Prarthana Samaj, or the "Prayer Society" in Sanskrit, is a movement for

religious and social reform in Maharashtra that is based on previous reform

movements and traditions of Maharashtra. The direct predecessor of the
Prarthana Samaj in Mumbai was the Paramahamsa Sabha, a secret society
for the furtherance of liberal ideas that was formed in 1849 by Ram
Balkrishna Jaykar and others in Mumbai. It was secret in order to avoid the
anger of the powerful and orthodox fundamentals of society. Meetings were
arranged for discussion, the singing of hymns, and the sharing of a communal
meal prepared by a low-caste cook.
Alike the Brahmo Samaj of Bengal, the Prarnatha Samaj represented
an Indian response to European liberalism, including the principles of rational
belief and social improvement. The members of the Prarthana Samaj
followed the great religious tradition of the Maratha Sant Mat like Namdev,
Tukaram and Ramdas(the guru of Shivaji). The Brahmo Samaj founders went
through many world religions including ancient Vedic texts, which
consequently were not accepted to be infallible or divine. Although the
supporters of Prarthana Samaj were devoted theists, they also do not
consider the Vedas as divine or perfect. They drew their sustenance from the
Hindu scriptures and used the hymns of the old Marathi "poet-saints" in their
prayers.The Marathi poets had motivated a movement of conflict to the
Mughals. But, beyond the religious concerns, the prime focus of the
Prarnatha Samaj was on the social and cultural reform. The Prarthana
Samaj critically looked into the relations between modern social and cultural
systems and religious beliefs and thus gave importance to social reform as
compared with the political alterations that were already initiated by the British
government. Their all-inclusive reform movement has led many inspiring
projects of cultural change and social improvement in Western India. Some of
them include the improvement of the lot of women and dejected classes,
an end to the caste system, elimination of child marriages and
infanticide, educational opportunities for women, and remarriage of
widows. Sir Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, Dr. Atmaram Pandurang,
Narayan Chandavarkar and Justice Mahadev Govinda Ranade guided
the successes of the community.

The Prarthana Samaj was first started in Bombay and was inspired by the
Brahmo Samaj but is milder and less fundamental in its principles. Theistic
worship came at the forefront. Prarthana Samaj believes that God is the
creator of this universe and he is the only true God; there is no other God
beside him. His worship alone shall lead to happiness in this world and the
next. Love and reverence for him, praying and singing to him spiritually with
these feelings is his true worship. To worship and pray to images and other
idols is not a true mode of divine adoration. God does not incarnate himself
and all men are His children; therefore they should have affection towards
each other without distinction.
The doctrine of Prarthana Samaj was very similar to the Brahmo Samaj but
with one significant difference. The Prarthana Samaj based its worship on
the devotional poems of the Vitthalas, especially those of Tukaram. The
Vitthalas or Varkari Panth, 'pilgrim's path,' is the sect of Vitthala, the
Vaishnava bhakti devotional movement that rose in the thirteenth century and
is centered on Pandharpur in the far south of Maharashtra.

In 1872 another great Brahmo personality, Pratap Chandra stayed for six
months at the invitation of the Prarthana Samaj. During his visit there was a
plan of making Prarthana Samaj to become a branch of Brahmo Samaj. This
was prevented by Mahadeo Ranade pointing out the splits among the
Brahmos of Bengal, which might be spread all across in Bombay. The
Prarthana Samaj continued as an independent reform movement and this
was the most important and well-organized movement of the time that was
sponsored by leaders of society. The mildness of the Prarthana Samaj has
meant that there have never been groups of missionaries as in the Brahmo
Samaj. With only one or two missionaries the movement has not spread
widely. However, the mildness of the Samaj has been attractive in the South,
in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, where the Prarthana Samaj is the most
popular of the Samajs. The Samaj runs the Young Theists Union, the Postal
Mission to send religious literature, the Subodh Patrika, night schools, and a
Ladies Association.
In 1875 the Prarthana Samaj faced its first crisis and a resulting split
among its members. Swami Dayananda Saraswati visited Gujarat and
Maharashtra with the result that a new ideology of exposed truth,
fundamental change, and open conflict provided a dramatically different
species of religious movement. A section of the Prarthana Samaj membership
was involved in Aryan ideology and was excited by Dayananda. They
wanted to have the Prarthana Samaj openly reject all caste rules and
restrictions. After extensive internal debate led by S. P. Kelkar, those who
accepted Dayananda's message broke away and founded the Brahmo Samaj
of Bombay.
Although the Prarthana Samaj does not support image-worship, in
practice members follow the ceremonies of Hinduism though regarding them
as of no religious importance. Thus Samaj members can still practice image-
worship in their homes and be part of the caste system. It is said that the
Prarthana Samaj pays adherence to Hinduism with a protest. However, their
own services use hymns of the old Maratha poet-saints, especially Tukaram.
The Prarthana Samaj maintained various institutions, namely a free
reading room, a library, night schools for workers, and an orphanage in
Pandharpur. After 1906, they also formed a Depressed Classes Mission of
India under the leadership of Vithal Ramji Shinde. The establishment of
this new society made a great difference in changing the religious and social
life of Maharashtra.