AMBEDKAR AND SON IN KERALA ,1936 & 1950

Ambedkar Ignored Gandhi in Vaikam Sathyagraha

Though Dr B R Ambedkar came to Kerala in 1950,his son had been in Kerala in 1936.Ambedkar's dairy records that on 5 April 1936,after his return from Lonavala,his son Yashwant Rao left for Kerala with his uncle Shankar Mama,for medical treatment for rheumatism.Shankar Mama is,Ambedkar's first wigfe Rama Bai's brother Shankar Dhutre.He was living in the Ambedkar household.

The treatment was done by Panavally Krishnan Vaidyar ( 1877-1937) at Panavally near Aroor in Alapuzha district.I had read in an article by N S Madhavan in Granthalokam,November,2016,that Ambedkar had come with his son just before Vaikam Sathyagraha.He had mentioned the place name as Pakapally,near Aroor.It is not true.

Krishnan Vaidyar

My enquiries have revealed that Yashwant was treated by Panavally Krishnan Vaidyar of Chittayil family,Panavally near Aroor.It is one of the traditional families in Kerala,where Ayurveda treatment started during the late 18th century with the famous Sanku Vaidyar and his father.Panavally Krishnan Vaidyar, the elder son of Sanku Vaidyar is one of the authentic and pioneering figures in the history of Ayurveda in Kerala especially in Panchakarma treatment. The contribution of Krishnan Vaidyar in the gamut of Ayurveda is immense. As a traditional Ayurveda practsioner his fame crossed the borders of the country and contributed much to the popularity of Panchakarma. His book Vasthipredeepam is an authentic text on Panchakarma, especially Vasthi therapy.P S Varier of Kottakal ( 1869-1944 ) learned Vasthi from Vaidyar;the family still keeps the silver vasthi yanthra used to do vasthi on Narayana Guru.

Vaidyar's Sanskrit Guru was Keralavarma Valiya Koyi Thampuran ( 1845-1914),who resided at Ananthapuram Palace,Harippad.Vaidyar was a close associate of Prayikkara Govindan Vaidyan.

Krishnan Vaidyar was enlisted among official Vaidyars of the princely families of Travancore and Kochi kingdoms. He had an array of successful disciples in this genre of Panchakarma all over India. Krishnan Vaidyar was a social reformist, writer, political activist; one of the prominent leaders of the historic Vaikam Sathyagraha, industrialist, and an ardent follower of Narayana Guru. He was twice nominated as member of Sree Moolam Prajasabha in the early 1910s.

Krishnan Vaidyar was the man behind peopling the coir industry in the coastal Kerala. He introduced the brick, clay industries in Southern Kerala and a lot more under the influence of Sree Narayana Guru and the reformative spirit of that time. Krishnan Vaidyar was Vaidya of Narayana Guru and was with his mentor till the time of Guru’s death. He treated luminaries like Thanthaiperiyor E V Ramaswami Naykar.

The treatment to Yashwant was done at a seven acre island,Anchamthuruth,an island off Panavally.The island was gifted to Vaidyar by a Sait of Kochi,probably Ismail Sait,father of Isa Ismail Sait aka Kanmani Babu who produced the Movie,Chemmeen.Vaidyar had cured Sait of a disesase.The island is still with the family that runs the CKV Hospital at Poochakal.Vaidyar died in 1937.He had two sons,who were vaidyas-Raghavan and Padmanabhan.

The family holds the view that Krishnan Vaidyar wrote the fanous marching song,Varika Varika Sahajare,Sahana Samara samayamai...( Come on, come on, time for hard struggles) was written by him.When I pointed out that it is included in the name of Amsi Narayana Pillai in the book,Padayalikalude Pattukal,Vaidyar's grand son Dr V R Suresh ( son of Raghavan ) said:"It was written by my grand father for Vaikam sathyagraha,and was sung there;the welcome song also was written by him."

Records do show that Vaidyar wrote the prayer song,Sivasambho,Sambho,Sivasambho....

I had been to Amsi Narayana Pillai's ancestral home at Thengapattanam,in present day Kanyakumari district,in 1995 to write on him and the marching song! 

Amsi Narayana Pillai's life history says that,In 1930, a group of 25 people under the leadership of Ponnara Sridhar, N.C Shekhar and Amsi Narayana Pillai started a march from Trivandrum to join the Salt Sathyagraha in Kozhikode. The group sang the "varika varika sahajare" song along the way. All three governments (Travancore, Cochin and Malabar) banned the song. On the basis of a ban, Amsi was sentenced to six months in prison in Viyyur.But if the song was sung at Vaikam,its author is Vaidyar.He wrote the welcome song to Mahatma Gandhi when he was given the first reception in Trivandrum Law College,in 1925.

Gandhi's first visit to Kerala was for one day to Malabar in 1920,during Khilafat agitation.The second visit was during Vaikam Sathyagraha in 1925, from 8-19 March.Gandhi met Narayana Guru at Varkala.Gandhi again came to Kerala in 1927,1934 and 1937.

Vaikom Sathyagraha (1924–25) was a social protest in erstwhile Travancore  against untouchability and caste discrimination in Hindu society of Kerala. The movement was centered around the Sri Mahadeva Temple temple at Vaikom, in the present day Kottayam district. The Sathyagraha was aimed at securing freedom to all sections of society to pass through the public roads leading to the Sri Mahadeva Temple.

Ambedkar with son Yashwant

Gandhi wanted only caste hindus to be on the fore front of the Vaikam Sathyagraha-hence he ordered Barrister George Joseph who was very much there to lead it,to exit from the scene.

Panavally is a serene village on the northern end of Alappuzha district. It spans from Arookutty on the northern side to Poochackal on the southern side Arookutty was the northern frontier of Travancore which separated it with old Kochi. The old customs house and the summer palace of Travancore King, which is overlooking the backwaters are still there. Different branches of the backwaters of Vembanad surround the village.The soil and other eco system show, like many regions of Kerala, that this part of the land has emerged from the sea, few centuries ago. 

On November 12, 1936, the Maharajah of Travancore signed the historic Temple Entry Proclamation, and “in one bold stroke, the age long injustice of barring lower castes from entering temple was removed.” And, a “tidal wave of joy and rejoicing passed through every nook and corner” of Travancore. The action attracted attention and admiration from the whole country.

Travancore may not have been the first State, nor its Maharaja the first person, to throw open temples for Dalits. The northern and western parts of India had made a small beginning earlier. But, as the Manchester Guardian observed then, such a concession had never been made on such a large scale before.

The impact of the Temple Entry Proclamation was immediate and far-reaching. Not only were temples under the control of the Travancore Maharaja thrown open, but even private temples heeded the call for change. Outside of Travancore, temples in Malabar and the rest of the Madras Presidency felt the cascading effects.

Such an ‘epoch making' event was the culmination of two decades of struggle. In 1919, T.K. Madhavan, a prominent social reformer and the Editor of Deshabhimani, the Malayalam newspaper ( not the Marxist one ), took up the issue of temple entry with the Travancore government. So did Kunju Panicker in 1920, and again Madhavan in 1921. But none of this had any effect on the government.

Gandhiji, who was anguished by the ‘very feeble response' of south Indian temples to reform efforts, agreed with Madhavan, during a meeting in 1921, that Kerala was ripe for a temple entry agitation. He insisted on peaceful protest and found there is “no swifter remedy than a real satyagraha properly handled.”

In 1865, the Government of Travancore had published a notification that all public roads in the state were open to all castes of people alike. In July 1884, the Government by a fresh notification reaffirmed the policy laid down in the previous order and enjoined that any violation of these orders would be visited with the severest displeasure of the Government. This notification came up for a judicial review before the High Court. The High Court then considered it expedient to draw a distinction between Raja Veedhis (King's Highways) and grama veedhis (village roads). The court decided that the public roads mentioned in the notification of the Government were intended to mean only the Raja veedhis and not grama veedhis. The roads around Vaikom Temple were considered ‘ grama veedhis and consequently even after 65 years of Government proclamation, they were barred to the Avarnas and a unit of police (consisting of Savarnas) was stationed in the vicinity to enforce the custom.

T K Madhavan

The first-ever attempt at entry into the temple was made by a group of about 200 Ezhava youth in 1803-4. Avittom Thirunal Balarama Varma was the king of Travancore and Velu Thampi was the Dalava.They gathered near Dalava Kulam (a pond), about 150 meters east of the temple beyond which they were not permitted to move towards the temple. This pond, originally a small one meant for pilgrims to take bath before entering the temple, was renovated by Ramayyan Dalava in the 1750s and hence the name "Dalava Kulam". Kunju Kutti Pilla had collected about a dozen Nair soldiers from the locality. In the following conflict between the soldiers and Ezhavas rebels, many Ezhavas were killed and buried in the pond near the temple. This incident later came to be known as ‘Dalavakulam Massacre’.

T K Madhavan met Mahatma Gandhi at Tirunelveli on 23 September 1921 and apprised him of the conditions of the Ezhavas and their achievements through the SNDP. Because they had already achieved admission to school, Mahatmaji agreed that the time was ripe for temple entry. Mahatmaji promised to write to the State Congress Committee to take up the issue.

Madhavan attended the Kakinada AICC meet (1923) in the company of Sardar Panikkar and K. P. Kesava Menon. Madhavan got a pamphlet printed: A request to the Indian National Congress on behalf of the untouchables of India. Madhavan tried with all his might to convince the members of the need to eradicate untouchability. The Congress agreed to include the eradication of untouchability in their constructive programs and resolved to lend full support to the Vaikom Movement, and authorized the Kerala Provincial Congress Committee (KPCC) to undertake the task.

In accordance with the Kakinada Congress resolution, the KPCC met at Ernakulam on 24 January 1924 and formed an Untouchability Abolition Committee (UAC) consisting of K. Kelappan (convener), T. K. Madhavan, Kurur Nilakantan Namboothiripad, T.R. Krishna Swami Iyer, and K. Velayudha Menon. A Publicity Committee of five members including T. K. Madhavan was also formed.

The KPCC, the UAC and the Publicity Committee reached Vaikom on 28 February 1924. The struggle began.

Periyar and Gandhi at Vaikam

The Akalis of Punjab came to Vaikom to open a free kitchen for the Satyagrahis. Non-Hindus like barrister George Joseph , Bhajematharam Mathunni and Abdul Rahman (the Editor-in-Chief of The Young India) came forward to offer Satyagraha. But Gandhiji did not accept any of these. Gandhiji wrote in Young India on 24 April 1924, and 1 May 1924 against accepting outside aid.

