Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha is an organisation whose main goal is to improve Hindi literacy among the non-Hindi speaking people of South India

South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...

. The headquarters are located at Thanikachalam Road, T. Nagar

T. Nagar

Theagaraya Nagar , popularly known by its abbreviated form T. Nagar, is a neighbourhood in the city of Chennai, India. Though originally conceived as a residential locality, it is presently one of the principal shopping districts of the city....

, Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

.

History

The Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha was founded in 1918 to propagate the study of Hindi in the then Madras Presidency

Madras Presidency

The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...

 and princely states of Hyderabad

Hyderabad State

-After Indian independence :When India gained independence in 1947 and Pakistan came into existence in 1947, the British left the local rulers of the princely states the choice of whether to join one of the new dominions or to remain independent...

, Mysore, Travancore

Travancore

Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...

, Cochin, Pudukkottai

Pudukkottai state

Pudukkottai was a princely state in the Madras Presidency which existed from 1680 to 1948. It was one of the five princely states that were under political control of the Government of Madras.- Location :...

, Banganapalle

Banganapalle

Banganapalle is a town in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It lies in Kurnool district, 70 km south of the town of Kurnool. Banganapalle is famous for its mangoes, commonly called 'Banginpalli variety' and even has a cultivar, Banganapalli, named after it...

 and Sandur. The organisation was officially declared open at the Gokhale Hall, Madras by Annie Besant

Annie Besant

Annie Besant was a prominent British Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self rule.She was married at 19 to Frank Besant but separated from him over religious differences. She then became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society ...

 with support from Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...

. The first Hindi class was taken by Gandhi's son Devdas Gandhi

Devdas Gandhi

Devdas Gandhi was the fourth and youngest son of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He was born in South Africa and returned to India with his parents as a young man. He became active in his father's movement, spending many terms in jail.He spent a lot of time with his father...

.

Initially, the Sabha functioned from Georgetown. In 1936, the Sabha shifted to its present headquarters at T. Nagar

T. Nagar

Theagaraya Nagar , popularly known by its abbreviated form T. Nagar, is a neighbourhood in the city of Chennai, India. Though originally conceived as a residential locality, it is presently one of the principal shopping districts of the city....

.

Organisation

The Sabha is divided into four divisions, one each for the states of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

, Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...

, Karnataka

Karnataka

Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

 and Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

. The organisation headquarters is at T. Nagar, Chennai. The four regional headquarters are at:

• Tamil Nadu - Tiruchirappalli - Website
• Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad
• Karnataka - Dharwad
  Dharwad
  Dharwad, also known as Dharwar, is a city and a DISTRICT PLACE in India's Karnataka state.Dharwad is the administrative seat of the Dharwad District. The municipality of Hubli-Dharwad covers an area of 200.23 km²...
  
   - Website
• Kerala - Ernakulam
  Ernakulam
  Ernakulam refers to the downtown area or the western part of the mainland of Kochi city in Kerala, India. The city is the most urban part of Kochi and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Ernakulam is called the commercial capital of the state of Kerala and is a main nerve of business in...
  
  - Website

External links

• Official website of the Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha