BRĀHMO SAMĀJ. The Brāhmo Samāj, also known as Brāhma Samāj and Brāhmo (or Brāhma) Sabhā, was the first modern Hindu reform movement. It was founded in Calcutta in 1828 by Ram Mohan Roy (1772–1833). As an expression of the social and religious views of a small but influential group of westernized Indians, the Brāhmo Samāj ("congregation of brahman") sought to create a purified form of Hinduism, a Hindu dharma free of all Puranic elements such as temple rituals and image worship. Led by a series of prominent Bengali intellectuals, the movement was a major factor in shaping Hindu responses to both secular and Christian influence from the West and thus helped pave the way for the so-called Hindu Renaissance in the late 1800s. The Brāhmo Samāj, along with...