Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a great personality who brought significant reforms in our society. But how many of us actually know about him in a little detail? Not many perhaps! It therefore becomes important to reintroduce him to the people of India and acknowledge his contribution in the making of Indian history. Our society wouldn’t have been what it is now, for women in particular, had it not been Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar fighting for their rights and independence. This is the reason why it becomes important to cover speeches on him.
Long and Short Speech on Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Speech 1
Good Morning Everyone – How you all are doing?
I – Akanksha Gaur – welcome you to the speech ceremony of today! Today as you all know we have gathered to commemorate the memory of this great Bengali Polymath from the subcontinent of India, i.e. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and therefore in his honor I wish to deliver a speech on him. Not much is known to the people, but let me tell you friends he was a man of great potential.
He was born, as I just said in the subcontinent of India and he was an important figure at the time of Bengal Renaissance. He was a multi-faceted personality and forayed into various disciplines, such as he was a writer, academician, philanthropist, philosopher, entrepreneur, translator, printer, reformer and what not.
Being a writer himself, his significant aim was to modernize, but at the same time simplify the Bengali prose. He also simplified and rationalized the Bengali alphabet and type, which had remained the same since the time of Panchanan Karmakar and Charles Wilkins had dissected the very first Bengali type in the 1780.
In addition, he was the most famous campaigner for the remarriage of Hindu widows and appealed to the Legislative council regardless of facing a severe hostility and a counter petition against the proposal with approximately four times more signatures from Dharma Sabha and Radhakanta Deb.
However, Lord Dalhousie finalized the bill personally even when he was facing opposition which proved to be a flagrant violation of Hindu traditions as practiced then and in the year 1856 the Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act was passed.
He was honored with the title called Vidyasagar (which in Sanskrit stands for knowledge, i.e. Vidya and Sagar stands for ocean, which means Ocean of Knowledge) in Calcutta at the Sanskrit College.
He completed his graduation from there and owing to his impeccable academic record in the study of Sanskrit and Philosophy; he received the above mentioned honor.
Anil Kumar Gain, the celebrated mathematician from Cambridge, laid down the foundation for Vidysagar University, named in the honor of this great personality.
His hunger for knowledge was so strong that he used to read his books under a street light because he couldn’t buy a gas lamp for himself. Even under as difficult situation as this, he managed to clear all his exams with flying colors and in rapid succession.
He also received a lot of scholarships because of his great academic record. In order to fend himself and his family, Ishwar Chandra took up a part-time option of teaching at Jorashanko. Later on he joined the Sanskrit College in Calcutta and pursued his studies for about 12 years and finished his studies in the year 1841 with his major in
1) Sanskrit Grammar;
2) Astronomy;
3) Dialectics;
4) Literature;
5) Smriti;
6) Vedanta
As far as his personal life is concerned, Ishwar Chandra married at fourteen years of age and the name of his wife was Dinamani Devi. They had only a son with the name Narayan Chandra Bandyopadhyaya.
This is all from my side about him and with this I would like to end my speech.
Thank You!
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Speech 2
Warm Greetings Ladies and Gentlemen – Welcome to the speech ceremony of today.
I – Aatvik Ghosh – the active committee member of ABC Foundation feel glad to be seeing you all in such huge numbers and effectively contributing towards the social cause. It is indeed an honor for all the members of our foundation to have such wonderful people associated with us who stand by us as and when needed. I, on behalf of the entire team, would like to express my warm gratitude to you.
Now please allow me to deliver a speech on Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar in the honor of his memory.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was born on 26th September in the year 1820 and died in the year 1891. He was a multifarious personality, such as
- Sanskrit Scholar
- Publisher
- Academician
- Printer
- Entrepreneur
- Social Reformer
- Translator
- Philanthropist
- Humanist Pundit
- Writer
In addition, he was a great polymath and chief figure in the Bengali Renaissance. He also played a very important role in simplifying and modernizing the Bengali prose and also doing a complete justification with the alphabets in Bengali.
He also raised his voice against various social evils, such as polygamy and child marriage. He also compelled the British government to pass the act of widow remarriage and to offer them a safe environment besides ensuring their education in our country.
He also spent his personal money in laying the foundation of various schools that were run for girls.
He was a man of great potential and he rose from ordinary circumstances in order to uplift the mankind. Born in the year 1820 on September 26 in the small village of Birsingha – the Ghatal sector of the district of Midnapore at present located in West Bengal – Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar lived the early period of his life in extreme poverty.
His father’s name was Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay and mother’s name was Bhagavatii Devi. They were both very religious and pious people.
He struggled with the tough situations of his life and managed to receive the basic education in the Village wherein his foundation of education was laid and he learnt the basic skills of reading and writing, including Arithmetic and Sanskrit.
He was an intelligent student and devoted all his time in studies and reading books. He could never quench his thirst for knowledge.
After educating himself, he realized that it is the most powerful tool to empower women and can change their lives for good. He believed that if women are given the equal opportunity as that of men, they can fight poverty and change their fate.