Gandhi wrote to George Joseph on 6 April 1924:

"As to Vaikom, I think you shall let the Hindus do the work. It is they who have to purify themselves. You can help by your sympathy and your pen, but not by organizing the Movement and certainly not by offering Satyagraha. If you refer to the Congress resolution of Nagpur, it calls upon the Hindu Members to remove the curse of untouchability. I was surprised to learn from Mr Andrews that the disease had infected even the Syrian christians".

In March 1925, Gandhi arrived in Vaikom, held public meetings, bolstered the satyagrahis, met the Maharani regent, and confronted the head of the Nambudiri priests in a three-hour conversation.

Before journeying to Vaikom he had written in Young India (19 Feb 1925): 'The Vykam satyagrahis are fighting a battle of no less consequence than that of Swaraj'.

On 12 March, accompanied by two southern allies, EVR (E V Ramaswamy Naicker) and CR (C Rajagopalachari), Gandhi called on Narayana Guru who reiterated his endorsement of the sathyagraha.

Towards the end of Gandhi's nine-day visit, the princely authorities climbed down, yet it was only months later, in November 1925, that all, including Ezhavas and the 'untouchables', were able to walk on the temple roads.

Only on three of them, that is. The fourth road was made a 'Brahmins only' path from which Christians and Muslims too were excluded.

Destined to be venerated himself as the rationalist Periyar, EVR played a significant role in the satyagraha and suffered imprisonment for it. In November 1925, he presided at a large public assembly in Vaikom where the struggle's participants and supporters accepted the terms that Gandhi's visit had secured.

Future critics would call the terms inadequate, but the response at the time was of joy and triumph. A year earlier, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, thirty-three at the time, called the Vaikam satyagraha 'the most important event' for the country's 'untouchables'.

Ambedkar could assess it becuase he had Kerala in his radar from the time of the Mappila Jihad of Malabar in 1921.I have quoted Gandhi's journey to Vaikam from Rajmohan Gandhi's book,Modern South India:A History from the 17th Century to Our Times.Even Ambedkar's quote on Vaikam is from that book.

The Travancore Temple Entry Proclamation, as Ambedkar cautioned, was “not the be-all and end-all of social reforms.” Nor did things dramatically change for the better for Dalits immediately after 1936. But there is no doubt that the Proclamation indeed was a big step in establishing the rights of the lower castes in Kerala, and indeed the nation as a whole.

Ambedkar had responded about the Mappila Jihad thus:

"The blood-curdling atrocities committed by the Moplas in Malabar against the Hindus were indescribable. All over Southern India, a wave of horrified feeling had spread among the Hindus of every shade of opinion, which was intensified when certain Khilafat leaders were so misguided as to pass resolutions of congratulations to the Moplas on the brave fight they were conducting for the sake of religion"...

" Any person could have said that this was too heavy a price for Hindu-Muslim unity. But Mr. Gandhi was so much obsessed by the necessity of establishing Hindu-Muslim unity that he was prepared to make light of the doings of the Moplas and the Khilafats who were congratulating them. He spoke of the Mappilas as the "brave God-fearing Moplahs who were fighting for what they consider as religion and in a manner which they consider as religious ".

Ambedkar wrote:

"There occurred in that year in Malabar what is known as the Moplah Rebellion. It was the result of the agitation carried out by two Muslim organizations, the Khuddam-i-Kaba(servants of the Mecca Shrine) and the Central Khilafat Committee. Agitators actually preached the doctrine that India under the British Government was Dar-ul-Harab and that the Muslims must fight against it and if they could not, they must carry out the alternative principle of Hijrat. The Moplahs were suddenly carried off their feet by this agitation. The outbreak was essentially a rebellion against the British Government. The aim was to establish the kingdom of Islam by overthrowing the British Government. Knives, swords and spears were secretly manufactured, bands of desperados collected for an attack on British authority. On 20th August, a severe encounter took place between the Moplahs and the British forces at Thirurangadi. Roads were blocked, telegraph lines cut, and the runway destroyed in a number of places. As soon as the administration had been paralysed, the Moplahs declared that Swaraj had been established. A certain Ali Musaliyar was proclaimed Raja, Khilafat flags were flown, and Ernad and Walluvanad were declared Khilafat Kingdoms. As a rebellion against British Government, it was quite understandable. But what baffled most was the treatment accorded by the Moplahs to the Hindus of Malabar. The Hindus were visited by a dire fate at the hands of the Moplahs. Massacres, forcible conversions, desecration of temples, foul outrages upon women such as ripping open pregnant women, pillage, arson and destruction – in short, all the accompaniments of brutal and unrestrained barbarism, were perpetrated freely by the Moplahs upon the Hindus until such time as troops could be hurried to the task of restoring order through a difficult and extensive tract of the country. This was not a Hindu-Muslim riot. This was just a Bartholomew. The number of Hindus, who were killed, wounded or converted, is not known. But the number must have been enormous.”(Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, pages,183-184.).

Ambedkar Visit programme in Kerala,1950

The shocking reaction of Annie Besant on Mappila Jihad ,which was published in New India, 6 December 1921,would have stirred the mind of Ambedkar.Annie Besant wrote:

“Wilful murders of Hindus and arson were first begun in my own place. This contagion began to spread like wildfire and we began to hear of murders daily. Within a fortnight cold-blooded murders of Hindus became very common......A pregnant woman carrying seven months was cut through the abdomen by a rebel and she was seen lying dead on the way with the dead child projecting out of the womb. How horrible! Another, a baby of six months was snatched away from the breast of his own mother and cut into two pieces. How heart-rending! Are these rebels human beings or monsters?”.

During Vaikam Sathyagraha,Ambedkar,for removing difficulties of the untouchables and placing their grievances before government. In order to bring about a new socio-political awareness among the untouchables, Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar established"Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha" on 20 July 1924 at Bombay. The founding principles of the Sabha were. "Educate, Organize and Agitate".Ambedkar convened a meeting on 9 March 1924, at the Damodar Hall, Bombay, to consider the desirability of establishing this Sabha.

Ambedkar married his first wife Ramabai ( 1898-1935 ) in 1908 in a very simple ceremony in the vegetable market of Byculla, Mumbai. At the time, Babasaheb Ambedkar was aged 15 and Ramabai was nine. His affectionate name for her was "Rāmu", while she called him "Saheb".

Ambedkar and Ramabai had five children – Yashwant, Gangadhar, Ramesh, Indu (daughter) and Rajratna. Apart from Yashwant (1912–1977), the other four died in their childhood.Yashwant was 24 when he reached Kerala for treatment.Yashwant Bhimrao Ambedkar (1912–1977), was the only survived son of Babasaheb and Ramabai Ambedkar. He was a social activist, editor, Buddhist activist and politician. He was the second President of the Buddhist Society of India.Yashwant married Meerabai. They had four children – Prakash, Rama (daughter), Bhimrao and Anandraj. Rama married Anand Teltumbde, a scholar, social activist and professor.

After Ambedkar’s return from London in 1923, he had to fend for his family, which included his wife, his children, his sister-in-law and nephew. He wanted to practise law but for that, he needed to be registered with the Bombay High Court. He did not have the money to pay the registration fee. His friend Naval Bhatena came to his rescue and gave him the requisite Rs 500. In 1923, he was admitted to the Bombay Bar Council and began his practice. He pleaded in the Bombay High Court as well as in the district courts of Thane, Nagpur and Aurangabad. But soon, the economist Ambedkar overwhelmed the lawyer Ambedkar. He wanted to do social work but had no time to spare. In order to pursue his career as a lawyer, he had turned down the offer of a Rs 2500-a-month job in the British Government. He had also refused to join the Kolhapur State Services. Ambedkar wanted to have an office but again he lacked finances. With the help of his friends, he rented a small room at the Social Service League, Poyabaodi, in Bombay, and later moved to the first floor of Damodar Hall, Parel. A portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte hung from his office wall.

C Kesavan,T M Varghese and Barrister George Joseph

Inspired by the Indian National Congress's resolution which called upon its "Hindu members to remove untouchability," caste Hindus, a Syrian Christian Barrister George Joseph, and untouchables in Vaikom village in Travancore State aided by the District Congress Committee leadership made arrangements in early 1924 to start a Sathyagraha campaign to remove the restrictions on the use of public roads that went alongside the local temple. Gandhi, who had recently been released from prison and was recuperating from an illness, supported the Sathyagraha campaign from a distance.

In the dozens of letters he wrote to the organizers over the duration of the life of the Vaikam Sathyagraha, Gandhi communicated the philosophical, tactical, and strategic aspects of Sathyagraha. He also wrote often and in detail about Vaikam in Young India, a bi-weekly he published in English. The Mahatma was the sathyagrahis' guide and teacher in the art and science of nonviolent resistance. In a lengthy article titled "Vykom Satyagraha," he stressed that

Satyagraha is a process of conversion. The reformers ... do not seek to force their views upon the community; they strive to touch its heart— It beho[o]ves the organizers, therefore, to set even the most orthodox and the most bigoted at ease and to assure them that they do not seek to bring about reform by compulsion (Vykom Satyagraha] is... a movement to purify caste by ridding it of its most pernicious result.

In another communication, he advised the sathyagrahis "not to overawe the orthodox." As before, Gandhi eschewed direct confrontation of Hindu orthodoxy. The essentials of Sathyagraha that Gandhi was passing on to the sathyagrahis, at Vaikam were largely ignored by Ambedkar and his followers in the Dalit-led Sathyagraha campaigns. Nonviolence was never "a way of life" for Ambedkar.

Barrister George Joseph,who had distanced himself with Gandhi,had corresponded with Ambedkar in 1935,according to the biography,George Joseph,The Life and times of a Kerala Christian Nationalist by his grandson George Gheverghese Joseph.

On 13 May 1935,the Joint Political Conference held a meet at Kozhencherry under the President C Kesavan,on the backdrop of the Tangassery agitation.Sir C P Ramaswamy Iyer wanted to incorporate Tangassery into Travancore,whereas the Christian inhabitants there wanted a British Protectorate.George Joseph presided over the Kozhencherry meet.In his challenging address,Kesavan made critical references to the Nairs' monopoly of the general administration,roundly condemned the policy of of the government for discriminating against other communities and hinted at the intention of the Ezhavas to leave the Hindu fold.At the same conference,a request was made to the King of Travancore to dismiss Sir C P as his legal and constiturtional advisor ( Sir CP was made Dewan only in 1936) on the ground that his continuance was inimical to communal harmony.Kesavan said:

"We do not want that 'Jantu' (creature).I did not say 'Jantu' but Hindu. He will do no good to the Ezhava, Christian and the Musalman. When I say this I do not see any play of protest in the countenance of any one of you. It is after the arrival of this gentleman here that such a bad name about Travancore state has spread outside. Unless this man leaves the country, no good will come to it. We have achieved these things by the joint organisation of our three communities."

