Sree Narayana Guru () (20 August 1856 – 20 September 1928) was a philosopher, spiritual leader and social reformer in India. He led a reform movement against the injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala in order to promote spiritual enlightenment and social equality. A quote of his that defined his movement was "one caste, one religion, and one god for all human beings". He is the author of the Advaita poem Daiva Dasakam, which is one of the most used poem in Kerala for community prayer.ദൈവദശകദർശനം, ഡോ.ജി. അനിൽകുമാർ, കുരുക്ഷേത്ര പ്രകാശൻ, കൊച്ചി, 2010 ഏപ്രിൽ
French philosopher and Nobel prize laureate for literature, Romain Rolland described Narayana guru as 'Jnani of Karma', noting that he exemplified how faith could be used to bring about social change.
Biography
Narayanan, né Nanu, was born on 20 August 1856 to Madan Asan and Kuttiyamma in an Ezhava family of ayurvedic physicians, in the village of Chempazhanthy near Thiruvananthapuram, in the erstwhile state of Travancore. Unlike other Ezhavas who confined their Sanskrit reading to ayurvedic works, Narayana guru studied religious texts as well. His early education was in the gurukula way under Chempazhanthi Mootha Pillai during which time his mother died when he was 15. At the age of 21, he went to central Travancore to learn from Raman Pillai Asan, a Sanskrit scholar who taught him Vedas, Upanishads and the literature and logical rhetoric of Sanskrit. A year later, he married Kaliamma but soon disassociated himself from the marriage to commence his public life as a social reformer. He returned to his village in 1881, when his father was seriously ill, and started a village school where he taught local children which earned him the name Nanu Asan.
Leaving home, he traveled through Kerala and Tamil Nadu. During these journeys he met Chattampi Swamikal, a social and religious reformer who introduced Guru to Ayyavu Swamikal, from whom he learned meditation and yoga. Later, he continued his wanderings until he reached the Pillathadam cave at Maruthwamala where he set up a hermitage and practiced meditation for the next eight years.
In 1888, he visited Aruvippuram and spent time meditating in a cave near the Neyyar River. It was here that his first disciple, Sivalingadasa Swamikal, who hailed from an orthodox Nair family, discovered him. During his stay, he consecrated a rock from the deepest part of the Neyyar River, a whirlpool sinkhole known as 'Sankaran Kuzhi'. It is believed that it was in this 'Sankaran Kuzhi' sage Agastya gave his worshipping Shiva Linga to Neyyar river somewhere before leaving. This rock was established as the idol of Shiva, and the site has since been known as the Aruvippuram Shiva Temple. The act, which later came to be known as Aruvipuram Pratishta, created a social commotion among the so-called 'upper caste' Brahmins who questioned Guru's right as an Ezhava and a non-Brahmin, to consecrate the idol, essentially asking who had given a non-Brahmin, and especially an Ezhava, the authority to perform such a consecration. His reply to them, "This is Ezhava Shiva". The statement silenced them because of the powerful argument it implicitly carried: there is no such thing as an "Ezhava Shiva" or a "Brahmin Shiva." Shiva is universal and does not discriminate against anyone. Therefore, the Brahmins could not claim to be advocates of Shiva or determine whom Shiva would like or dislike. It also silently, yet powerfully, questioned the authority of Brahmins over matters relating to God and worship. This later became a famous quote, used against casteism. It was here, the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP Yogam) was founded on 15 May 1903 by the efforts of Padmanabhan Palpu with Narayana Guru as its founder president.
Guru shifted his base to Sivagiri, near Varkala in 1904 where he opened a school for children from the lower strata of the society and provided free education to them without considering their caste. However, it took him seven years to build a temple there, the Sarada Mutt was built in 1912. He also built temples in other places such as Thrissur, Kannur, Anchuthengu, Thalassery, Kozhikode, and Mangalore and it took him to many places including Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) where he made his final visit in 1926. On his return to India, he was involved in a number of activities including the planning of the Sivagiri pilgrimage which was planned after his visit to Pallathuruthy in 1927 to attend the anniversary of the S.N.D.P. Yogam.
Soon after the meeting at Pallathuruthy, which was the last public function he attended, Guru became ill and underwent treatment at places such as Aluva, Thrissur, Palakkad, and finally to Chennai; the physicians attended to him included Ayurvedic physicians like Cholayil Mami Vaidyar, Panappally Krishnan Vaidyar and Thycauttu Divakaran Moos as well as allopathic physicians viz. Krishnan Thampi, Panikker, Palpu and a European physician by name, Noble. He returned to Sarada Mutt and died on 20 September 1928, at the age of 72.
Legacy Fight against casteism Casteism was practised in Kerala during the 19th and early 20th centuries and the backward castes such as Ezhavas and other untouchable castes like Paraiyars, Adivasis and Pulayars had to suffer discrimination from the upper caste community. It was against this discrimination that Guru performed his first major public act, the consecration of Siva idol at Aruvippuram in 1888. Overall, he consecrated forty five temples across Kerala and Tamil Nadu. His consecrations were not necessarily conventional deities; these included a slab inscribed with the words, "Truth, Ethics, Compassion, Love", a vegetarian Shiva, a mirror, and an Italian sculpture. He propagated the ideals of compassion and religious tolerance and one of his noted works, Anukampadasakam, extols various religious figures such as Krishna, The Buddha, Adi Shankara, Jesus Christ.
