Maharishi Dayanand (1824 - 1883)

In the galaxy of the great men who rescued India from the clutches of degenreation and despondency in the 19th century, Dayanand Saraswati occupies a very important place. Posessed of sharp intellect and a vision far ahead of his time, he ceaselessly worked to bring a new life to his countrymen through a stupendous programme of religious reformation, cultural regeneration and political emancipation. He transfused into their morbid bodies his own formidable energy, his certainty, his lions blood and lifted them from the densest depths of ignorance, sloth and inertia.

Mahatma Hansraj (1864 - 1938)

Mahtama Hansraj, born on the 19th April 1864, was a mahatma (a great soul), indeed. The two great mahatmas, Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) and Mahatma Hansraj (1864-1938) traced identical paths, one in the political field and the other in the socio-cultural, almost contemporaneously. Frail of body but possesing heroic spirit, both of them voluntarily opted for a life of self denial and renuncation though both of them could command the most alluring luxuries for the mere asking. They were both Karamyogis and following the gospel of Gita they sought fulfillment of action, not in fruit.

Mahatma Hansraj is acknowledged as the founding father of the DAV movement. He had inherited the spirit of patriotism from his father and has given an early promise of things to come.