London: Major restoration and repair work has been carried out on the tomb of renowned social reformer Raja Rammohan Roy at Bristol, where he died of meningitis.

The tomb is located in Arnos Vale Cemetery on the outskirts of the city. It was built in 1843 by Dwarkanath Tagore, who along with Rammohan Roy founded the socio-religious reform movement Brahma Sabha (later became Brahma Samaj).

Carla Contractor, a local historian closely associated with the restoration and repair project, said, "This is very important to me. It has taken 20 years to get to this stage. I am delighted that at last this major monument in Bristol has been repaired and conserved."

"The Raja was a remarkable man in his day. He fought for women's rights and for the reform of legal and fiscal services in India. He was a humanitarian and founder of the Brahmo Samaj movement," she said.

The last time restoration work was done on the tomb was in 1883.

The funds for the restoration work - over Rs 40 lakh - were committed by Aditya K Poddar, a Singapore-based businessman with roots in Kolkata.

Raja Rammohan Roy travelled to the UK in 1831 as an ambassador of the Mughal Empire to ensure that an earlier regulation on the practise of sati was not overturned. He died at Bristol, 169 km west of London, on 27th September 1833.