Motives for India’s September 5 Teachers’ Day festivities

India honors Teachers’ Day on September 5, the day of the late president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s birth (1888–1975). That’s the explanation. One of India’s most famous and influential thinkers of the 20th century, the Hindu philosopher Radhakrishnan, committed his life and career to creating, defending, and advancing Hinduism. He is well-known in philosophical circles.

Every year on September 5, the birthdate of the former president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975), India observes Teachers’ Day. This is the explanation.

Hindu philosopher

Radhakrishnan, one of India’s most well-known and significant intellectuals of the 20th century, devoted his life and career to establishing, upholding, and promoting Hinduism.Philosophical circles credited him with shaping Western views of Hinduism and considered him as a mediator between India and the West.

Radhakrishnan, a prominent proponent of the non-dualist Advaita Vedanta tradition in the 20th century, modernized Adi Shankara’s concepts for the modern age. This, he said, was his way of protecting Hinduism from “uninformed Western criticism.”

Radhakrishnan had made a name for himself as one of India’s most renowned scholars by the 1920s.

He held the esteemed King George V Chair at Calcutta University from 1921 to 1932, the second vice-chancellor of Andhra University from 1931 to 1936, and the fourth vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University from 1939 to 1948. Furthermore, from 1936 until 1952, he held the Spalding Chair of Eastern Religion and Ethics at the University of Oxford.

 In 1931, Radhakrishnan was knighted.

In addition to being a gifted educator, Radhakrishnan cultivated close relationships with his students. He was a strong supporter of education and is quoted as saying multiple times that “teachers should be the best minds in the country.”

He was elected India’s second president (1962–67) and first vice president (1952–62). After he was elected president in 1962, a few former pupils asked to commemorate his birthday. Instead of having a private party, Radhakrishnan asked his students to honor teachers nationwide on the anniversary of his birth.