Calling one a Jantu ( animal ) was a statement of hatred,not of criticism.

A week later,Kesavan was charged under section 117 of the Travancore Penal Code for exciting contempt and feelings of disaffection towards the Government.George Joseph was appointed the defence counsel.He was to make a journey from Madurai to argue the case and return there on the completion of the hearings.Since it was believed that George Joseph's arrest was a strong possibility,the Kottarakara railway station was the only safe venue for the discussion of the case and the political events of the day since the railway stations constituted British territory and thus were outside the jurisdiction of the Travancore authorities.Kesavan was found guilty and sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a payment of a fine of Rs 500.

Kesavan's conviction aroused some of his Ezhava community friends even more and a section among them sought mass conversion to Christianity.They approached George Joseph on this matter.According to the biography,George Joseph's attitude was some what ambivalent.While any addition to the Christian fold was welcome to some one with his recently acquired Christian convictions,he was uneasy about the non-religious motivation underlying the intended mass conversion.He counselled caution when a number of Christian organisations wanted to take a more active role in promoting this project.This was also the time that he corresponded with Ambedkar regarding the efficacy of mass conversion as a political weapon to improve the status of the untouchables.However more favourable circumstances,notably the Temple entry Proclamation led many Ezhavas to reconsider the original plan of embracing Christianity.

The book claims that this conversion movemet had the approval of SNDP Yogam-it can't be true becuase Sir C P had made several Ezhavas including Kumaran Asan Sree Moolam assembly members and eventually before Sir C P left Kerala,SNDP Yogam held farewell meetings in honour of him.R Sankar was a close friend of Sir CP.Sir CP allotte 27 acres of prime land to build the SN College free of cost,at the heart of Quilon town.Sankar and associates expressed their gratitude to Sir CP.Kesavan who was an atheist and anti Hindu, instead of condemning the Sabarimala Temple burning,applauded it by saying that destruction of temples would eradicate superstitious beiefs in society.

Incidentally it was Narayana Guru,renaissance leader and life long President of SNDP Yogam and Kumaran Asan,the Illustrious General Sceretary of SNDP,who vehementally opposed the conversion move of a group of upstarts and insisted that there is no religion equal to Hinduism in providing spiritual freedom and enlightenment,in a well known article,titled,Mathaparivarthana Rasavadham,a treatise on religious conversion.

George Joseph,who had supported Fascism as a rival to Communism after he left Gandhi,began to preach Christianity among the depressed classes and in 1937,a manifesto was issued by 14 Indian Christians including him,for conversion of the depressed classes to Christianity.George Joseph,a soldier of Christ,who had become an evangelist wanted to convert the depressed classes who constitute a majority of the Hindu population as a prelude to forming a Christian theocratic state in India.

K R Narayanan,former President of India,remembered Ambedkar in an article in the newspaper "Implanter" from Shillong, on May 18, 1985:

 "I recall the brief meeting I had with Ambedkar in New Delhi in 1943 when he was a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council. After taking my first degree from Travancore, I had gone to the north in search of a job. I had a letter of introduction to Ambedkar from one who had known him in Travancore. I took a room in a cheap hotel in Delhi, put my luggage there and then went to Ambedkar's residence at Prithvi Road with the introduction letter. He read the letter and asked me "Where are your 'Samaans', your luggage?" Obviously, he was thinking of putting me up at his residence. That was the kind of a human being he was. Though I was a stranger coming from a remote corner of Kerala, he wanted to put me up in his house.

"India was fortunate to have a crop of great leaders during this century. I would put Ambedkar on the same level with them, with Gandhi, Nehru, and others. As you know there are many differences and great debates among these leaders, but all of them were united on two things – freedom for India and the Unity of India."

R Velayudhan

Narayan obtained his B. A. (Honors) and M.A. in English literature from the University of Travancore (1940–43) , standing first in the university,thus becoming the first Dalit to obtain this degree with first class in Travancore. Though Narayanan has not named the personal friend of Ambedkar in Travancore,I guess it was none other than R Velayudhan,a relative of Narayanan.Velayudhan was 10 years elder.

R Velayudhan was elected to Lok Sabha as independent from Quilon cum Mavelikara reserved constituency in 1952. Son of  Raman Kelan; born on March 23, 1911; educated at Middle School, Uzhavoor, High School, Kurvilangad, C.M.S. College, Kottayam, Arts College, Trivandrum and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Bombay; married Dakshayani Velayudhan, September, 1941; 4 Sons and 1 Daughter.; Political Worker and Journalist; Labour Welfare Officer, Tata Oil Mills, 1941—45; Information Officer, Government of India, 1945—48; Social Worker especially among Scheduled Castes of many years standing, also interested in amelioration of proletariat classes.Wrote a book,“Gandhi or Ambedkar”.

Velayudhan's wife,Dakshayani Velayudhan ( 1912 – 1978) was an Indian parliamentarian and leader of the Depressed Classes. Belonging to the Pulaya community, she was among the first generation of people to be educated from the community. She holds several distinctions including becoming the first woman from her community to wear an upper cloth, the first Scheduled Caste woman graduate in India, a science graduate, a member of the Cochin Legislative Council and of being one of nine female members of the Constituent Assembly of India.

Dakshayani Velayudhan

Dakshayani was born in the Mulavukad village of the Ernakulam district in 1912. She completed her B.A. in 1935 and went on to complete her teachers' training course from the Madras University three years later. Her studies were supported by scholarships from the government of the Cochin State. From 1935 to 1945 she worked as a teacher at the Government High Schools in Trichur and Tripunithura.

In 1945 Dakshayani was nominated to the Cochin Legislative Council by the government of the State.

Her wedding was held at Sevagram in Wardha with Gandhi and Kasturba as witnesses and a leper standing in as the priest. The couple had five children Dr. Reghu (previously doctor for Indira Gandhi), Prahladan, Dhruvan, Bhagirath [Secretary General, The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)] and Meera. 

Although a staunch Gandhian, Dakshayani sided with  Ambedkar on many issues relating to the Scheduled Castes during the Constituent Assembly debates. She agreed with Ambedkar giving up the demand for separate electorates arguing instead for 'moral safeguards' and the immediate removal of their social disabilities.

On 8 November 1948, after  Ambedkar introduced the draft Constitution for discussion, she expressed her appreciation for the draft while calling for greater decentralisation. She also suggested that the final draft of the Constitution should be adopted following a ratification through a general election.

She intervened again on 29 November 1948, during discussions on draft Article 11, which aimed at prohibiting discrimination on the basis of caste, and was permitted to exceed the time limit by the Vice President of the Constituent Assembly who said, "It is only because you are a lady I am allowing you." Velayudhan called for implementation of non-discrimination provisions through public education and pointed out that it would send a great public signal if the Constituent Assembly were to endorse a resolution condemning caste discrimination. "The working of the Constitution," she said, "will depend on how people conduct themselves in the future, not on the actual execution of the law.

Report on Ambedkar's Speech in Kerala,9,June,1950

Ambedkar visited Kerala during 8-11 June,1950,as Law Minister.He had come to discuss the Hindu Code Bill with the Hindu leaders in Travancore and Cochin.He travelled in a special sloon in the Trivandrum Express and reached Trivandrum on the night of 8 June from Dhanushkodi.He was welcomed in the railway station by the Thiru-Kochi Chief Minister Parur T K Narayana Pillai and other leaders.He spoke on the Constitution in the assembly hall.

The State Archives has 210 pages of documents on Ambedkar's Kerala Visit.He could not visit the first dalit colony at Sachivothamapuram,Kurichi,though the Commissioner for the advancement of Backward Communities had suggested it.The file notes that Ambedkar had no programmes at Kottayam.

From Ambedkar's office to Kerala,May,1950

The archival document,no Dis.12412/50/CS is from the political section of the Chief Secretarial Department of the erstwhile Travancore-Cochin.The document bears the scroll that it was supposed to be destroyed in 1971.Thankfully,it still survives.

K V K Sundaram,Secretary from the Law Minister's office had written on 13 May 1950,to Chief Secretary K G Menon,of Ambedkar's visit.It says:"He would like to take advantage of the visit to discuss with selected persons the application of Marmakkathayam and Aliasanthanam Laws and other local laws affecting Hindus generally in that area."

Aliyasanthanam Law resembles to a great extent the Marumakkathayam law and the common element in both the systems is that the inheritance under which the property descends is in the line of females. P.R.Sundara Aiyar in his book Malabar and Aliyasanthana Law mentions that Aliyasanthanam Law is the exact Canarese equivalent to the term Marumakkathayam. Aliyasanthana system of law is mostly followed by non-Bhrahmin communities in Tulunada or otherwise known as Canara and mostly speak Tulu. The word corresponding to Marumagan in Tulu is Marumaya. It is believed that the rules of Aliyasanthana Law has its origin in Canarese pamphlet known as Bhutala  Pandya's Kattu Kattalai. In fact the Bunts, the Billawas and the non-Priestly class among the Jainas in Kanara are governed by this system.

Ambedkar was accompanied by his wife Savita and private secretary M Massey.Union Minister of Railways K Santhanam also joined him.His train was to arrive at Trivandrum at 6.45 pm on 6 June 1950,and according to the programme,he left Trivandrum for Madras by air at 12.45 pm after an early lunch on Sunday,11 June.

Kerala Govt Note on Ambedkar visit,1950

At the railway station,apart from the Chief Minister,ministers,speaker,DCC president,Chief Secretary,Advocate General,Deputy speaker,Mayor,Magustrate and IG were present.Ambedkar had asked for a discussion with the AG.Ambedkar stayed at the Residency guest house,visited Chithralayam,Museum,zoo,Acquarium,School of Arts and Institute of Textile Technology and Padmanabhapuram Palace,enroute to Kanyakumari.Ambedkar met Rajapramukh Chithira Thirunal.

The file has a letter to the government from P M R Pillay,private assistant of Ambedkar.

The file has this interesting note to a department:"To arrange for the issue of permits to purchase two bottles of whisky from Messrs Spencer & Co,Quilon,and remove them to Trivandrum,if strong drinks are to be served to the guests."

