New Delhi:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid his tributes to Swami Dayanand Saraswati on his birth anniversary and acknowledged his impact on social reform.

"Tributes to Swami Dayanand Saraswati. His noble efforts towards social reform and education continue to have a lasting impact," the Prime Minister said. 

Saraswati was a vedic scholar and a staunch critic of idolatry prevalent in the Hindu religion. 

Throughout his life, he strove to overthrow the influence of priesthood on society and pronounced the practice as a corruption of the original teachings of the religion.IANS