Arya Samaj and Shuddhi Movement in the Punjab

*************

One way in which the Arya Samaj tried to get around the constraints of caste was through their campaign of Shuddhi. The Shudhi Movement was first used by Swami Dayananda Saraswati as a purification ceremony in which Hindu converts lost to other faiths could be received back into the Hindu fold. From 1900 onwards there were conscious moves within the Arya Samaj to induct lower castes as well. Towards this end, purification ceremonies (Mass Shuddhi) were conducted where lower castes like Rohtias, Odes, Meghs and Jats were raised to higher caste status and inter dining and inter marriage with higher castes were technically allowed. This rarely took place in practice. There were obvious limitations to the Shuddhi Campaign. While individual conversions or mass conversions could be dealt with in a paternalistic manner, the conversion of non-Hindus and of out-castes posed far more serious problems. Not all attempts to integrate the depressed castes within the hierarchy met with support. Immediate social equality for the lower castes was an impossibility.