Within the Arya Samaj vision of returning to Vedic purity, the upliftment of women occupied a central and principled place. Its thinkers drew upon Vedic texts to affirm that women possessed equal spiritual rights and intellectual capacities, and that any doctrine of female inferiority or ritual impurity was a later distortion rather than an authentic Vedic teaching. On this theological foundation, the movement challenged practices such as purdah and female seclusion, and argued that women were entitled to study sacred texts, perform religious ceremonies, and participate fully in the moral and spiritual life of the community. This scriptural reinterpretation did not remain abstract; it became the moral warrant for concrete social and educational reforms.

One of the most visible expressions of this commitment was the establishment of institutions devoted specifically to girls’ education. Arya Samaj members founded separate schools for girls and created Kanya Mahavidyalayas (women’s colleges), with the institution at Jalandhar often noted as an early and emblematic example. Alongside these, the broader Dayanand Anglo-Vedic educational network incorporated provisions for female education, ensuring that women had access not only to religious learning but also to modern subjects. Sanskrit and Vedic studies for women were emphasized, both to restore what was seen as an ancient right and to cultivate a spiritually grounded, intellectually confident female population.

The movement’s educational work was inseparable from its wider social reform agenda. Arya Samaj leaders opposed child marriage, advocated raising the marriage age for girls, and supported widow remarriage, all on the basis of Vedic precedent. They campaigned against practices such as sati and female infanticide, regarding these as grave violations of both dharma and human dignity. By confronting these customs, the movement sought to dismantle the social structures that confined women to lives of dependence and silence, and to create conditions in which education could genuinely translate into empowerment.

Organizationally, Arya Samaj created space for women not merely as beneficiaries but as active agents. Women’s wings and associations were formed, giving women platforms for study, public speaking, and community leadership. Women were encouraged to serve as teachers, administrators, and religious or social activists, participating in meetings, debates, and reform campaigns. In this way, the movement offered a model of the “new” Hindu woman: educated, rooted in Vedic tradition, and engaged in the ethical and social transformation of society, thereby weaving women’s empowerment into the very fabric of its religious and reformist project.