The Marriage between the Theosophical Society and the Arya Samaj

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This chapter explores the relationship between the Theosophical Society and the Indian Arya Samaj during the period between 1878 and 1882. While some of the overall details of these events are well known, this chapter offers new insight into how the two parties imagined and misrepresented each other and how these misrepresentations were reflections of the wider contemporary cultural representations of East and West. The chapter charts the relationship between the founders of the Theosophical Society, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott, and Swami Dayananda Saraswati of the Arya Samaj over the course of their initial written correspondence and their subsequent personal encounters in India, which began enthusiastically on both sides but ultimately ended in a public breaking of ties.
Translated title of the contributionÆgteskabet mellem Det Teosofiske Samfund og Arya Samaj
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationImagining the East : The Early Theosophical Society
EditorsTim Rudbøg, Erik Reenberg Sand
Number of pages19
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherOxford University Press
Publication date2020
Pages253-271
Chapter11
ISBN (Print)97801908533884
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020
SeriesOxford Studies in Western Esotericism
Volume5

ID: 252651435