On Vijayadashami 1926, Dr K. B. Hedgewar gave the annual address at the gathering in Nagpur, where the chief guest was Bapurao (surname unclear in the source). This page summarises what was reported about it.
The day
- Date: 16 October 1926 — the calendar date of Vijayadashami; our sources do not record the exact day of the gathering
- Place: Dr Hedgewar's house, Nagpur
- Address by: Dr K. B. Hedgewar
- Chief guest: Shri Bapurao (surname unclear in the Bengali translation; read as 'Ambedkar/Ambadekar') - presidential address
What the address covered
Seshadri describes the first anniversary on Vijayadashami 1926 as a simple function, at which Hedgewar also started a library for swayamsevaks. Palkar's biography (Bengali translation) says it was held at Hedgewar's house and that students from an orphan students' home attended. One Bapurao gave the presidential address, and a song mourning the saffron flag's lost glory was sung. After the function ended at about 4 pm, the swayamsevaks went to the Hanuman temple of Raja Bakha for simollanghan. At that time the Sangh did not yet hold its own procession, because it lacked the numbers and the discipline.
Context
First anniversary. Library started for swayamsevaks. No separate Sangh procession yet.
How sure is this?
This account rests mainly on one source, listed below; details may be incomplete. Most accounts of these early years come from biographies written within the movement.
In the archive
Sources & copyright status
- H. V. Seshadri (ed.), Dr. Hedgewar the Epoch-Maker, ch. 8
- N. H. Palkar, Dr. Hedgewar Jivan Charit (Bengali tr.)
- Historical facts: not subject to copyright. Quotations are short extracts as reported in the sources cited; speeches are summarised in our own words.
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