Paramahansa Mandali

{{Short description|Secret religious group}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

Paramahansa Mandali was a secret socio-religious group, established in 1849, in Bombay and is closely related to Manav Dharma Sabha which was found in 1844 in Surat. It was started by Durgaram Mehtaji, Dadoba Pandurang and a group of his friends. Dadoba Pandurang assumed leadership of this organisation after he left Manav Dharma Sabha. He outlined his principles in Dharma Vivechan in 1848 for Manav Dharma Sabha and "Paramhansik Bramhyadharma" for Paramahansa Mandali.Socio religious reform movements in India, Kenneth W. Jones and Gordon Johnson, p139-140, {{ISBN|0-521-24986-4}}From Plassey to Partition, Sekhara Bandyopadhya, p153, {{ISBN|81-250-2596-0}} It acted as a secret society and is believed that the revelation of its existence in 1860 hastened its demise.From Plassey to Partition, Sekhara Bandyopadhya, p 153, {{ISBN|81-250-2596-0}}

It was the first socio-religious organization of Maharashtra, founded in 1849. Its founders of these Mandli believed in one god.{{Cite book |last=O'Hanlon |first=Rosalind |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5kMrsTj1NeYC&dq=paramahansa+mandali&pg=PA100 |title=Caste, Conflict and Ideology: Mahatma Jotirao Phule and Low Caste Protest in Nineteenth-Century Western India |date=2002-08-22 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52308-0 |language=en}} They were primarily interested in breaking caste rules. At their meetings food cooked by lower caste people was taken by the members. The mandali also advocated women's education and widow remarriage.