History & Background

1860 – Arrival of Indian indentured labourers in South Africa

Due to the sanctions applied to the white minority South African government by India, local people of Indian descent experienced cultural and religious isolation from the motherland. This deprivation led to a breakdown in maintaining the traditional belief systems and religious practices and Indian languages of the local Hindus.

The situation in India was and still is subject to its own multiplicity of beliefs and practices. In the nineteenth century Swami Dayanand Saraswati, the founder of the Arya Samaj(1875) in India made his mark in the hearts and minds of many in India as well as the colonies where Indians lived with his far reaching reforms which were not limited only to religion. Swami Dayanand’s interpretation of the Vedas, the emancipation of India, social and religious upliftment programs were part of the legacy of this outstanding human being.

Early 1900’s 

Swami’s Bhai Parmanand and Swami Shankaranand visited South Africa and were disturbed by the poor treatment of indentured labourers. Hindu religious practices and festivals were hardly in existence. In fact social, economic and political conditions in the all the colonies left the indentured labourer impoverished.

The two Arya Samaj swamis provided religious knowledge and comfort to our forebears, as well as they reintroduced religious festivals and teaching of Hindi and Vedic knowledge to our communities.

Swami Shankaranand established the Hindu Maha Sabha on 31 May 1912 to unite all Hindu under one body.

1948

The arrival of Pandit Nardev Vedalankar onto the shores of SA gave a huge boost to spreading the message of the Vedas, the primary scriptures of all Hindus, through Arya Samaj movement and the work remains a lasting legacy. Veda Niketan examinations in English have made their impact around the world where Hindus have settled. The Hindi Shiksha Sangh, established in 1948 by Panditji, remains a vibrant organisation which continues to propagate the teaching of the Hindi language.

1985

The Veda Dharma Sabha in Verulam was established by a group of stalwarts in the community. The Sabha was initially set up to propagate the teaching and learning of Hindi. Hindi classes were started in 1968 by a few dedicated individuals. Pandit and Pandita Sewpaul were active members of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha (APS) and hence their field work in the north coast of Kwa Zulu Natal (KZN) resulted in a number of Arya Samaj affiliates being established.

Today

Our pandits and panditas form the backbone of our propagation movement in the teaching of Hindi and the performance of Vedic Sanskars. We also have a strong aspirant group of youthful candidates who are at different stages of learning in the priesthood. Some of these members are teaching Hindi and some are learning the language. The VDS is affiliated to the APS and Hindi Shiksha Sangh of South Africa.

The Veda Dharma Sabha of Verulam is a very successful name brand in the north coast.