____________________________________

Reference:

1.Dhananjay Keer.:Dr. Ambedkar, Life and Mission

2.Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Pakistan or The Partition of India. Samyak Prakashan. 2013

3.Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar:Writings and Speeches,Dr Ambedkar Foundation,2014

4.Gandhi,Ambedkar and Eradicatin of Untouchability/Sudarshan Kapur

5.Ambedkar and His writings:A Look for the New Generation.Raj Kumar

© Ramachandran 

A BRITISH RESIDENT DISCOVERS A GURU

Thycaud Ayyavu Becomes Manager

It was in Madras, as part of his business of supplying goods to a military camp,that Thycaud Ayyavu swamikal came in contact with a British official Atholl Murray MacGregor.When MacGregor later became Resident of Travancore and Cochin,he made Ayyavu the Manager of his Residency in Trivandrum.

 Atholl MacGregor (1836-1922) joined the Madras Civil Service in 1855 and served as the British Resident in the princely states of Travancore and Cochin. MacGregor earned a place in  history as the person who controlled the Mappila Revolt and later served three terms as Resident.He was the son of Sir John Atholl Bannatyne Murray-Macgregor ( 1810-1851),a Scottish Baronet,and colonial administrator, who served briefly as President of the British Virgin Islands in 1851. His mother was Mary Charlotte (died 1896), youngest daughter and co-heiress of Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, 1st Baronet.His brothers included Rear-Admiral Sir Malcolm (1834–1879), who had a career in the Royal Navy and inherited the baronetcy; Sir Evan (1842–1926), a civil servant who became Permanent Secretary to the Admiralty; Alpin (1846–1899), a gentleman usher to Queen Victoria.

MacGregor was Resident thrice:26 February 1867 – 26, May 1867;11 October 1875 – 1877 and 28 March 1879 – March 1881.He belonged to the family of the Duke of Atholl.

When Atholl Murray Macgregor was born on 22 Jul 1836 in Muthill, Perthshire, Scotland, hs father, John Atholl Bannatyne Murray Macgregor of Macgregor, and of Lanrick; 3rd Baronet, Macgregor-201 was 26, and his mother, Mary Charlotte Hardy Hardy-1987, was 23. In 1851 England Census records that Atholl Murray Macgregor was living as a lodger with William and Emma Walton, and was a pupil at the Rectory.Atholl Murray-MacGregor passed away on 2 Mar 1922 in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, at the age of 85.

He married Caroline Mary Stuart ( Menzies -1847-1906.)They got married on 23 April 1878 in Yorkshire West-Riding, Northumberland, England.She was the Daughter of Robert Menzies 7th Baronet and Ann Balcarres (Stewart-Alston) Menzies.Sadly her mother died only four days after her marriage. They had four children during their marriage; three sons, and one daughter.Sons:John Atholl MacGregor ( 1880-1916),Robert Menzies MsacGregor ( 1882-1946) and Evan Malcolm MacGregor ( 1883-1960).

 In 1891 the family were living at 'Eastwood', Caputh, Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland with their three younger children, their eldest son having died during Military service in World War I at the Somme, Picardie, France. By 1901 the family had moved to 'Ardchoille' Kinnoull, Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, where Caroline lived with her husband and two youngest children.

Ayyavu Swamikal was born in 1814 in Nakalapuram in Tamil Nadu. His original name was Subharayan.At the age of twelve, Subharayan received spiritual initiation from two Tamil Saints, Sachidananda Maharaj and Sri Chitti Paradeshi who used to visit his father. They told his family that his life has a specific assignment, he is destined to serve humanity at another place and that when it is time they would come and take him to mould him to fulfil his duty. These avadutas are said to be connected to great siddhas from Tamil Nadu living in Himalayas who knew the science of immortality. When he was 16, the two siddhas took him with them to Palani where he learned advanced yoga. He travelled with them to Burma, Singapore, Penang and Africa. With them he met teachers of many religions and saints. Subbarayan mastered English during his stay and travel with them. He also acquired proficiency in English, Siddha medicine and alchemy during his wanderings with the siddhas.

Thycaud Ayya Swami

At the age of nineteen he was sent back home with instructions to look after his parents and brethren. At home he continued worshiping Goddess and yogic practices, often entering the state of Samadhi. His biographers and disciples state that by this time he had acquired the Ashtasiddhies or divine powers including that of astral travel. Occasionally he visited Pazhani, Chennai and other religious places as part of pilgrimages for participating scholarly discussions going on there. He also started writing and composed 'Brahmothara Khandam' and 'Pazani Vaibhavam'. At the age of 27, as suggested by his gurus he visited Kodungalloor Devi Temple in Kerala. It is said that his devotion was so deep and his prayers were so strong that when he recited the keerthans the temples bells rang by themselves and the doors opened to give him darsan.

He went to Trivandrum during the period of Swati Tirunal Maharaja. The king came to know of his scholarship and expertise in Sivaraja Yoga and invited him to the palace and also learned many things from him.One day while a family gathering related to a marriage was going on at the house where he stayed a very old lean women told him that someone will be coming to meet him from his village and asked him to go to the traveller's shed near by on that night. The Goddess gave darsan to him at that travellers' shed that night. Later Thycaud Devi Temple was constructed at this site. Before long he went back to Tamil Nadu.

Within a few months his father left to Kasi. The whole responsibility for the family fell on his shoulders and he started a business to support his family. In accordance with the direction of his guru, Subbarayan got married. He used to deliver spiritual discourses at Madras.He also supplied goods to a military camp there,where MacGregor was employed.

MacGregor became fond of this English speaking Tamil villager and established a friendship with him. He was interested in Indian religion, language and culture and he became his student. During the reign of Maharaja Ayillyam Thirunal, Atholl MacGregor became the Resident of Travancore. When the selection of a manager for Residency came he appointed him as the Manager of his Residency in Thycaud in 1873. 

Ayya was guru to both Chattampi Swami and Narayana Guru.In the biography of Ayya published by Kalady Parameswaran Pillai in 1960, Pazhaniya Pillai author and son of Ayya Swamikal writes:

“ On Chithrapaurnami day of 1055 ( 1880) my father chanted “Balasubramanya manthra” to Nanu Guru. After completing the “SivarajaYoga Sadhana” Narauana Guru went for meditation ….. Kunjannan (Chattmpi Swamikal) and Nanuannan (Nanu Guru) described and worshiped my father as “Siva” (page 78).

Ayya used to say that any saint can install idols in temples. Ayya Vaikundan too was the disciple of Thycaud Ayya Swamikal. The rebel Vaikundan was relapsed from jail by the advice of Ayya to Maharaja. Vaikundan a ccepted the title of Ayya and the turban of Ayya Swamikal. He introduced installation of mirror as idols in temple. Later Sri Narayana Guru followed Ayya Vaikundan and founded “kannadi temple” in Kalavamkodam, Alapuzha.

When Ayya started “panthibhojan” (inter-dining) with Ayyankali the upper caste leaders ridiculed Ayya as Pandipparyan” and “Mleschan”. Then Ayya told them that,

“intha ulakithile ore oru……..” Sri Narayana Guru later translatesd it into Malayalam.

Thus the slogan “oru jathy,oru matham….” was born ( page 114-115 ).

Ayya was an ardent practitioner and Acharya (Guru) of the ancient Shivaraja Yogic system and stands in the traditions of Tamil Sidhas like Agasthyar, Bhogar, Manikkavachakar, Thirujnanasambandhar, and Thirumoolar.He was the Guru of other monks like Kollathamma, Swayam Prakasha Yogini Amma, Thackalai Peermohammed Sidhan, Makkadi Lebba, Fr. Pettayil Fernandaz, Sri. Ayyan Kali, Manonmanium Sundaran Pillai.He was born and brought up in Chennai. His ancestors were great Shaiva Yogis and Vedanthis. In childhood itself he had the opportunity of getting blessings of his Gurus, Sri Chatti Paradesi and Sri Satchithananda Maharaj, (the Tamil saints of Sage Agasthyar order). He had traveled with them between the age of 16 and 19 and learnt higher yogic techniques including aastral travel.

Ayya was an alchemist too-Alchemy, ie, preparing a tincture of mercury and sulphur, can afford to expand the lifespan to 150-200 years. Mercury was viewed as the seminal seed of Shiva. It formed a part of the alchemical triad of mercury, sulphur and air, corresponding to the trinity of moon, sun, and wind. Breath controlled through the practices of Pranayama, transformed the body's winds into a spiritual mediator that could unify the solar and lunar currents within the body. Much like the alchemical process applied air to mercury and sulfur to form the amalgam that brought the work to completion. Consciousness was seen to ride the vehicle of breath into union with the absolute in the Sahasrara Chakra at the top of the head. TheYogi could, through the intercession of the Goddess, placated by manipulation of the breath, expand consciousness to the point where it becomes what is called the Maha Chitta or "Great Awareness" which is the God Shiva himself.

Towards the end of his life, Ayya guru was obsessed with alchemy. It is said that like many yogi’s of the time, he had conducted experiments to make gold out of copper.An European spy was send to keep an eye on him,but Ayya failed to make gold.

W W Strickland,a British anarchist,who was in Travancore in 1908,wrote a book,Travel Letters from Ceylon,Australia and South India.

One day Ayya guru was very impatient and restless, walking round and round.  Strickland asked him what the matter was. The guru told him that he was expecting two of his disciples who had gone to meditate at Maruthwamala to bring a certain plant which he needed for some experiment. After some time two boys entered the scene. The guru eagerly asked, "Did you bring what I had asked you to bring ?"

The senior of the two boys with some hesitation said "We have brought what you wanted" and took out something from his mundu and placed it on the table. It was a gold coin which probably they had purchased from the market. The guru's face became red with anger. Seeing this, the boys made a quick exit. The spy asked, "Sir, you should be happy since they have gifted you a gold coin. Why are you angry ?"

Then the guru said, "They are making fun of me. They think I am greedy for gold. They do not understand my real purpose. What I need is a certain plant for an alchemical experiment which requires this plant. The plant is only for cleaning the brass coin. The real transmutation process is psychical". The spy grabbed the golden opportunity. He offered to bring the plant. The guru at first was reluctant, saying that being a foreigner he may not be able to converse with the local people and get the plant. But the spy was very enthusiastic and at last the guru told him the name of the plant. The spy hired a horse drawn carriage, went to Maruthwamala and brought a carriage full load of the plant. This pleased the guru and he included the spy in the experiment in place the two boys who never showed up again.