He wrote several articles for various agencies and publications, such as
- Samprakash
- Tattwabadhini
- Sarbashubhankarr Patrika
- Patrika
- Hindu Patriot
His articles helped in influencing the society and creating educational reforms. He opened Sanskrit press in order to manufacture printed books at budget friendly prices.
In the end, all I want to say is that he contributed effectively in bringing social reforms and he was a man of great potential.
Thank You!
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Speech 3
Hon’ble Principal, Vice Principal, Teachers and My Dear Students – Warm Greetings to one and all!
I – Amit Kataria from Standard XII (B) – welcome everyone to the speech ceremony of today. My speech topic is Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. Before I begin with my speech, I would like to thank my class teacher for having giving me this opportunity to deliver a speech and address you all. As you know today we are here to pay our tribute to this great legend Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.
So let’s know about this great man and his personal life. He was the most popular Indian humanitarian and reformist, who was born in the year 1820 on September 26 at Birsingha Village, Paschim Midnapore District in the province of Bengal.
The name of his father was Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay and the name of his mother was Bhagavati Devi and it was a conventional Brahmin family.
When he was six years old, his parents had sent him to Calcutta in order to live in the house of Bhagabat Charan. He began his studies by enrolling himself in a local school. He proved to be a big influencer in the family of Bhagabat Charan Singh.
Raimoni, in particular, who was the youngest daughter in the family proved to be a mother figure for him. His attachment to Raimoni made him fight for the equal status of women in our Indian Society.
As per the Hindu traditions, he married Dinamani Devi when he was 14 years old and became Chandra Bandyopadhyaya.
Ishwar Chandra was good in his studies since his childhood days. He finished his education with flying colors. The local princely states and colleges honored him with many scholarships for his distinguished achievement in the field of education.
He excelled in Sanskrit Grammar in the year 1841 with great marks. Then he decided to financially support his family because of extreme poverty and therefore he joined one Sanskrit College on a part time basis and started to teach there.
He also had enormous knowledge of Astronomy and Vedanta. Besides this, he finished his studies in Law and eventually got the placement in Fort William College in the capacity of a professor of Sanskrit language.
There he taught for about five years and introduced some favorable changes in the education system during those times. Thereafter, during 1856 AD, he laid the foundation of a new school with the name of Barisha High School in the city of Kolkata. He ran the school according to his own understanding of the education system.
He not only improved the education system in India but also worked for the upliftment of poor people, especially women and widows. Being an educator himself, he believed that education can change the face of the society for good and will help him wiping off the social evils prevalent during those times, such as sati pratha, child marriage, etc.
After reading about his life, I realized that we need more such great men in our society who can bring favorable changes in our society and lay the foundation of a better tomorrow.
This is all I have to say, thank you!
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Speech 4
Hello Everyone – How you all are doing? I hope this day finds you in the best of spirit!
I – Akshat Khanna, the member of the ABC Foundation – welcome you to the speech ceremony of today. It gives me immense pleasure to be seeing you all coming together and showing so much of enthusiasm every time.
Time is precious and despite its dearth, you all never miss any event organized by us. In fact, we always receive exceeding support from each one of you. Words fall short of their meaning when it comes to acknowledging immense support that we receive from you guys. Really friends, it means a lot! Keep showing your support and we will go a long way.
Friends, the reason behind organizing this small gathering is to commemorate the memory of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. He was indeed a great man, but little is known about him. He made significant contribution in our society and brought many reforms. He is worth a person taking inspiration from. So let’s know about him and his life in a little detail.
Friends, the name of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar became widespread owing to his relentless efforts being put for the upliftment of women. Born in the year 1820 and died in the year 1891, he in his life span fought for the rights of women and demanded a normal life for them post widowhood.
The oppressive social structures which made the life of women extremely miserable were brought to a screeching haul by this man who in the nineteenth century Bengal was fighting to grant women an independent life of their own.
It’s really intriguing to see a man fighting for the rights of women and strove to change the face of the society for good. Due to his persistent efforts, the marriageable age for girls rose bit by bit and the social evil of sati dahan or widow immolation was criminalized in the year 1829.
Then in the year 1856, widow remarriage was made legal followed by the ban on female infanticide being imposed in the year 1870. The year 1891 witnessed another major change, which was the age for seeking consent rose from ten years to 12.
In the year 1929, restraint act was imposed on child marriage, which gave a liberal definition to the child as well as the minor, i.e. under 14 for girls and under 18 for boys.
After having done so much for the humanity and achieved so much in his life span, Vidyasagar must be paid a huge honor on his birthday in the capacity of a Sanskrit Scholar, Philanthropist, School Inspector and Anti-colonial Indian.
Had he been alive today, he would have felt proud seeing women working shoulder to shoulder with men and proving to be the important agents in working towards the betterment of the society.
So let’s acknowledge the contribution of this legend and just like him try and walk on the path of righteousness.
This is all from my end, thank you for being such patient listeners!
Related Information:
Essay on Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
More Information:
Speech on Swami Vivekananda
Speech on APJ Abdul Kalam
Speech on Lal Bahadur Shastri
Speech on Jawaharlal Nehru
Speech on Mahatma Gandhi
Comments are closed.