The _______ was started by the Sikh reformers to purify  their religious places by removing the evil social practices that had slowly crept into them.

Akali Movement

The correct answer is Option 2- Akali Movement

- The 1920s Akali movement, which began as a strictly religious movement to reform Gurdwaras, or Sikh holy temples, quickly took on a political dimension and became an integral component of India's liberation struggle.

- Apart from being anti-imperialist, the Akali movement, also known as the Gurdwara Reform Movement or Gurdwara agitations, describes the Sikhs' long-running struggle in the early twentieth century for the freedom of their Gurudwara, or holy temple.

- Nonviolent agitation marches, divans or religious meetings, and protests for Sikhs to express their freedom to control their place of worship drew fervent support, especially from rural people.

- Finally, the government had to give in to public pressure and allow Sikhs to administer their shrines, resulting in the Gurdwara Act of 1925 which created the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), to act as custodian of all significant Sikh sites of worship