Meeting with Mahatma Gandhi On 12 March 1925, Mahatma Gandhi visited the Sivagiri Ashram in Varkala, Kerala, during the Vaikom Satyagraha. During his stay, he met Narayana Guru, who emphasized the need for education and wealth for the upliftment of lower castes rather than mixed eating and marriages. This conversation, facilitated by a translator, also addressed religious freedom and the caste system. Narayana Guru's logical arguments and inclusive practices profoundly impacted Gandhi. Witnessing lower-caste children reciting prayers and their knowledge of the Upanishads impressed Gandhi and challenged his casteist views. Inspired by Guru's teachings, Gandhi re-evaluated his stance on caste and untouchability. As a result of this transformative experience, Mahatma Gandhi began to focus on eradicating untouchability and upliftment of Harijans (Dalits) in the national movement. He renamed his newspaper "Young India" to "Harijan" and made the eradication of untouchability a central part of his mission. This marked a significant shift in Gandhi's approach, integrating the fight against caste discrimination into the broader struggle for India's independence.
Mahatma Gandhi subsequently renamed his newspaper from "Young India" to "Harijan" and made the eradication of untouchability and upliftment of Harijans a part of the national movement. Anantha Shenoy, a Brahmin and a Gandhian from Kannur, read about this in Young India and was deeply inspired. He later became the Guru's disciple and was ordained as Swamy Ananda Theerthan, regarded as the last initiated disciple of Narayana Guru
Role in Kerala's early labour movement On 31 March 1922, under the guidance of Sree Narayana Guru, the Travancore Labour Association, which is the first organised labour union in Kerala was established at the Kalappura Temple grounds in Alappuzha. The initiative followed Guru's instruction to Swami Satyavratan, who conveyed his blessings and directive to organise workers facing exploitation in colonial-era coir factories.
The union's formation was led by Vadappuram Bava, a coir worker who, in 1920, met Guru through T. C. Kesavan Vaidyar and appealed for a solution to the harsh conditions faced by labourers. Guru reportedly asked Bava, "If what I command becomes your deliverance, will you accept it?" to which Bava replied, "Whatever you instruct will be our salvation." Guru then responded with a call to collective action: "Form a union. Let your strength come from unity and freedom." The inaugural meeting, held after dusk to avoid police intervention, drew around 300 workers. Dr. M. K. Antony was appointed president and Vattappuram Bava served as secretary.
The union later became the Travancore Labour Association and played a foundational role in Kerala's labour movement, preceding the emergence of communist politics in India. In one of their final meetings, Guru advised Bava: "Earn the trust of all and move forward. The age of the workers is coming."
First All India Industrial and Agricultural Exhibition In 1905, Narayana Guru organized All India Industrial and Agricultural Exhibition at Kollam, first time in India to facilitate industrialization and agriculture. Guru wanted to convey the importance of regaining the lost places of worship (later rebuilt by the Guru himself) and wealth. This was in line with his quote: "Vidhya kond prabhudhar aavuka, sangadana kond shakthar aavuka, vyavasayam kond abhivrithi neduka" meaning "Become enlightened through education, become strong through organization, and achieve prosperity through industry."
Vaikom Satyagraha The social protest of Vaikom Satyagraha was an agitation led by backward caste communities against discrimination in Hindu society of Travancore. It was reported that the trigger for the protest was an incident when Narayana Guru was stopped from passing through a road leading to the Vaikom Temple by an upper caste person. It prompted Kumaran Asan and Muloor S.Padmanabha Panicker, both disciples of Guru, to compose poems in protest of the incident. T. K. Madhavan, another disciple, petitioned the Sree Moolam Popular Assembly in 1918 for rights to enter the temple and worship, regardless of the caste. A host of people including K. Kelappan and K. P. Kesava Menon formed a committee and announced the Kerala Paryatanam Movement and with the support of Mahatma Gandhi. The agitation developed into a mass movement which resulted in the opening of the temple as well as three roads leading to it to people of all castes. The protest also influenced the Temple Entry Proclamation of 1936.
Sivagiri pilgrimage The Sivagiri pilgrimage was conceived by three of the disciples of Guru viz. Vallabhasseri Govindan Vaidyar, T. K. Kittan Writer and Muloor S. Padmanabha Panicker which Guru approved in 1928, with his own recommendations. He suggested that the goals of the pilgrimage should be the promotion of education, cleanliness, devotion to God, organization, agriculture, trade, handicrafts, and technical training and advised Vaidyar and Writer to organise a series of lectures on these themes to stress the need for the practice of these ideals, stating this to be the core purpose of Sivagiri pilgrimage. However, his death soon after delayed the project until 1932 when the first pilgrimage was undertaken from Elavumthitta in Pathanamthitta District.
India's first All Religions Conference