Socio-Religious Movements within Hinduism: Narayana Guru Movement
Narayana Guru, also known as Sri Narayana Guru, (c. 1856 – 20 September 1928), was a social reformer of India. He was born into a family of the Ezhava caste in an era when people from such communities, which were regarded as Avarna, faced much injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala. He led a reform movement in Kerala, rejected casteism, and promoted new values of spiritual freedom and social equality.
Socio-Religious Condition of Kerala
At the time of his birth, Kerala was under the domination of different castes, all of them pretending superiority over the other. Under the horrible caste tyranny, the lower caste people suffered in every area of their life. Temples, streets and educational institutions remained closed before them. They could not draw water from public wells. Men and women belonging to lower castes were not allowed to wear clothes on the upper part of the body. The very sight of these people and even their shadows were considered polluting the upper castes. Those who failed to follow these inhuman practices were given brutal punishment including death. Two sharp swords of untouchability and unapproachability hung above the heads of the unfortunate masses. They shed their blood and sweat for their upper caste masters but earned no reward, except suffering and death.
Seeing the disgraceful caste discrimination of the state, a young monk wandering the length and breadth of the country called Kerala a ‘lunatic asylum’. It was Swami Vivekananda. He said that the suffering of the millions of the suppressed class of the state would see an end only through a Guru, who had born in Kerala. His words came true and the saviour was Sri Narayana Guru.
Family and Early Life
There are many legends surrounding the life of Narayana Guru but few certain facts until his rise to prominence in 1887. He was born probably in 1854, the son of an Ezhava peasant, Madan Asan and his wife Kuttiyamma, in the village of Chempazhanthy near Thiruvananthapuram. Most likely, he was educated at least in part by a Nair teacher from a nearby village. He learned Sanskrit from a Sanskrit scholar named Raman Pillai Asan (Asan means teacher) and became well versed in Sanskrit scriptures and Vedic philosophy. He was deeply influenced by Vedanta and by ideas of social equality and social and religious reform. For some time he worked as a teacher, teaching poor students and people called him ‘Nanu Asan’.
After the death of his parents, his family members insisted for his marriage. Even though the marriage ceremony took place with their pressure, he was not interested in a married life. His worshipful biographers ignored this part of his life out of reverence for his later asceticism. He had an acetic mind filled with spiritual urge. Decided to renounce the pleasures of the physical world he left home and wandered through different regions of Kerala and Tamil Nadu like a mendicant. During these days he met a person called Chattampi Swami, who introduced him to a Yoga guru named Thycaud Ayyavu. Under him, he mastered yoga practices, including Hatha Yoga and meditation.
According to tradition, he shifted to a cave in Marutvamalai near Kanyakumari and started living a solitary life spending most of his time in meditation and self-discipline. It lasted for over eight years and finally the inner world opened before him and he became an enlightened soul.
Obtaining a clear vision of unity of the downtrodden humanity around him, the Guru decided to return to the world he had withdrawn. He settled for some time in the Jungles of Aruvippuram and made it his abode of meditation. Soon, people recognized the solitary saint in the jungle and started visiting him seeking spiritual tranquility.
The Narayana Guru Movement
Even as a child he had strong abhorrence toward the caste distinctions and untouchability and he always protested against injustice. “Ask not, say not and think not caste” was his motto. He had deep sympathy towards the ill-treated people and he decided to clean the vulgarity crept in the Hindu society.
Consecration of a Hindu temple was the exclusive right of Brahmins. Sree Narayana threw a challenge on this domination. As the first revolutionary step, he himself consecrated a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in Aravipuram in 1888. When questioned by the Brahmins, he replied that he had consecrated a Shiva belonging to his community. The irony of the message was very clear – how could Shiva be owned by any particular community? It was a strong warning to the upper castes and a bold proclamation that everyone irrespective of his caste or religion has the right to realize God.
The Aravipuram Pratistha (Aravipuram Movement) was a historic event, because a member of a lower caste, forbidden from entering the temple, had himself consecrated the Shiva image in a temple. On the wall of the temple Sri Narayana Guru inscribed the words: “Devoid of the dividing walls of caste or race, or hatred of rival faith, we all live here in brotherhood.”
In subsequent years he consecrated several temples in different parts of Kerala with revolutionary changes. In one temple at Kalavancode in Sherthallai, instead of deities, he installed a mirror for worship, revealing the truth that God is within oneself and one should find salvation by the development of inner self. In another temple at Murikkumpuzha near Trivandrum, in place of deity, there was a bright light which revealed the words “Truth, Duty, Kindness, Love.” His temples were open to all Hindus and non-Hindus, without any discrimination of caste or creed.
Around 1897, he composed Atmopadesa Satakam (one hundred verses of self-instruction) in Malayalam, widely regarded as a literary and philosophical masterpiece. In 1904, he settled at Sivagiri to pursue his Sadhana (spiritual practice), choosing Amba as his deity. He also opened a Sanskrit school in Varkala, where poor boys and orphans were taken under his care and given education regardless of caste differences. Temples were built at various places–Thrissur, Kannur, Anchuthengu, Tellicherry, Calicut, Mangalore–under his supervision. A temple was built for Sharada Devi in 1912 at Sivagiri. In 1913, Narayana Guru founded the Advaita Ashram at Aluva, dedicating it to the principle of Om Sahodaryam Sarvatra (universal brotherhood).
