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{{Infobox person
| name = Sarla Bedi
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Sarla Kapila
| birth_date = {{birth date|1925|4|4|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Sahnewal]], India
| death_date = {{death date and age|2013|11|15|1925|4|4|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Toronto]], Canada
| nationality = Canadian
| other_names =
| spouse = Gobind Bedi
| occupation = Religious priestess of [[Arya Samaj]]
| years_active = 1943–2013
| known_for = Establishing Arya Samaj in Toronto, Canada
| notable_works =
}}
'''Sarla Bedi''', née Kapila, (4 April 1925{{snd}}15 November 2013), was an Indian priestess who spent her life living in three continents. She established the [[Arya Samaj]], a Hindu reform movement, in [[Toronto]], Canada and promoted social causes.<ref name=Globe>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/facts-and-arguments/lives-lived-sarla-bedi-88/article18401054/|title=Lives Lived: Sarla Bedi, 88|date=7 May 2014|accessdate=6 December 2015|publisher= theglobeandmail.com}}</ref><ref name=Sarla>{{Cite web|url=http://famouscanadianwomen.com/famous%20firsts/religious%20leaders.htm|title=Religious Leaders: 1970's Sarla Bedi|accessdate=6 December 2015|publisher= famouscanadianwomen.com}}</ref>

==Biography==
Bedi was born Kapila in [[Sahnewal]], India.<ref name=Sarla/> At a young age she moved with her parents to [[Kenya]], which was then a British colony, at the time of global economic depression. The family lived in a "segregated colony." She had five brothers. At age 18, her ambition to further her college education in law in England did not fructify as her parents were sick. To sustain her large family and educate her brothers she took up a job as a teacher in [[Nairobi]]. She also learned painting and developed oratorical skills with her participation in debates and lectures on [[Indian independence movement]]. She married Gobind Bedi in 1946; together they promoted social issues among the Indian diaspora. They had four children, sons Nilam, Deepak and Shalin, and daughter Sheetal. Her husband died in 2008.<ref name=Globe/><ref name=Sarla/> She also worked with the Arya Samaj at Nairobi.<ref name=Arya>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aryasamaj.com/enews/2009/dec/3.htm|title=Annual Award And Dinner:Arya Samaj Markham|accessdate=6 December 2015|publisher= aryasamaj.com}}</ref>

Following an upheaval in political conditions in East Africa, particularly in [[Uganda]] where Indians in that country were persecuted, Bedi emigrated to [[Toronto]], Canada in 1972.<ref name=Globe/> In Toronto, along with her husband, she established Arya Samaj, an offshoot of the Hindu reform movement that started in India in 1875; through this institution they facilitated a large number of immigrants to become established in Canada.<ref name=Globe/>

In 1976, Sarla became a priestess and was the first female Hindu priest in [[Ontario]]. She promoted [[Hindu culture]] as a priestess by conducting the Hindu religious rites of fire sacrifice, baptisms, weddings and funerals for the Indian diaspora.<ref name=Globe/> She was instrumental in raising funds for the institution.<ref name=Arya/><ref name=Globe/> As a result, the institution's own building was built in 1996 in [[Markham, Ontario|Markham]] as a Vedic Cultural Centre.<ref name=Globe/>

She died at the age of 88 on 15 November 2013, in Toronto.<ref name=Globe/><ref name=Sarla/>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Arya Samaj by country}}

{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedi, Sarla}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Ludhiana district]]
[[Category:Punjabi people]]
[[Category:Arya Samajis]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to Canada]]
[[Category:Canadian Hindus]]
[[Category:Indian religious leaders]]
[[Category:Female religious leaders]]
[[Category:Hindu female religious leaders]]
[[Category:Indian expatriates in Kenya]]

Sarla Bedi - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article