmayananda, and Sri Sri Ravishankar inspiring many people towards their spiritual understanding.

Organizational moves-Hare Krishna movement

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, founded by A.C. Bhaktivedanata Swami Prabhupada had a remarkable contribution to the reforms in the Hindu Society by starting the Hare Krishna movement. The society made the mantra well known outside India. The belief is that the higher conscious ultimately takes the form of pure love towards the God (Krishna).

The Hindu renaissance

Since 1970's, Hinduism is going through a period which Hindu community calls, "Hindu Renaissance". The rule of the British had bought a western influence in the Indian culture and had weakened the faith of the Hindus. But the popularity of Hinduism in West and the activity of certain influential leaders are reversing the trends.

Yoga and other meditation techniques had been widely accepted as the solutions for the stressful modern life. This made the modern Hindu to go back and re-discover the value of their tradition. The increasing popularity of Indian classical arts is also an evidence for this.

New organizations

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteers' Union, also known as Sangh) is a Hindu nationalist organization in India. It was formed by Dr. Keshav Baliram Hegdevar in 1925. The aim of the organization was to unite the Hindus and make them work for the pride of the Hindu-Rashtra. There are many odds between RSS and other religious organizations. Three times the organization had been banned and the ban is lifted subsequently.

Outside India

There are several movements happening outside India, in favor of return to Hinduism. Indonesia, Java, Sumatra are some of them to be named.

As there exist a number of personal and collective contributions towards the Hindu reformations, and some of them are social while some of them are intellectual, it is a difficult task to put a definite boundary while discussing them.