The youngest of his disciples in whom Narayana Guru showed much personal interest was Natarajan (afterward Nataraja Guru),the second son of Dr. Palpu When this son of Dr. Palpu was born, the Guru himself named him as Natarajan, and the Doctor promised the Guru to give his son for Guru’s cause. Narayana Guru found in this boy even from the age of twelve, a disciple as dedicated and firm as was St. Peter to Jesus Christ. On hearing the news that Natarajan passed his Master’s Degree in Zoology and also simultaneously got his Teacher’s Degree, Narayana Guru welcomed him to join him as a member of the ashram in Sivagiri. For a short while he taught in the Advaita Ashrams in Alwaye as an English teacher. Thereafter, the Guru made him the headmaster of the Sivagirl school.

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Indian Nationalism was as much a blinding force during the days of Narayana Guru. Many of the national leaders of India believed in need for social changes together with education.They were great leaders, scholars and social reformers. But their horizon of interest was confined to the tradition of India and problems of India. But Rabindranath Tagore was an exception to this. He loved India its people its traditions its beauty and not just as a geographical area of the globe. He kept both his heart and mind open to all traditions and customs. He exposed himself to the influence of all regions,religions and races. He lived and thought and envisaged the future of man as a true citizen of the world and not just as INDIAN. His language was more of a poet than of a logician his reasoning and thoughts were as beautiful as the nature. His mystical insight was deep and profound. Thats why by his thoughts, sympathies and visions, he was very close to Narayana Guru. When Tagore’s Gitanjali was selected for the Nobel Prize in 1914 he became the greatest pride of India. (more…)

A new phase began in the Guru’s life in 1904. He decided to give up his wandering life and settle down in a place to continue his Sadhana (spiritual practice) he choose Sivagiri, twenty miles to the north of Thiruvananthapuram. Varkala Sivagiri a place of natural beauty with cliffs facing the Arabian Sea at the foots of ‘Eastern Ghats’. Goddess ‘Amba’ became his deity of worship. He built a beautiful shrine for Goddess AMBA and an ashram for him and his followers. Now Varkala has become a religious center and a pilgrimage center and tourist spot. Every year during December-January is the pilgrimage time when lakhs of people mainly his followers from Ezhava community visit the place. (more…)

Swamy Vivekanda the greatest scholar, philosopher and social reformer mother INDIA has ever produced was a constant traveler. He has travelled all over INDIA and even to many other nations. He traveled across the length and breadth of INDIA to know his country and to understand the pulse of INDIA. In 1882 Vivekanda visited Kerala. He visited Trivandrum, Kochi ,Trishur and many other places in Kerala. He was so embarrassed by the life of people and the rigid caste system that existed. He was sad seeing the how under developed Kerala was inspite of the great resources Kerala had. He then referred Kerala as ‘Lunatic Asylum’. (more…)

Yugapurushan Sree Narayana Guru’s social reforms in Kerala wont be complete unless his association with Chattambi Swami and his reforms are not mentioned. Chattambi Swami was a reformer of the NAIR caste which was the middle class. Those times the Brahmins exerted supremacy in all walks of life

Sri.Vidyadhiraja Chattambi Swami Thiruvadikal was one of the most worshiped and respected spiritual leaders and social reformer of  Kerala.  Chattambi Swami, born on August 25, 1853 in a poor Nair family known as Ulloorcode, near Kollur Mutt in Kannanmool, Thiruvananthapuram.  Vasudeva Sharma was his father and Thirunanga mother.  He was named  Ayyappan, but he was known by per name ‘Kunjan’.  Unlike Sree Narayana Guru he could not join a school for his studies due to the poor condition of his family.  He still went to the Kollur Athiyar Mutt and  overheard teaching of the ‘Asan’ whom later allowed to sit in the class.
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Ayyankali was born in a Pulaya community, an untouchable caste in Kerala. He was born into a very poor and illiterate Pulaya family on August 28, 1863. Despite his major role in the uplift of his community and the socio-political reforms in Kerala, Ayyankali is hardly known to anybody outside Kerala. Ayyankali was the contemporary of Sree Naryana Guru, Dr. Palpu and poet Kumaran Asan. In early days of his life he was terrified by the social oppression, discrimination and caste distinctions that his community had to put up with. During his time the untouchables were serfs and servants of the upper castes. His way of struggle was different from YUGAPURUSHAN Sree Narayana Guru. Guru used a Non-Violent method where as Ayyankali was bit aggressive.
In the initial stage of his struggle, he organized his friends to oppose social injustices being meted out to their fellow men and women besides the practice of untouchability. The basic agenda of his struggle was civil liberties to the untouchables. (more…)

In the history of there is no other man who worked as much as Sree Narayana Guru for the upliftment of  the backward caste but he has been pinned down to the name of a particular caste group in Kerala as their benefactor; while Mahatma  Gandiji is considered as the greatest campaigner against casteism and untouchability was a person who always supported the four Varnas (Caste) in the society as he believed there should be people for every walks of life and every jobs in society but he did oppose the suppression of the lower castes.