It was Walter William Strickland,who sent Chempaka Raman pillai to Germany.

It was MacGregor who prepared a list of birds for Logan's Malabar Manual,based on Jerdon's Birds of India.But the Manual records that there are errors in this list.

Visakham Thirunal

V Nagam Aiya,in Travancore State Manual records that MacGregor was impressed with Visakham Thirunal,who succeeded Ayilyam Thirunal on 17 June 1880.MacGregor wrote to him:

" It is a matter of greatest satisfaction that the crown will devolve on one so well settled,as Your Highness is,to excercise an authority on which the welfare and happiness of somany depend.In saying this I do not adopt the mere ordinary courtesy of court language but I express an opinion for which the strongest ground has been afforded by Your Highness's former career and known attainments and principles...I am firmly of opinion that few princes have ever succeeded to a throne with more opportunities earning a great name ,and if Your Highness devotes your talents in singleness of purpose to the good of your subjects,as I believe you will do,the benefit will not be confined to Travancore,but will be reflected far and wide over Hindstan".

Visakham Thirunal was there for five years only- At the age of nine he started his English education under Subba Row, who later became Dewan of Travancore. He also wrote in The Statesman and the Calcutta Review.

In 1861 the prince visited Madras and met with the Governor, Sir William Denison, upon whom he made such a favourable impression that the Governor remarked that "He is by far the most intelligent Native I have seen; and if his brother is like him, the prospects of Travancore are very favourable."

The Maharajah's elder brother, Ayilyam Thirunal, died after ruling Travancore for twenty years from 1860 to 1880.Ayilyam and Visakham fought with each other;Visakham Left the Palace and his associate poet Keralavarma Valiya Koyithampuran was made a hostage.Since Ayilyam's reign was full of intrigues,MacGregor's letter assumes special significance.

Travancore Emblem

The Delhi Durbar of 1877, decided to standardize the armorial bearings/royal banners/coat of arms for most Indian States.It was meant to highlight the might of the British Empire, an event marking Queen Victoria's ascension to the title of Empress of India.

On September 02, 1876 a letter reached Resident of Travancore and Cochin, Mac Gregor, from Phillip Hankin at the office of the Viceroy of India,Lord Lytton. Hankin wanted Mac Gregor to find out if the royal families had “quasi Armorial Bearings” or banners that are in use. And if they did, to send the details.

Mac Gregor replied with a little note and two sketches that he had received from the state offices of Travancore and Cochin. Travancore’s state symbol contained the conch shell – the symbol of Lord Vishnu, whose sleeping form, Sri Padmanabhaswamy, was their deity. In early October, a very confused British official sent a letter to Mac Gregor. He drew a rough squiggle meant to represent the conch shell and asked what the meaning of it was. “What is the shape… candlestick or lampstand…”

Mac Gregor responded with detailed sketches of “…the armorial bearings, if it can be called that.”

Neither emblems had any distinct colour but the Calcutta HQ had designed an emblem for Travancore King, a golden-colored conch shell on a blue background. The Dewan had a pea-green flag and in Alapuzha, the Dewan’s Chief Supervisor had made him a banner with a white conch shell within a red oval.A confused Mac Gregor wanted the capital of Travancore to settle the matter, but expected a telegram with clarifications to find him before he got there.A telegram reached Mac Gregorin time. In it was the detail the British wanted confirmed – the emblem was the conch. The national colour would be a light yellow, as preferred by the king. Yellow was Lord Vishnu’s colour.

Henry Edward Sullivan, In Charge of the Inam Department in Madras received a letter from the Calcutta offic,on 17 October. He was told to get the emblems painted:If a vivid description of the colours is available, they can get it done at the Calcutta School of Art. After a month,Mac Gregor realized that thes move was by the Viceroy Lord Lytton ( 1876-1880 ) himself. They were being made for the first of the grand British imperial Durbars in India.In a letter of 21 October , a more developed sketch was sent to Mac Gregor.It displayed the conch shell within a plaque, shielded on both sides by elephants with raised trunks holding different objects.

Kochi Emblem

A month after, Cochin Dewan T Shungoony Menon wrote to MacGregor. He requested the Resident to send his band from Kollam as there were only three bands in Cochin, and the incoming party with the Governor and his wife was large and could not possibly make do with only three bands.Shungoony then provided the details of the Cochin banner, explaining that the King's seal is a conch shell with an umbrella on one side, a traditional lit lamp on the other side and the whole surmounted by a palanquin. The colours of the flag preferred were red and white.The letter made it clear that the King being old would not be attending the durbar.

Lord Lytton

Henry Edward Sullivan became Acting Resident of Travancore during 10 Mar 1877 – Feb 1878.

Lord Lytton,a character in the banner drama,was an extra ordinary human being.

Edward Robert Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton,( 1831 – 1891) was an English statesman, Conservative politician, and poet (who used the pseudonym Owen Meredith). He served as Viceroy of India between 1876 and 1880—during his tenure Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India—and as British Ambassador to France from 1887 to 1891.

His tenure as Viceroy was controversial for its ruthlessness in both domestic and foreign affairs: especially for his handling of the Great Famine of 1876–78, and the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Lytton's policies were alleged to be informed by his Social Darwinism. His son Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton, who was born in India, later served as Governor of Bengal and briefly as acting Viceroy, and he was the father-in-law of the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, who designed New Delhi.

The New York Times, reported in 1891:

"Midway on his journey [to India] he met, by prearrangement, in Egypt, the Prince of Wales, then returning from his tour through India. Immediately on his arrival in Calcutta he was sworn in as Governor General and Viceroy, and on 1 January 1877, surrounded by all the Princes of Hindustan, he presided at a spectacular ceremony on the plains of Delhi, which marked the Proclamation of her Majesty, Queen Victoria, as Empress of India. After this the Queen conferred upon him the honor of the Grand Cross of the civil division of the Order of the Bath. In 1879 an attempt was made to assassinate Lord Lytton, but he escaped uninjured. The principal event of his viceroyalty was the Afghan war. "

After turning down an appointment as governor of Madras, Lytton was appointed Viceroy of India in 1875 and served from 1876 to 1880. His tenure was controversial for its ruthlessness in both domestic and foreign affairs.In 1877, Lord Lytton convened a durbar (imperial assembly) in Delhi that was attended by around 84,000 people, including Indian princes and noblemen. In 1878, he implemented the Vernacular Press Act, which enabled the Viceroy to confiscate the press and paper of any Indian Vernacular newspaper that published content that the Government deemed to be "seditious", in response to which there was a public protest in Calcutta that was led by the Indian Association and Surendranath Banerjee.

Dewan Sankunni Menon

Lord Lytton arrived as Viceroy of India in 1876. The rains had been failing in parts of the Madras Presidency since 1875, and the administration's response has been held to contribute to the death toll of between 6.1 million and 10.3 million people.

His implementation of Britain's trading policy has been blamed for increasing the severity of the famine.Critics have contended that Lytton's belief in Social Darwinism determined his policy in response to the starving and dying Indians.Lytton was a protégé of Benjamin Disraeli in domestic affairs, and of Richard Lyons, 1st Viscount Lyons, who was his predecessor as Ambassador to France, in foreign affairs. His tenure as Ambassador to Paris was successful, and Lytton was afforded the rare tribute – especially for an Englishman – of a French state funeral in Paris.

Cochin Dewan Thottakattu Sankunni Menon (21 April 1820 - 1881), also spelt as Shungoony Menon, was an Indian civil servant and administrator who served as the Dewan of the Cochin kingdom from 1860 to 1879. His administration is recognized as a period of development. Sankunni Menon's brother T. Govinda Menon also served as Diwan from 1879 to 1889.

Sankunni Menon was the eldest son of T. Sankara Warrier who had served as the Diwan of Cochin kingdom from 1840 to 1856.Born in Trichur in 1820, Sankunni Menon had a good English education and joined the Madras provincial civil service serving as a Deputy Collector in Tinnevely District when he was appointed Diwan of Cochin to succeed Venkata Rao.

The first four years of Sankunni Menon's diwanship were occupied with his handling the intrigues of his deputy, Parameswara Iyer. In 1864, Iyer's patron Ravi Varma IV died and Sankummi Menon took full control of the administration after dismissing Iyer.He opened the Ernakulam Public Library on 1 January 1870 and the Trichur Public Library in 1873.Sankunni Menon retired on 22 August 1879 due to failing health. He was succeeded by his younger brother Govinda Menon.

© Ramachandran 

CHATTAMPI SWAMI'S BRAHMIN GURU

Subbajatapadikal Lived in Kalladaikurichi

We live in an era in which several historians and pseudo secularists invent a non-existent Brahmin monopolization of knowledge, and attack it incessantly. The fact is the majority of the well-known monks including Swami Vivekananda and Aurobindo are not brahmins. In Kerala, two towering figures, Chattampi Swamikal and Narayana Guru were not brahmins.

But Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, who carved out a Vivekananda was a poor brahmin. In India, for a person who seeks knowledge intensely, knowledge was not far away. In Mahabharata, there is an instance where Viswamitra learns Vedanta from a Chandala or Dalit. Viswamitra, incidentally, was not a brahmin. There is even a Vyadha Gita, Gita of the Butcher, in Mahabharata. It is deeper than even the Bhagavat Gita.

Narayana Guru went to Ramanashram at Thiruvannamalai, met Ramana Maharshi got overjoyed and wrote Nirvrithi Panchakam. One becomes a monk, surpassing the frontiers of caste and creed. Hence, Ramana Maharshi, who was born a Tamil brahmin, is not a brahmin at all before a saint like Narayana Guru. Advaita, the basic philosophy of India, speaks against casteism. Hence Sankaracharya wrote, Maneesha Panchakam. A Dalit taught him the essence of Advaita in Kashi.

I began visiting Kalladaikurichi a few years ago after I learned our family deity is Maragathavally Amman at the Kasinatha Temple there. While I am there, I remember Chattampi Swamikal, since his guru, Subba Jatapadikal, lived in Kalladaikurichi. Subbajata Padikal,a Tamil Brahmin, was a vedic scholar.

That he taught Chattampi Swamikal Vedanta is there in the biography of Swamikal by Justice K Bhaskara Pillai.

