Sree
Narayana Guru, the renowned social reformer, philosopher, saint and
sage played a prominent role in elevating a society like Kerala
engrossed in caste evils and untouchability to a state that stands in
front in equality and literacy now. Being a karma yogi and jnana yogi
rolled into one, his mantra of “with malice towards none and love
for all” enabled him to fight against the heinous acts of casteism
and became the voice of the marginalized. His indefatigable preaching
of the doctrine “one caste, one religion, one god” turned out to
a be a clarion call for the multitudes of oppressed sections of
Kerala to make them aware of the need for the social and spiritual
upliftment. In order to materialize his dream for the unfortunates,
he began temples and educational institutions with the motto
“progress through education, strengthen through organization”.
My
paper will begin by examining the role of Narayana Guru and how he
succeeded in earning a status for the ‘Avarnas’ or the low castes
with his silent revolutionary competence. The paper intends to focus
on the social inequalities he also faced in his own Ezhava community
where they had to keep a certain distance from others as per the
unwritten hierarchy. He envisioned a noble place where “all live in
brotherhood without difference in caste or cancor of religions”.
The paper would throw light on his Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana
Yogam, consecration of Ezhava Shiva temple at Aruvippuram that
created a maelstrom in Kerala, Vaikkom satyagraha and Temple entry
proclamation. His proficiency in Sanskrit, Tamil and Malayalam are
reflected in the form of literary outputs like “Atmopadesa
Sathakam”, “Darsanamala” and translation of “Thirukkural”
into Malayalam. The aura of this magnetic personality inspired
Kumaran Asan, one among the trios of the Modern Malayalam poetry to
prove his pen is mightier than sword with his realistic poems. I
would like to conclude the paper stressing the fact that Sree
Narayana Guru and his contributions to God’s own country can be
never be ignored. There by proving that “posterity will not
willingly let this charismatic prodigy die”