Some followers of Narayana Guru who were congress leaders wanted to include in the policy and program of the Indian National Congress, the abolition of taboos in the society and the eradication of castism. Mahatma Gandhi was not fully convinced of Narayana Guru’s doctrine of “One Caste, One Religion, and One God.” (more…)

To the keralites who spent 50 crore Rs in this New Years Eve the message from the great visionary Sree Narayana Guru  must me a path to follow. The great visionaries could understand the nature of humans the strengths and weakness, that’s why they could give us guidelines in terms of philosophies and teachings. Yugapurushan Sree Narayana Guru was such a visionary a philosopher who understood the nature of keralite’s to get addict to liquor and gave us the philosophy ‘Liquor is poison Make it not Sell it not Drink it not’. He was always against liquor not only in its consumption but also against its making and selling. He considered drinking liquor as a sin and those who were indulged in making and selling liquor also equally sinners.
Gandhiji also shared the same view point with Yugapurushan Sree Narayana Guru. He believed if no one was ready to make or sell liquor then the people won’t be able to drink it and thus could avoid the social menace of drinking. The consumption of liquor not only harms the person’s health but it also destroys the peace and financial status of his family and also the society at large. Those making and selling Liquor has only one aim to get profit, he doesn’t care about the well person or the society. One who doesn’t care about his fellow beings or his society is a sinner according to Guru. (more…)

One of the greatest poets of Malayalam Maha Kavi Kumaran Asan was a great disciple of Sree Narayana Guru. Sree Narayana Guru was the actual reason in Kumaran Asan’s life that turned him into a great poet, philosopher and a great social reformer. Kumaran was dogged by ill-health all through his early life. When he was eighteen, Sree Narayana Guru visited his house at the request of his father. Kumaran was bedridden at that time. The great saint suggested that Kumaran should stay with him and become his disciple. The little boy found the invitation irresistible. Thus began a new phase of life for the young lad.
Kumaran stated learning from Guru’s teachings and enlightened Kumaran began to work for the social upliftment of lower castes in Kerala society. With his poems he started to sent the messages of Guru and the messages of equality of human beings to the masses. Kumaran was sent to Bangalore for 3 years for higher studies in Sanskrit. He again studied in Calcutta and became a scholar in Sanskrit.
Back in Kerala he started a new era in Malayalam literature. Kumaran continued as a lay disciple of Narayana Guru and made substantial contributions in the fields of poetry, literature and social renaissance.

This Famous quotes that calls for equality among all castes and also brings out the universal truth of the existence of only one GOD was the spear head concept of Narayana Guru in fighting the social injustice and inequality that existed in the Kerala society then. Guru always believed in the fact that people are born equal and why should they be discriminated in the name of caste, breed and creed. He believed that God is only one and all people should be allowed to worship GOD at places of worship. Till the early 20th century the so called ‘AVARNAS’ (The Lower Caste) were not allowed to go to temples. They were not even allowed to come near the ‘SAVRNAS’ (The Higher Caste). They were treated like animals and even deprived of education. Such was the inhuman way the Lower Castes were treated in KERALA.

Though  Guru  was born in an Ezhava family, he had the opportunity to get an education and became a Scholar in Vedic knowledge and Sanskrit. He got enlightened and his knowledge gave him the strength to fight for the cause of upliftment of his fellow beings. He fought for social justice through organized but non-violent means. He spread the message of equality of all human beings and spread his knowledge to his fellow beings and gave them wisdom and strength to fight for justice. He built  temples of Lord Shiva and Sharada (Goddess of learning), particularly for the lower castes,  to show  the people that Gods are not partial to any caste and all had the right to pray and worship them. His untiring efforts for  the cause of social justice won him admires in Kerala and even among  the Foreigners who came to India during that period. His works made ripples in Kerala society and  even many educated people from the higher castes joined him to fight for social justice for Ezhavas and all the lower caste. His efforts bore fruit and all were allowed to go and worship in temples through the ‘TEMPLE ENTRY PROCLAMATION (1936)’. His work for social justice and equality in  Kerala made him THE YUGAPURUSHAN (PERSON OF THIS AGE)