According to the Census of 1951, Nairs can scarcely be called a community though they are generally classed as Sudra, the fourth and lowest in the rank of the caste system of Hinduism. They got trained in martial arts and formed the army of the rulers of Kerala in early times but by the Middle Ages, they had already become subservient to the Nampoothiri Brahmins into whose hands most of the land had gone. Thus the Naits often became tenants and vassals of the Nampoothiris. A free mingling of the sexes -due to poverty prevalent in the past - and their expensive obligations and ceremonies, their land holdings were small and they were left with only a little cultivation. They felt it was below their dignity to do manual work themselves, they depended for the cultivation of their fields on their tenants.

Guru, Chattampi, Neelakanta Theerthapadar, before Chattampi's Samadhi

For reasons of prestige few Nairs took an active part m industries, trade or commerce, and so they were bypassed by the modern economic development which brought so much wealth to the more progressive classes of India. In this situation, the whole Nair caste in Kerala was in danger of being reduced to a backward community. Fortunately, some very gifted community leaders arose at this time who guided the Nair caste back into prominence Towards the end of the nineteenth century even the Hindu faith had begun to lose its grip on large sections of the population This rigours of the caste system, and other social disabilities which held down large sections of the Hindu population in semi-slavery had led to mass conversions of large numbers to other faiths, particularly, Christianity.

Among the Nairs, it was Chattampi Swamikal who roused them from stagnation, aptly initiating certain religious and social reforms among his community. He rendered great service to the cause of Hindu religion and society, mainly through his social and humanitarian work. At the same time, he was intensely religious and rebellious against Brahminical predominance. He wrote Pracheena Keralam, in which he theorised that the Namputhiris are basically fishermen and their sacred thread is nothing but the fishing thread on the fishing rod.

Kunjan Pillai (which was the original name of Chattampi Swamikal before he became a monk), was born m 1853 in the Ullurkott family, Kolloor, four miles to the north of Trivandrum city. His father was a Namputhiri Brahmin, Thamarassery Vasudeva Sharma from Mavelikara. His mother Nanga Pillai from Kannammoola was a Nair by caste. According to the matriarchal system prevalent in those limes m Kerala among Nairs, Kunjan Pillai became a Nair, taking his mother’s caste. Sharma was jobless. Nanga's family was so poor that although his relatives were clearly aware of the extraordinary talents of the child, they could not afford to give him a sufficient education. Nanga had two other children:Velukutty and Nani.

Owing to the great poverty of his relatives Kunjan had to contribute to the family income at a very early age by collecting flowers in the neighbouring hilly places for the Brahmin ladies who needed them for the temple service. He also collected vegetables. He had no means for proper schooling but he learned to read and write in Malayalam and Tamil from boys of his own age who attended a school nearby His memory was so prodigious that he learned Sanskrit simply by overhearing what was taught m the classes conducted in a Brahmin house.

The teacher one day discovered the little eavesdropper and made a test on his learning. To his surprise he discovered that the boy had mastered all that he had been taught in class, he consequently allowed Kunjan to attend the class without taking any fee from him. Kunjan showed such remarkable talents for learning that at the age of sixteen he was taken to the school of Raman Pillai in Petta. This Raman Pillai was a famous teacher in southern Kerala and the education that he imparted to his pupils was not merely intellectual but practical and adapted to the talents of the students. Raman Pillai soon appointed Kunjan monitor (Chattampi) of his pupils. It was then that Kunjan acquired the name Cliattampi which he was known ever afterwards.

The youth was highly appreciated by all not only for his wonderful capacity for acquiring knowledge but for his remarkable talents m teaching. It was noticed in those days that Chattampi frequently absented himself from school at night. The pupils soon found out that Chattampi was visiting a nearby Bhadrakali temple where he sat for hours lost m meditation. The teacher was highly pleased about the monitor’s love for the Devi and the pupils respected him the more for it.

At this time caste consciousness was very strong in Kerala. It was unthinkable, for instance, that a Nair would go to an Ezhava family and dine with them. Chattampi, however, was convinced that all distinctions of caste and class were man-made and against the divine law. To him, the basic equality of all men was clearly taught in the sacred scriptures of Hinduism. His sharp intellect penetrated the most difficult objects of every science. His memory was so profound. He went to the houses of his Ezhava classmates. He had food with them, he slept in their houses. But he remained a vegetarian and teetotaler. He was a daily visitor at the house of Dr P Palpu. Palpu's elder brother Parameswaran was an important player in Chattampi's gang. Nair's called him, Thottu thinnu nadakunna Thendi-the scoundrel who roams around with the untouchables. Chattampi was adept in sports as well. He was quite proficient m Indian music, played Ganjira at bhajans and mastered without a teacher, the mudras of Kathakali. He became an accomplished painter.

Adhivaraha Perumal Temple, Kalladaikurichi

But his mind was restless despite all his achievements. He was searching for a deeper meaning in his life. For this reason, he began to read Ezhuthachan's Ramayanam and the Mahabharatham and study the Advaita doctrine in the original texts. He read Kaivalya Navaneetham, a Tamil scared text repeatedly. He decided that he needed the guidance of a guru (teacher) to introduce him to the mysteries of Hindu spirituality. They were too deep to be grasped without a spiritual guide. In his search for a guru, he found a sanyasi (monk) in the yard of the temple at Kolloor. The sanyasi taught him a mantra (Balasubramanya mantra — a sacred formula) and went his way. After meditation on this mantra — replete with spiritual power, Chattampi felt his spirits rising and his vitality returning. He even began to cure diseases by anointing the sick with bhasma (sacred ash) and exorcising the possessed.

He wanted to take up the life of a sannyasin, however, the debts he had incurred and the obligation of supporting his mother prevented him from it. Kunjan found it difficult to earn a living. He began to work as an earner of bricks and mud for building construction, which enabled him to support his mother, but soon he found this manual work too heavy and had to give it up. For many days he served as a labourer carrying building materials for the construction of the Government Secretariat building in Trivandrum. For some time he worked as a document writer and also as an advocate's clerk. He stood first in a test for clerical posts in Government Secretariat Trivandrum conducted by Sir T Madhava Rao the then Divan of Travancore State. But he left the service after a short while as it curtailed his freedom and prevented his wanderings for spiritual exploitations and research.

He returned home and in 1875, at the age of twenty-one, secured a job in the Registrar’s office at Neyyattinkara. Nor did this job satisfy him. He returned to Trivandrum and Dewan T Madhava Rao appointed him as a government accountant, at a monthly salary of Rs 4 but was given Rs 10 assessing his brilliance. He returned the six rupees, saying it is beyond his salary and he doesn't deserve it. Though his poverty was extreme he would not accept a rise in salary, as he wanted no earthly goods for himself. Soon he gave up this job also and joined an association, called Jnanaprajagaram, started by Raman Pillai, which gave asylum to seekers of wisdom and students of religion. He also could learn Tamil from Swaminatha Desikar and philosophy from Professor Manonmaniyam Sundaram Pillai during his participation in Jnanaprajagaram. Thycaut Ayyavu, Manager at Residency was part of the group and he taught the primers of Vedanta and Yoga. He learned wrestling from Tamil books.

Chattampi, 40 days before samadhi

Since the Vedanta texts in Tamil were ancient, he had to acquire knowledge of ancient Tamil grammar. Chattampi approached Swaminatha Desikar, a Tamil Brahmin, who was the Tamil Teacher at Trivandrum College. He used to attend some sessions of the Jnanaprajagaram. Desikar agreed to the request. Chattampi reached Desikar's home every day and learned Tamil grammar. He learned science, Purana and Vedanta books in Tamil. Chattampi got the feeling that Tamil is the quintessential language of all wisdom in the world.He read Kambar, Thirukkural, Pattanathu Pillayar, and Nakkeerar.He got drowned in the Tamil spiritual poetry. He wished for a knowledge pilgrimage across Tamil Nadu.

He also studied English books on philosophy with the help of others. While at Jnanaprajagaram, he studied the ancient works of the Vedanta written in Tamil. His love for Dravidian culture and spirituality increased so much tint he decided to go to Tamil Nadu for further studies. Meeting Subba Jatapadikal, a Tamil Brahmin, was a turning point.

In one of the Philosophical Conferences organised annually by the Travancore Kings at the Palace complex adjacent to Sree Padmanabha Swami Temple Kunjan Pillai met Subba Jatapadikal from Kalladaikurichin in Southern Tamil Nadu; a renowned teacher well versed in Tarka, Vyakarana, Mimasa, and Vedanta. He had come for the Navarathri Scholars meet. Chattampi went along with Swaminatha Desikar and waited on the sidelines of the dais and met Jatapadikal. Desikar introduced Chattampi. Both were impressed by the other and Kunjan's wish to learn at Kalladaikurichin under him was granted. He invited Chattampi to his home in Kalladaikurichi.

Kalladaikurichi is a town on the right bank of the Thamiraparani river in Ambasamudram Taluk of Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu, a southern state of India. any Indian rural town, this town too is steeped in tradition and is rich in heritage, but struggling to hold on to its past glories. Here the modern co-exist peacefully with the bullock carts and rickshaws of yesteryears.

Kallidaikurichi's Hindu shrines are of ancient temple architecture style, having high-rise gopurams (ornamental gateways of temples) with sculptures that herald the past glory of this region. Muthuswami Dikshitar, the great Carnatic composer, whose songs abound with geographic and iconographic references, sings of the curative properties of the river Thamiraparani. To him, the Goddess at Tirunelveli is Hima-saila-sutaa (daughter of the mountain snow) and Suddha Thamraparni tatha sthitha.Vishnu is Bhangahara thamraparni Theerastha. The local language is Tamil. Adivaraha Perumal temple represents the principal deity in present-day Kalladaikurichi. Dikshitar has sung a song, Sri Lakshmi Varaham in the raga Abhogi, on the Aadhivaraga Moorthy Swamy. Dikshitar settled in the nearby village Ettayapuram in 1835.

Kothai Adithya Varma the Venad King who ruled during 1469-1484 resided in Kalladaikurichi. The Adhivaraha Perumal Temple was rebuilt by him, retaining the original structure by Kandan Keralan of Kurukenikkollam ( Quilon ) of Malaimandalam ( Kerala ). The King's figure is engraved in the parikrama and the deity is called Aditya Varmeswara. Vishnu is called Veerakerala Perumal, and Parvathi is Nila Sjundari Nachiyar. Krishna is Veerakerala Pillayar. Saivites later removed images of Vishnu and Krishna, but these names remain as inscriptions. 

The Thamiraparni river flows through Kallidaikurichi. Originating from the Pothigai nearby, it flows down to the Bay of Bengal after travelling for about 125 kilometres. In the hills are several waterfalls, such as Courtallam Falls, Banatheertham Falls, Agasthiar Falls, and Manimuthar Falls.