Millions saw Sri Narayana Guru as a saint, seer, philosopher, poet and social reformer. Education and organisation were amongst his many slogans for freedom and strength. He held that the essence of all religions is one and the same, and advocated the comparative study of all faiths.
Sri Narayana Guru articulated a doctrine aimed at improving the Ezhavas’ social position. He urged them to abandon the occupation of toddy-tapping and to abstain from liquor. He summed up his message in a slogan: “Drink not, serve not, brew not.” He condemned all forms of animal sacrifice, the singing of obscene songs etc.
In the early years of the 20th century, the Aravipuram movement was given new vigour when two new leaders, Dr Palpu and Kumaran Asan, joined Sri Narayana Guru. Dr Palpu was the first Ezhava to receive education in Western medicine. Kumaran Asan was a well-known writer and poet. Thus invigorated, the movement began to condemn the caste system as the basis of Hindu social structure. In 1903, Dr. Palpu established a social organization called “Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP Yogam) to spread the message of Guru against the caste system in Kerala. The SNDP Yogam established several educational institutes and hospitals throughout the state and it became a powerful platform to unite the oppressed people.
Death
The Palluruthy event in 1927 was the last anniversary of the S.N.D.P. Yogam which Narayana Guru attended. This was also his last public function. He became seriously ill in September 1928 and remained bedridden for some time. He died on 20 September 1928.
Efforts for Inter-Religious Harmony
In 1921, in the All Kerala Fraternity conference held at Aluva, he proclaimed his famous message “One Caste, One Religion and One God to Mankind,” which was a clarion call to humankind to unite, instead of breaking down in the name of caste and religion.
A religious conference, named as the Parliament of Religions, was held at Aluva in 1924 with a slogan “Not to argue and win but to know and to make known.” In that conference he conveyed the universal message that the ultimate aim of all religions were the same and there was no need for the followers of different religions to indulge in mutual conflict. Both these events were organized under his guidance. He also stressed the need for a Brahma Vidyalaya for a comparative study of different religious faiths.
Sri Narayana’s Meeting with Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore
In 1925, Sri Narayana Guru supported the famous Vaikom Satyagraha movement, which demanded entry for lower caste people in the Shiva temple at Vaikom and all temples in Kerala. Mahatma Gandhi visited Kerala during this time to support the Vaikom Satyagraha and met the Guru at Sivagiri Ashram, where they had interesting discussions on the issues of caste and untouchability. Gandhiji expressed that it was a great privilege in his life to have the darshan of an esteemed sage like Sri Narayana Guru.
The great Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore met Guru in 1922. About his warm meeting with Guru, Tagore later said: “I have been touring different parts of the world. But I have never come across one who is spiritually greater than Sri Narayana Guru.”
Evaluation
Sri Narayana Guru used his Vedanta to demolish the foundation of the Varnashrama system. His activities were a war cry against all kinds of slavery and it was against a stagnant society. The important messages of Narayana Guru were monotheism and equality of all humankind. The Vedic schools he established were for all castes, particularly the most despised Ezhavas. Unity of humankind, oneness of God, and equality and justice were his prime teachings. Within a period of less than 50 years, Narayana Guru transformed the Ezhava community from dust into human beings who could stand on their own legs as self-respecting individuals.
The S.N.D.P. Yogam is not only for reform but also for structural change in the caste system, modernization, rejection of the traditional occupation, accessibility to education, employment, industry, commerce, and spiritual life and alternative religion.
The Yogam took place against the Hindu upper caste system and for the protection of those who were denied basic human rights. Basically, the Yogam is initiated for the upliftment of the untouchable community, i.e., the Ezhavas, who had been practicing the socially degrading traditional occupation of toddy tapping. (Toddy is a potent and pungent Indian drink fermented from palm sap, traditionally collected by tappers who scamper daily to treetops to retrieve earthenware pots filled with sap tapped from the trees. In India, palm wine or toddy is served as either neera or padaneer (a sweet, non-alcoholic beverage derived from fresh sap) or kallu (a sour beverage made from fermented sap, but not as strong as wine).
The life of Sri Narayana Guru is not just the story of a saint; it is an epic of a crusade. The Guru was aware that spirituality cannot be fed to starving millions. He believed that other than the freedom from the curse of untouchability, the downtrodden classes needed education and wealth. They needed opportunities to improve like others. His whole life was dedicated to the betterment of the suppressed. He was an innate poet and a great scholar in Malayalam, Tamil, and Sanskrit and authored many beautiful and inspirational works in these languages. His words and deeds ignited sparks of revolution that led to a remarkable cultural renaissance in the profligate society of Kerala.
Friendly Note
Bachelor of Divinity Materials is your go-to resource for comprehensive Biblical studies, supporting students in Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) and other theological courses. Our platform offers access to the full syllabus, detailed answers, and a vast collection of assignments, study guides, articles, and research papers to help you excel academically.
We provide downloadable PDFs of study materials, including books and journals, for convenient learning anytime, anywhere. Whether preparing for exams or conducting research, our resources cater to both students and scholars in biblical studies.
Committed to empowering theological learners, we aim to deliver high-quality, authentic study materials. Explore Bachelor of Divinity Materials to deepen your understanding of God’s Word and Christian doctrine, making it a valuable resource for aspiring ministers and anyone dedicated to theology.
