About Gurudevan
Sree Narayana Guru
Sree Narayana Guru, also widely known as Gurudevan, was a philosopher, spiritual leader and social reformer from India. Gurudevan’s reform activities were centered against fighting off the caste system that prevailed in Kerala society. Guru strived to promote spiritual enlightenment and social equality.
Early Life and Family
Sree Narayana Guru was born on August 20, 1856, in the village of Chempazhanthy, located in Trivandrum district of Kerala. Gurudevan was born to Madan Asan who was a teacher and Kuttiyamma into a family of Ezhava caste and had three sisters. Sree Narayana Guru’s early youth was spent assisting Gurudevan’s father in tutoring. Gurudevan’s formal education started in 1860. Gurudevan’s higher studies were done under the guidance of the famous scholar, Kummampilli Raman Pillai Asan at Karunagapally.
Guru was introduced to the concepts of literary criticism and logical rhetoric along with Sanskrit, poetry and drama. Gurudevan also studied the Vedas and the Upanishads. Gurudevan returned to Guru’s home land in 1881 as Madan Asan was on his deathbed. Eventually Gurudevan started a village school and began to teach. This earned Guru the name Nanu Asan.
Spiritual Awakening
Following the death of Madan Asan, Sree Narayana Guru started wandering and travelled across Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It was during this time, in 1884, Gurudevan became acquainted with Chattampi Swamikal, who went on to become an important figure in the spiritual life of Sree Narayana Guru. Chattampi Swamikal introduced Gurudevan to Ayyavu Swamikal, under whom Guru learned the art of Hatha Yoga and meditation.
Guru continued traveling and it was in such wanderings that brought Guru to the Pillathadam Caves at Maruthwamala where Guru meditated for over a period of 8 years. In 1887, as Gurudevan was continuing with meditation, life in the caves of Aruvippuram Guru had the first disciple, Shivaling Swamikal. Gurudevan is believed to have attained enlightenment during this phase of Guru’s austere life.
In 1888, during the stay in Aruvippuram, Sree Narayana Guru consecrated a piece of rock that was obtained from the river, as the idol of Lord Siva, which went on to become the Aruvippuram Shiva Temple. This particular act of consecration evoked considerable outrage from the Brahmins.
They questioned Guru’s right to consecrate, to which Guru replied with the famous quote- ” I installed my Siva; not a Brahmin Siva ”. In 1889, Sree Narayana Guru consecrated the Mannanthala Devi Temple and in 1891, the great poet Kumaran Asan got acquainted with Gurudevan. In 1898, Gurudevan built the Kunnam Para Subrahmanya Temple. Aruvippuram also served as the location for the establishment of Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP Yogam), on 15 May 1903, thanks to the efforts of Padmanabhan Palpu, popularly known as Dr. Palpu. Sree Narayana Guru was the founder president of the SNDP Yogam.
In 1904, Guru relocated to Sivagiri, near Varkala. Here Guru established a school for the students from the deprived sections of the society. During the same year, Gurudevan organised a gathering at Paravur, Kollam, to agitate against the evil traditions prevailing in the then society. After a period of 7 years, in 1912, Guru established the temple, Sarada Mutt, in Sivagiri. Later on, Gurudevan went on to establish several other temples across Kerala. This made Guru travel far and wide to reach Guru’s final destination, Srilanka in 1926.
On returning Gurudevan attended the anniversary meeting of SNDP Yogam in Pallathuruthy. Post this Guru got involved in a number of activities such as the planning of the Sivagiri pilgrimage. Sivagiri pilgrimage was based on the ideals of education, cleanliness, spirituality, agriculture and industrial activities. However, after attending the meeting at Pallathuruthy, Guru underwent serious health issues for which Gurudevan took treatment from various places. Guru was examined by eminent physicians from both ayurveda and allopathy and even by a European physician.
Gurudevan is the first Malayali to have appeared in a postal stamp and the first Malayali to have appeared in the postal stamp of a foreign country. Gurudevan was called the Second Buddha by the renowned writer G. Sankarakurupp. A series of books have been written in reverence of the great leader by various writers in Malayalam. “Narayanam” by Perumbadavam Sreedharan and “Gurudevakarnamrutham” by Kilimanoor Kesavan are to name a few. The representation of this spiritual soul on cinema are marked by the films “Yugapurushan” directed by R. Sukumaran and the film “Sree Narayana Guru” directed by P. A. Bakkar.
Social Works
The 19th and 20th century society in Kerala was deeply rooted in the primitive beliefs of casteism. The existing system classified the human population into backward classes such as Ezhava and Untouchables. The upper class sections of the society exercised control and practiced discrimination over these backward communities of the society. Born into an Ezhava family, Guru strived hard in eliminating this caste hierarchy from the society. The consecration of Siva idol at Aruvippuram in 1888 was a pioneer act in the spiritual life of Sree Narayana Guru. Gurudevan established 45 temples in various places and travelled far and wide propagating the ideals of social equality and compassion.
Mahasamadhi
Gurudevan attained Mahasamadhi on 20th of September, 1928 at Sivagiri Math, Varkala.