The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is poised to complete 100 years of its historic journey this Vijayadashami, which falls on October 2, 2025. To mark this monumental occasion, the organisation has unveiled a roadmap of national celebrations, ideological introspection, and expansive public engagement that will span the length and breadth of Bharat.
The centenary year will be formally inaugurated on August 26, 2025, with a three-day lecture series by RSS Sarsanghchalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat in four metros Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata. This address will set the tone for a year of reflection and resolution for the Sangh, whose foundational motto has always been: “Nation First, Culture Central, Service Supreme.”
Founded in 1925 by Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in Nagpur, the RSS began as a small movement with a large vision—to reorganise Hindu society by inculcating discipline, cultural pride, and national consciousness. Over the course of a century, the Sangh has grown into a deeply embedded societal force, with tens of thousands of shakhas (local branches) active daily, working silently across fields such as education, tribal welfare, disaster relief, rural upliftment, and ideological awareness.
As the centenary nears, the RSS has announced its goal of reaching every administrative block in every Indian state, to ensure its message of unity, self-reliance, and dharmic resurgence permeates even the most remote corners of the country.
“We are aiming to increase the number of shakhas beyond one lakh this year,” said Anil Gupta, Delhi Prant Karyavah, during the Dev Rishi Narad Journalism Awards ceremony.
For its centenary year, the RSS has set a goal to reach every block in every state across the country. The organisation considers its local branches (shakhas) its greatest strength and aims to increase the number of shakhas to over one lakh this year.
RSS is also set to organise between 1,500 to 1,600 Hindu Sammelans (conferences) across the country. These gatherings will serve as cultural anchors in each region, bringing together swayamsevaks, community leaders, saints, scholars, youth, women, and artisans.
“These are not just celebrations, but, a recommitment to our civilisational mission” a senior RSS functionary explained.
The lecture series by Dr Bhagwat and the planned Hindu Sammelans will focus on identity, integrity, and inspiration, not electoral or party-specific goals.
During an address in Pune at the launch of the biography of late Ayurveda practitioner Dada Khadiwale, Sarsanghchalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat encapsulated the RSS’s century-long journey in a single Sanskrit-inspired term: “belongingness.”
“If the RSS were to be described in one word, it would be ‘belongingness’,” Dr Bhagwat said, adding that this feeling must grow stronger in society.
“If the RSS were to be described in just one word, that word would be ‘belongingness’. What does the Sangh do? It organises Hindus. And this growing sense of belongingness should be further strengthened because the entire world is sustained by it,” he added.
Bhagwat said that real unity comes from recognising the common thread that connects everyone. Humans, unlike animals, have the ability to rise above selfishness, he explained. “The one who understands this belongingness is truly human,” he said.