Kalladaikurichi is on the border between the Pandya and the Chera countries of the past. The road, either from the south via Nagarcoil or from the north via Shencottai takes about 164.4 km. A determined and sturdy person can easily climb the bridle paths and move between hills, without undue exertion. The boundary between the Pandya and Chera Kings was subject to frequent changes, this way or that way, depending on who felt the more powerful between the two of them, at any point in time. At times the Pandyas drove deep into Kerala and reached up to Kanetti near Karunagapally. At other times the Cheras went up to Madurai and beyond. At one point the Cheras held in their hands entire south India, for a tantalizing brief period of five years. Kalladaikurichi got accustomed to these changes to her fortune and readily absorbed the characteristics of both streams of culture and language.

Subba Jatapadikal was known as Subbajata Vallabhar in Kalladaikurichi,the town on the banks of the Thamraparni river.His ancestral family had come from Andhra to be the priests of the Tamil Bramins there and they began staying at Koottikkal street. It became the reputed headquarters of the Vedanta scholars in South India. They taught inquisitive students Veda, Vedanta, logic and grammar. None could beat Jatavallabhar in these, in Tamil Nadu. His home was a meeting place of scholars from various parts and the atmosphere was replete with scientific dialogues." Chattampi got knowledge of all sastras in Sanskrit and Tamil from here", Justice Bhaskara Pillai records, "It is the iron that sharpens the iron".

Subbajata Padikal was an expert in chanting Vedic hymns. The suffix Jatapadi was derived from his expertise in chanting Jata Padam, one of the four ways of chanting Vedic hymns.

He used to chair scholarly discussions during Navarathri. Being the guest of the royal family, he stayed inside the palace complex in the Fort.

Jatapadikal had no children.Chattampi became close to him like a son. In Sadguru Sarvaswam, a disciple of Chattampi described that relationship thus:

In the days of childhood and youth of the great sage

Profound scholars from different spheres of knowledge

The enlightened souls who understood his greatness

Like Subbajatapadikal adorned the position of his gurus.

Chattampi spent long hours at Thiruvaduthurai Madam reading ancient texts on Saivism. Unfortunately, he failed to systematically preserve documents in later life.

Chattampi spent almost four years learning under Subba Jatapadikal. There he acquired deep and extensive mastery of all sastras in Tamil and Sanskrit. He also learned Siddha medicine, music, and martial arts. During this period he was greatly influenced by the works of Kodakanallur Sundara Swamikal, a great Advaitin. He later translated his work Nijananda Vilasam containing the cream of Vedanta into simple Malayalam to guide spiritual aspirants.

At Kalladaikurichi,near Ambasamudram, Subbajatapadikal guidcd him in Vedas and Upanishads.He learned to play classical instruments. The learning laid the foundation for Chattampi's future prospects. Close to Jatapadikal's home, a yogi was living in deep meditation. He too blessed Chattampi.

After completing his studies under Subba Jatapadikal he spent long periods of learning under a Christian priest. In a secluded church in Southern Tamil Nadu assisting the priest, he learned Christian meditation and learned Christian Religion and philosophy. Later he lived with an old Muslim well versed in the Qur'an and Sufi mysticism who taught him the main tenet of Islam. Kunjan acquired proficiency in reading Qur'an. Leaving him he wandered for months with many avadutas in Southern Tamil Nadu and also travelled all over India. These days revealed to him that the basic concepts of all religions are the same.

At the end of his wanderings and quest, Kunjan Pillai was led to self-realisation by an avaduta whom he met at a wayside in Vadaveeswaram a village in Tamil Nadu with whom he lived for many months in the forests without any contact with the outside world. It is believed that this avaduta belonged to the line of immortal masters of Southern India; the Siddhas who knew the scientific art of realising God. He returned to Kerala as a great scholar and saint.

In 1882, at the Aniyoor Temple near Vamanapuram, Swamikal met Nanu Asan, later known as Narayana Guru. Asan was three years younger than Swamikal and in search of spiritual guidance. By then Swamikal was well-versed in yoga and spiritual matters and their meeting proved to be the start of a profound and cherished companionship, although the two were of different temperaments. In those days Nanu Asan was a soft-spoken introvert and Swamikal was an outspoken extrovert. They lived and travelled for many months together. Swami introduced Asan to all arts and sciences he had mastered and also gave him the Balasubrahmanya mantra. These were the formative years of Asan, who later became a social reformer. Later Swamikal took Asan to his guru, Ayyavu Swamikal. After completing Asan's studies under Ayyavu Swamikal the men left him and wandered together in southern Tamil Nadu where they met many scholars. They would have together met Subbajata Padikal since Narayana Guru's poems contain the essence of Advaita.

Guru Visited Chattampi before Samadhi

Chattampi Swamikal wrote many guides and commentaries on Vedanta for the common man. Notable among them is Advaita Chinthapaddhathi (1949), an introductory manual on practical Advaita. written in simple language to enable ordinary people without knowledge of Sanskrit to learn Vedanta. The book describes the trigunas, trimurthees, jivatmas, panchabutas, sukshma, sthula, sarirotpatti, dasagunas, prapancholpatti, Tatvamasi, and related Vedic concepts. His Vedadikara Nirupanam is considered one of his greatest works. It refuted the baseless customs and rules that existed in Kerala. For the first time in the region's history, the work questioned the monopolisation of Vedas, sciences and education by a minority. Pracheena Malayalam also aimed at awakening the mind of the people of the region divided by various complexes to a collective sense of 'We'. Convictions of common origin and belief in a common ancestry were indispensable for the development of a collective mindset. Swami explored the roots of Kerala society and original inhabitants, and sociologically and genealogically connected most of the present groups in Kerala including the priestly class to common ancestors who were the original inhabitants known as the Nakas.

Swamikal settled down at Panmana, a village in the Kollam district, towards the end of his life. He attained samadhi on 5 May 1924 after a short illness during which he objected to taking any medicine.

Narayana Guru practised austere Jnana and Yoga under Swamikal during this period. It was with Chattampi Swamikal that Asan made his first trip to Maruthuvamalai, and later to Aruvippuram, which was chosen as his abode for meditation and spiritual activities and which was where he was led to self-realisation. It was after this that he was known as Narayana Guru. Swamikal did not stay there for long, although the two maintained lifelong contact, respect and regard for each other. The poem Narayana Guru composed when he came to know of Swami's samadhi was the only offering he gave to any person and it reveals how he considered Swamikal to be a realised soul.

Both Chattampi and Narayana Guru had another common Guru in Thycaud Ayyavu Swamikal. Thycaud Ayyavu Swamikal (1814 – 1909), also known as Sadananda Swami, was a spiritualist and a social reformer, the first to break customs related to caste in Kerala when caste restrictions and untouchability were at their extreme.

Thycaud Ayya Swami

Ayyavu Swamikal was born in 1814 in Nakalapuram in Tamil Nadu. His original name was Subharayan. His parents were Mutthukumaran and Rukmini Ammal. His father and grandfather Sri Hrishikesan were scholars and experts in yoga and spiritual sciences.

At the age of twelve, Subharayan received spiritual initiation from two Tamil Saints, Sachidananda Maharaj and Sri Chitti Paradeshi who used to visit his father. They told his family that his life has a specific assignment, that he is destined to serve humanity in another place and that when it is time they would come and take him to mould him to fulfil his duty. These avadutas are said to be connected to great Siddhas from Tamil Nadu living in the Himalayas who knew the science of immortality. When he was 16, the two Siddhas took him with them to Palani where he learned advanced yoga. He travelled with them to Burma, Singapore, Penang and Africa. With them, he met teachers of many religions and saints. Subbarayan mastered English during his stay and travelled with them. He also acquired proficiency in English, Siddha medicine and alchemy during his wanderings with the Siddhas.

At the age of nineteen, he was sent back home with instructions to look after his parents and brethren. At home he continued worshipping Goddess and yogic practices, often entering the state of Samadhi. His biographers and disciples state that by this time he had acquired the Ashtasiddhies or divine powers including that of astral travel. Occasionally he visited Pazhani, Chennai and other religious places as part of pilgrimages for participating in scholarly discussions going on there. He also started writing and composed 'Brahmothara Khandam' and 'Pazani Vaibhavam'. At the age of 27, as suggested by his gurus he visited Kodungalloor Devi Temple in Kerala. It is said that his devotion was so deep and his prayers were so strong that when he recited the kirtans the temple bells rang by themselves and the doors opened to give him darshan.

 He went to Trivandrum during the period of Swathi Tirunal Maharaja. The king came to know of his scholarship and expertise in Sivaraja Yoga and invited him to the palace and also learned many things from him. One day while a family gathering related to marriage was going on at the house where he stayed a very old lean woman told him that someone will be coming to meet him from his village and asked him to go to the traveller's shed nearby on that night. The Goddess gave darshan to him at that travellers' shed that night. Later Thycaud Devi Temple was constructed at this site. Before long he went back to Tamil Nadu.

Within a few months, his father left for Kasi. The whole responsibility for the family fell on his shoulders and he started a business to support his family. Following the direction of his guru, Subbarayan got married. He used to deliver spiritual discourses in Chennai. As part of his business, he was supplying goods to a military camp in Chennai, where he came in contact with a British official Atholl MacGregor.

MacGregor became fond of this English-speaking Tamil villager and established a friendship with him. He was interested in Indian religion, language and culture and he became his student. During the reign of Maharaja Ayillyam Thirunal, Atholl MacGregor became the Resident of Travancore. When the selection of a manager for Residency came he appointed him as the Manager of his Residency in Thycaud in 1873. It was MacGregor who prepared a list of birds for Logan's Malabar Manual, based on Jerdon's Birds of India.

As this post was one of the senior-most offices that the British allowed to natives, people respectfully called him 'Superintend Ayyavu'. The term 'Ayyavu' means a respectable or venerable person. Gradually when people understood his yogic powers and scholarship the name changed from Superintend Ayyavu to Ayyavu Swami. Swami kept strict discipline at work and was extremely punctual.

A Page of Pracheena Malayalam

Ayyavu Swamikal visited Vaikunda Swami of Nagarcoil and also the famous Maruthwamalai where he sat in meditation for days. At his residence, he spent most of his time in meditation and in initiating and instructing his disciples in spiritual practices. Ayyavu used to deliver lectures on Bhakti, Yoga and Vedanta in Jnanaprjagaram; where the leading literary, social and spiritual personalities in and around Trivandrum used to assemble discuss and deliver lectures and discourses. He in association with Manonmaniam Sundaram Pillai founded the Saiva Prakasha Sabha of Trivandrum.

