How a physician turned nationalist founded a movement to reshape Indian Hindu identity

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: K.B. Hedgewar, a trained doctor in colonial India, abandoned medicine to build the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. By establishing a network of daily volunteer gatherings, he sought to cultivate discipline and cultural pride among Hindus, creating an organization that remains a central, albeit controversial, force in modern Indian political thought.

Born in 1889 in Nagpur, Keshav Baliram Hedgewar was orphaned at age 13 during a bubonic plague outbreak. Under the mentorship of B.S. Moonje, he pursued medical studies in Calcutta, earning a degree in 1916. However, his time in Bengal exposed him to the Anushilan Samiti, a revolutionary secret society, which shifted his focus from clinical practice to the ideological mobilization of society.

Hedgewar initially participated in the Indian National Congress and the noncooperation movement of 1920–22. His disillusionment grew during the Khilafat movement (1919–24), which he believed prioritized religious identity over political self-determination. Influenced by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s concept of Hindutva, Hedgewar concluded that India’s fragmented society required a structured, volunteer-based organization to foster unity, discipline, and character among Hindu youth.

In 1925, on the festival of Dussehra, he founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Nagpur. The organization centered on the shakha, a daily meeting place for physical exercise and discussion. Hedgewar served as the first sarsanghchalak until his death in 1940. While he envisioned the RSS as a cultural body, he maintained a distance from the official Congress-led independence movement, preferring that members participate in political struggles only on an individual basis.

The legacy of the RSS remains a subject of intense debate. Supporters credit Hedgewar with creating a foundational structure that unified Hindu society. Conversely, critics argue that his ideology promoted sectarianism and prejudice against religious minorities, particularly Muslims. Today, the organization has expanded into a vast network of affiliates, continuing to influence the trajectory of Indian religion, education, and politics.

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