The Dharma Sabha was established in 1830 in Calcutta to defend traditional Hindu customs and oppose reform movements challenging orthodox religious and social practices.

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• The Dharma Sabha was founded in 1830 in Calcutta by Radhakanta Deb to protect orthodox Hindu traditions against rising social and religious reform movements.
• The organization emerged during the early colonial period when Western education, Christian influence, and reformist ideas began reshaping Indian society and cultural thinking.
• Dharma Sabha strongly opposed Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s Brahmo Samaj and resisted reforms such as the abolition of sati and widow remarriage legislation.
• Radhakanta Deb supported English education and women’s education despite maintaining conservative views on preserving traditional Hindu social and religious structures.
• The organization challenged Lord William Bentinck’s 1829 ban on sati and later petitioned against the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act of 1856.
• Dharma Sabha used the newspaper Samachar Chandrika to spread conservative ideology and mobilize support for protecting Hindu orthodoxy across Bengal and beyond.
• The movement played an important role in consolidating conservative Hindu identity during growing Western influence and rapid socio-religious transformation in colonial India.
• Dharma Sabha later inspired similar orthodox organizations including Sanatana Dharma Sabha, Dharma Mahamandali, and Bharat Dharma Mahamandala in different regions of India.