JULY 6, was Bhandarkarâ€™s 166th birth anniversary. He was known all over the world as an erudite scholar in oriental studies and inspired many others including his son Devdatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar to undertake scientific studies of history.

His admirers started Bhandarkar Institute of Oriental studies in Pune as a tribute to him on his 80th birthday in 1913. The present huge collection of rare books and manuscripts of this institution started with the gift of his own collection. Since then it has attracted umpteen number of scholars from all over the world to benefit from the glorious past legacy of India. Yet he never confined himself in the ivory tower of academics and untiringly tried to make India, worthy of such great legacy.

Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar was born on July 6, 1837 in Malvan in Ratnagiri district. His father was a clerk in revenue department in Ratnagiri. After getting his primary education in Ratnagiri, Ramkrishna got admitted in Elphinstone Institute, Bombay in 1853.

He was particularly proficient in English literature, History and Sanskrit and won many awards and scholarships throughout his brilliant academic career. He belonged to the first batch of graduates from Bombay University in 1862 and earned his masters degree in 1863.

After working for some time as the headmaster of Government Schools in Hyderabad (Sind) and Ratnagiri, he joined as an Assistant Professor in Elphinstone College and later as the first Indian Professor of Sanskrit in Deccan College in Pune. Before he retired in 1894, he became the vice-chancellor of Bombay University. Side by side, he participated in various international conferences held in London (1874), Vienna (1886) on Oriental Studies and made invaluable contributions.

In 1885, he was conferred Ph.D. by Gotingen University in Germany. International institutes like Royal Asiatic Society, London, German Oriental Society, American Oriental society, Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg, Italian Asiatic Society etc honoured him with their memberships.

For more than sixty years he took active part in social and religious reforms in Maharashtra. Even while a student in 1853, he joined Paramhansa Sabha, a secret society founded to oppose evils of caste system. During the second visit of Keshab Chandra Sen in 1867 to Bombay, many thinking people got together and founded Prarthana Samaj on the model of Bramho Samaj in Kolkata.

Bhandarkar was in Ratnagiri at that time but joined the Samaj as soon as he came to Bombay in 1869 and soon became a very active member. Taking a strong stand against the tendency of some members to incline towards Christian philosophy as the guideline, he pointed out that the religious and philosophic ideas of the Hindus had been influencing Europe and neglect of them on our part was sure to be attended with melancholy results.

Bhandarkar therefore always asserted that the doctrine of Prarthana Samaj was a â€˜reformed Hinduismâ€™. The members of Prarthana Samaj did not practice idolatry. Though they did not accept any book as infallible words of God, they respected all religious books as sacred.

While presiding over a conference of the depressed class in 1912, Bhandarkar asked the Hindus to eradicate untouchability not out of a sense of pity but as an utmost necessity for the survival of the society. A characteristic feature of Bhandarkarâ€™s speeches and writings was his attempt to separate custom and rituals from true religion. Working hard, he sought out sanction in ancient Sanskrit and Pali texts in support of womenâ€™s education, widow remarriage and against child marriage.

He established that social ideal was much higher and more rational in ancient times. Women were not debarred from the highest education in ancient days and seclusion of women was a much later phenomenon, which intensified with Muslim domination. He observed that â€œgirls were married after they came of ageâ€�. Even upto the time when the metrical smritis were composed â€œthe practice of widow remarriage did existâ€�.

Bhandarkar practiced what he preached. Undaunted by social boycott enforced by then prevailing orthodox ambience, he encouraged his daughters and grand daughters to receive university education, got his children married only when they were matured enough to choose their own spouses and consented for the remarriage of his widow daughter. The opposition to this action was so strong that even a social reformer like K.T.Telang did not dare to take meal at his place.

This great savant expired on August 24, 1925.