giants of Hindu reformation and Bengal Renaissance", Akshay Kumar Datta, who in 1839 emerged from the life of an "anonymous squalor-beset individual", and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the "indigenous modernizer". First Covenant and merger with the Tattwabodhini Sabha On 7th Pous 1765 Shaka (1843) Debendranath Tagore and twenty other Tattwabodhini stalwarts were formally invited by Pt. Vidyabagish into the Trust of Brahmo Sabha. The Pous Mela at Santiniketan starts on this day. From this day forth, the Tattwabodhini Sabha dedicated itself to promoting Ram Mohan Roy's creed. The other Brahmins who swore the First Covenant of Brahmoism are:- Shridhar Bhattacharya Shyamacharan Bhattacharya Brajendranath Tagore Girindranath Tagore, brother of Debendranath Tagore & father of Ganendranath Tagore Anandachandra Bhattacharya Taraknath Bhattacharya Haradev Chattopadhyaya, the future father-in-law to MahaAcharya Hemendranath Tagore Shyamacharan Mukhopadhyaya Ramnarayan Chattopadhyaya Sashibhushan Mukhopadhyaya Foundation of the Brahmo Samaj In 1861 the Brahmo Somaj (as it was spelled then) was founded at Lahore by Nobin Roy. It included many Bengalis from the Lahore Bar Association. Many branches were opened in the Punjab, at Quetta, Rawalpindi, Amritsar etc. First Secession Disagreement with the Tattvabodhini came to a head publicly between the period of 1 August 1865 till November 1866 with many tiny splinter groups styling themselves as Brahmo. The most notable of these groups styled itself "Brahmo Samaj of India". This period is also referred to in the histories of the secessionists as the "First Schism". Brahmo Samaj and Swami Narendranath Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda was influenced by the Brahmo Samaj of India, and visited the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj in his youth. Current status and number of adherents While the various Calcutta sponsored movements declined after 1920 and faded into obscurity after the Partition of India, the Adi Dharm creed has expanded and is now the 9th largest of India's enumerated religions with 7.83 million adherents, heavily concentrated between the states of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. In the Indian census of 2001 only 177 persons declared themselves a "Brahmo", but the number of subscriber members to Brahmo Samaj is somewhat larger at around 20,000 members. Social and religious reform In matters of social reform the Brahmo samaj attacked many dogmas and superstitions. It condemned the prevailing Hindu prejudice against going abroad (Kala pani). The samaj condemned practice of Sati (burning of widows), discouraged child marriage and polygamy, and crusaded for widow remarriage. The samaj attacked casteism and untouchability, though in these matters it