Bhoodan movement

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Bhoodan movement

Indian social movement

Also known as: Bhoodan Yajna movement, Bhudan Yajna movement

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June 22, 2026

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The Bhoodan movement, also known as the Land-Gift Movement, was a nonviolent social revolution in India founded by Vinoba Bhave. Its primary aim was to uplift the rural poor by distributing privately owned land to those who were landless. Bhave conceived this idea in 1951 while touring villages, where he appealed for land donations to be given to landless Dalits. He believed that land reform should be achieved through a change of heart rather than government action. While critics suggested this approach could lead to land fragmentation, Bhave emphasized the importance of unity over efficient agriculture. Later, he promoted gramdan, where villagers pooled their land for cooperative management.12

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Vinoba Bhave
…was the founder of the Bhoodan Yajna (“Land-Gift Movement”).
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…was the founder of the Bhoodan Yajna (“Land-Gift Movement”).
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India
Economic planning and development
…reformer Vinoba Bhave started a bhoodan (“gift of land”) movement, in which he walked from village to village and asked large landowners to “adopt” him as their son and to give him a portion of their property, which he would then distribute among the landless. He later expanded that program…
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…reformer Vinoba Bhave started a bhoodan (“gift of land”) movement, in which he walked from village to village and asked large landowners to “adopt” him as their son and to give him a portion of their property, which he would then distribute among the landless. He later expanded that program…
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Coimbatore
The Bhoodan (“Land-Gift”) movement for the redistribution of land to the landless peasants began in the Coimbatore region in the 1950s.
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The Bhoodan (“Land-Gift”) movement for the redistribution of land to the landless peasants began in the Coimbatore region in the 1950s.
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Jayaprakash Narayan
Postindependence activities and the Bhoodan movement
…his life exclusively to the Bhoodan movement (“Land-Gift movement”), founded by social reformer Vinoba Bhave. The Bhoodan movement was a nonviolent revolution that worked toward uplifting rural poor people by attempting to distribute privately owned land among those without land. Narayan relinquished his landed property and established an ashram (religious…
Read More
…his life exclusively to the Bhoodan movement (“Land-Gift movement”), founded by social reformer Vinoba Bhave. The Bhoodan movement was a nonviolent revolution that worked toward uplifting rural poor people by attempting to distribute privately owned land among those without land. Narayan relinquished his landed property and established an ashram (religious…
Read More