History: - Before the year 1880 there was but one Brahma Samaj at Dacca, known as the East Bengal Brahma Samaj of which Bhai Banga Chandra Roy was minister. After the memorable agitation against the Cooch Behar Marriage by a large majority of the local Brahmas he was ousted from the Vedi for his adherence to Keshub Chandra Sen, and was obliged to leave the Samaj with a small number of his friends who established a separate Samaj by the middle of September 1880. They built a Mandir in 1883 and consecrated it in 1884. The Samaj was at first called the Branch Brahma Samaj of India, and afterwards the East Bengal New Dispensation Church. Its missionary body consisted of the Minister, Bhai Banga Chandra Roy, who was declared Apostle of the New Dispensation in East Bengal by Keshub Chandra Sen in 1831 and his assistants, the late Babu Kailash Chandra Nandi, Bhai Isan Chandra Sen, Durga Nath Roy, Baikuntanath Ghosh, Dinanath Karmakar and Chandra Mohan Karmakar. The last named two missionaries who are brothers have been residing at the town of Mymensingh which is their Head Quarters. This body was shortly after joined by Bhai Mahim Chandra Sen who threw up his appointment in a Government High School. Bhai Sasi Bhusan Mallik who resigned his post of the Sub-Inspector of Police and by the late Bhai Ananda Prasanna Sen. Then came in the late Bhai Rai Charan Das of Sylhet who died a premature death and Pandit Mahesh Chandra Chakravarty who was a preacher of social Reform before. The late Dr. Doorga Das Roy, Government Assistant Surgeon and the late Babu Gopi Krishna Sen, Collector’s Sheristadar worked almost with missionary zeal in furthering the cause of the Samaj in its earlier days and the former discharged the duties of the Secretary and helped in the several secular and philanthropic movements of the Church.
Most of the missionaries at first lived with their families in a congested quarter of the town near the Mandir at Armanitola, but as their families increased and there was want of accommodation for all the missionaries, the Lord found for them a new settlement in the outskirts of the town, where they removed in 1887 and founded what is now known as the Bidhanpalli, i.e., Dispensation-settlement consisting of homes belonging to six missionaries, three lay members, the Girls Rescue Home and a Sanctuary for daily Divine Service. The work of missionaries, consists chiefly of devotional exercises, e.g., daily united service in the sanctuary, weekly congregational service in the Mandir and Prayer Meetings, Sangats and visits to different parts of Eastern Bengal and Assam.
The missionary body as well as the minister have no fixed monthly income for their support. They have the very scanty proceeds of the sale of their publications supplemented by voluntary help from the sympathising public for the support of themselves and their families. They have thus managed to get on by the grace of God for over thirty years, though at times put to sore distress, and they trust with His help to continue so till the end.
Darjeeling. Estd. 1877
The Darjeeling Brahma Samaj, Darjeeling.
Secretary: —Mr. Lachman Singh.
Members:—37, only one out of which is anusthanic.
Meetings:—Divine Service is held every Sunday in the Morning. Attendance is very small on ordinary occasions. But during the months from April to June and September to October the attendance becomes considerably larger.
Mandir:—The Samaj has a Mandir of its own.
Deoghar.
The Deoghar Brahma Samaj, Deoghar, E. I. Ry.
Secretary:—Baba Fakir Chandra Sadhukhan, L. M. & S., Deoghar.
Members:—28; Men-9, Women-4, Children-11. Number of Anusthanic persons is 13 and that of non-anusthanic is 4.
Sympathisers:—4.
Meetings:—Weekly Service is conducted in Bengali. Some times such meetings are held twice a week. Sunday is the principal Samaj Day.
Mandir:—The Samaj has no Mandir of its own. But a plot of land has been purchased for the purpose and a building fund opened.
Lay Preachers:-
1.Babu Bhusan Mohan Sen.
2.Babu Fakir Chandra Sadhukhan.
3.Babu Tincoury Mukherji.
Funds:—One rupee per year is the rate of subscriptionf or a member.
Anniversary:—The Anniversary of the Samaj takes place just after the 'Pujah' during ‘Durga Pujah’ holidays. The Anniversary festival concludes with Kojugara purnim at the house of the late venerable Raj Narain Bose, whose sacred memory is very closely associated with it.
Deoghar being a health resort for sick persons, the number of sympathisers who attend the Samaj on Sundays varies considerably.