Sree Narayana Gurudevan

Sree Narayana Guru was born on 20th August, 1854, at Chempazhanthy, a village near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He was a reformer, poet, and Hindu sage who led a movement against the Hindu caste system existing in the society at that time. Guru preached that all people are equal and thus belong to just one caste, the caste of humankind. He expressed this idea in his famous saying, “One caste-one religion and one god” for humans. Guru sought to end discrimination of people on the basis of castes, emphasizing education and spiritual growth as means of uplifting them. He founded many schools and temples that were open to all people irrespective of their caste and colour.

Sree Narayana Guru Devan – as he is popularly known in Kerala, belonged to the Ezhava community, a lower caste within the Hindu caste system. His father was a farmer, and his family was respected in his village, enjoying a stable economic status. Ezhavas and other groups of lower social standing were subjected to many social restrictions like untouchability and were not even allowed to go Hindu temples for worship. Guru completed his primary schooling in his home village - learning the basics of both the Tamil and Sanskrit languages. From his uncle, he also learned to practice Ayurveda, a traditional Indian medicine system. His mother passed away, in 1872, when Guru was a teenager. Guru went to learn Vedas and Upanishads in the late 1870s from a scholar at Thiruvithacoore or Travancore. As his father was ill, Guru returned to his home village in 1881, and worked as a teacher in a nearby school for a short period. In 1882 Guru married the daughter of a village doctor. However, after few years, she passed away. Soon after that, Guru left home and adopted the wandering life - a holy person who follows the practice of not giving in to his desires. He travelled about southern India on foot, seeking enlightenment. Guru meditated, fasted, and studied Yoga. People began to seek him out for his wisdom and for his skills as a healer a Guru.

Gurudevan consecrated himself at a cave hermitage at Aruvippuram, near Neyyattinkara, Kerala and his followers began to gather there to see him. In 1888, as an act of protest, Guru established a symbol of Lord Shiva, to establish a temple in Aruvippuram. Following this Guru consecrated many new temples in southern India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and this act was welcomed people of all castes of Hindu religion as well as non-Hindus. In 1903, Gurudevan along with physician and social reformer Dr. Palpu, Gurudevan established Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, an organization to improve the social life of people of lower castes. Under Guru’s leadership, many Ezhavas joined the society, which emphasized the importance of the organization and education for the development of lower caste people. The SNDP Yogam fought against caste discrimination and founded several colleges and schools to encourage lower caste students to acquire knowledge and education. In 1904, Sree Narayana Guru founded a retreat center or ashram on Sivagiri hill – Sivagiri Mutt, near Varkkalla. Apart from establishing schools and colleges, Gurudevan also wrote a number of philosophical works, poems and hymns - mainly in Sanskrit and Malayalam. After his death, Gurudevan’s birth anniversary is celebrated as “Sri Narayana Jayanthi,” and his day of demise is observed as “Sri Narayana Guru Samadhi” - both days are observed as public holidays in Kerala.