He already knew that he had to permanently withdraw from this objective world and enter into Samadhi on that day. When the King knew about his approaching Samadhi he wanted to provide a place for Samadhi near the palace and construct a temple there. But Ayyavu insisted that his Samadhi should be in the Thycaud cremation ground and should be a very simple and small structure. Ayyavu Swami attained Samadhi on 20 July 1909. A Shivalinga was installed over the Samadhi site of Ayyavu Swami in Thycaud in 1943. This temple was improved under the patronage of Sri Chithira Thirunal Maharaja the last king of Travancore. This is now known as Thycaud Siva Temple.

When Ayya Vaikundar (1833–c.1851 )s a 19th-century social reformer and iconoclast who worked for the upliftment of downtrodden people in the Kingdom of Travancore, was arrested by Swati Thirunal, he was released by the King, on the advice of Thycaud Ayya who was the Guru of Swathi Thirunal Maharaj and a disciple of Vaikundar as well. Vaikundar made some controversial statements like mentioning the Travancore king as the ‘Devil in Ananthapuri’ and the British rule as the ‘Rule of White Devils’. Against the background of the growing popularity of Vaikundar and the convergence of people around him in multitudes, a complaint was lodged against him with the king of Travancore. The Travancore king Swati Thirunal arrested Vaikundar in 1838 and imprisoned him at Singarathoppu jail. After 110 days of imprisonment, on March 26, 1839, he was released.

© Ramachandran 

THE FIRST HOSPITAL IN KERALA

It was in Thalassery,by J L Oakes

John Laverock Oakes ,Master Attendant at the Thalassery Factory of the British East India Company,was the person behind the first hospital in Malabar.It was founded in 1819,the first in Kerala.Both Travancore and Cchin had only dispensaries then,one each.

Dr. Proven was the first person appointed as the physician of the royal palace in Travancore at Quilon (Kollam) and Dr. James Rose was appointed as the deputy physician at the palace. Rani Parvathi Bai (1814 – 1829), established a charity dispensary at Thycaud in 1816 where the jail convicts were treated first.Ernakulam General Hospital was founded by the King of the Kochi princely state in 1848.The first attempt to introduce modern medicine was made in Cochin in 1818 by a missionary,Rev J Dawson,who opened a dispensary in Mattancherry.

Rev Francis Spring, Chaplain of the British East India Company, who was based at Thalasserry, had translated the Bible from Sanskrit to Malayalam with the help of regional language scholars by 1822. The Sanskrit translation of the Bible had already partially taken shape as far as 1808 and the full version appeared ten years later. But Spring’s translation into Malayalam never saw the light of day.

Spring was part of the team that established the first school in Pallikkunnu,Thalassery on 25 June 1817,along with Parson John Laverock Oakes,
Edbert ( Canara ),and the Magistrate Thomas Harvey Baber,who was instrumental in the fall of the Pazhassi Raja.

The first schoolmaster was a Portuguese called John Baptist or Bapiste, a “native catechist,” who had four native assistants.Spring left for England in 1824.It was taken over by the CMS that year.In 1824, it contained 59 children of various castes and classes.Spring was able to take over control of the school to a greater extent in the years after 1820; it began to try to convert pupils to Christianity. John L. Oakes died in about 1819, leaving Rs 20,000 of his own fortune for the relief of the poor of Thalassery.This was the capital for the hospital.

Spring wrote about Thalassery:

“Something is almost daily occurring to animate us in our course. Here, flashes of heavenly light are continually gleaming through the darkening atmosphere. I hear that there is, on every side, a readiness amongst great numbers to receive the tidings of the Gospel.”

A hospital in Thalassery was opened in 1819,which grew out of Oakes' work.

John Oakes monument,St Johns Church,Kannur

John Oakes was in the forefront of the humanitarian efforts in Thalassery; he had begun these relief efforts from his own resources. He went out into the settlements  of Thalassery where the poor came to live, fed and nursed many of them himself. His efforts attracted the attention of the other Europeans, who contributed towards not just a school but a public hospital as well.

An excerpt from the will of the late J. H. Oakes:

"After the legacies shall have been paid, I then bequeath the sum of Rupees Twenty Thousand in Company’s paper, or to be invested in that paper, should I not then possess any, as a fund for the poor of this place, the annual interest of which to go to the purchase of rice to be served out weekly: perhaps the disposal had better be placed in the hands of the Portuguese Church Wardens with the Padre at the head: no preference of cash in distributing the rice, poor of all descriptions equally included. No part of the funds at any time to be diverted to building or church affairs, but purely to Charity. The Clergyman of the Church of England, resident at this station being requested, and hereby authorized to demand yearly account of the managers of this expenditure shall should the disposal be placed as above suggested. Should, however, the Chaplain think any better plan could be adopted of ensuring a more faithful discharge of this trust, he is at liberty so to adopt it. I must request of Mr. Spring whether he executes to my estate, or not, that he will, at least, put this part of my will into execution that relates to the funds for the poor; that he will address the Government intimating the sum wished to be invested in Company’s paper to form a fund for the relief of the poor at Tellicherry, requesting it may be received into the Company’s treasury and continued there on the same terms, and under the same protection other charitable purposes meet at their hands, the interest to be transmitted, as it becomes due, to one of their servants at Tellicherry, and by him made over to those with whom the contribution is intrusted, and thus for ever."

Koduvally School,Kannur

Francis Spring, in his report to Fort St George,enclosed the following account of the first six months of operations of the new Thalassery Hospital:

Association for the relief of the Poor of Tellicherry Report 1818 – 19.

"The Superintendent of your association for the relief of the poor of this place in presenting the report of proceedings for 1818-19, meets the Society with mingled feelings of satisfaction and sorrow.

"He has much grounds for rejoicing in the prosperity of the Society’s funds; in the reliefs afforded to the really distressed; in the general improvement of the executive department; and, last, though not least, in the establishment of a Hospital for the cure of the diseased.

"But he has much cause for regret when he reflects upon the loss, which the association has sustained in the death of one of its undaunted patrons and finest supporters. Liberal as was the sum which he annually subscribed in support of the fund, it is the active part which he took in the Society’s proceedings, that must especially call for the feelings of regret at his sudden and premature departure.

"Like another Howard and scarcely on a smaller scale, he visited the habitations of the destitute, and prevented the abuse of his charity by personal examination of the old and the sick, the lame and the blind. Thus was he better enabled, and it need not be said that he did so, with the greatest readiness to co-operate with your superintendent in discriminating, from amongst the numerous applications, the proper proportion to be afforded to each. His own humane heart always suggested a due liberality; his sense of the necessity of distributing judiciously, that every one might have a little, with held him from profusion. Like another Howard too he fell, speaking after the manner of men, a victim to his benevolent exertions. His tender constitution, probably so rendered by the sparing manner in which he lived in order to give more abundantly to the poor, was ill [entated?] to resist that dire disease, which hath, alas, with him, cut off so rising a flower of our country.

"The association will not consider this tribute of respect to a departed member as irrelevant to the object of this report, or unconnected with its future proceedings, when they learn that he has bequeathed no less a sum than 20,000 Rupees in the Honourable Company’s paper, the annual interest of which is to be applied to the purchase of rice for the relief of the poor of this place for ever. Your Superintendent would now proceed to specify what has been done during the past year; and first with regard to the funds. At the close of the preceding year, there remained in the Trustees Funds a balance of Rupees 817.1.16. The last year has produced donations and subscriptions, and some small arrears paid up, the sum of Rs. 2111.2.80. making a total of rupees 2,928,3,96. From this sum have been expended in the purchase of rice Rupees 2201, 0, 20; for a writer and sundry expenses Rupees 115, 2, 40; on account of the hospital, of which a detail will be subjoined, Rupees 55, 3, 71, making a total of Rupees 2372,2,31, which, subtracted from the receipts, leaves a balance in funds of the Treasurer at the close of the year ending September 30 1819 of Rupees 556.1.65.

"While however the Superintendent thus rejoices in the prosperity of the Societies funds, he cannot refrain at this stage of the report from suggesting to the subscribers the great necessity of their continued and liberal support.

"The Hospital is a recent Establishment, and therefore has not yet drawn largely upon the funds. All things being take into consideration, upon a rough estimate formed from the disbursements of less than 3 months, the expenditure attached to this institution cannot be less than Rupees 300 or 400 annually. Besides this addition to the disbursements by the loss of our benevolent fund there is made in the receipts an annual deficiency of Rupees 600, the amount of his subscription, so that in fact a thousand Rupees are to be made up from our own resources. This true, that by the will of our departed friend, a much larger sum than what he subscribed is devoted to the very same purposes in which we are engaged, and at the same place. Yet it is to be supposed that he thereby intended to increase rather than lessen the number of objects to be relieved, and to set us an example that we might follow his steps. And it is rational to expect that many proper objects will apply to us for relief now that the streams of his personal charity are dried up.

"The next object which this report embraces is the great relief afforded to the really distressed. It is quite needless to insist here upon the number of persons relieved, the nature of their wants, their destitute conditions, their particular infirmities. A visit to the place of distribution at the time appointed would set forth more eloquently than words the quantity, and quality of human misery to which by your liberality and generous sympathy some alleviation has been afforded.

"There are two points of view, however, in which your Superintendent the utility of this institution eminently shine forth, the discouragement which is given thereby to common begging, and the help which is afforded to the deserving in distress. It is impossible wholly to prevent mendacity, but since it has been the established rule of this association only to give a scanty subsidence, and to them alone who stately reside at the place, common itinerant beggars can neither obtain nor retain a ticket. Many deserving persons, on the other hand, have been relieved, who, upon the recovery of health, and obtaining employment, have gladly relinquished their claims on the fund to earn an honest livelihood.

"The third part of this report relates to the general improvements made in carrying into execution the objects of the Society.

"To prevent abuse from fraud, and waste, is not an easy, is not an easy thing at any time; experience can alone conduct to the most effectual measures. There were considerations which, in the first instance, seemed t suggest the propriety of making a weekly distribution of rice at 3 different places.

"The superintendence was thereby rendered more difficult, nor was the measure found productive of any good result. The plan therefore has been recently adopted of distributing the whole at one place. This, together with list of the persons relieved, the quantity given to each, the time of admission and removal, and the reason thereof, and also weekly returns of the quantity of rice absolutely distributed, renders the mode of distribution as perfect as the nature of the case will admit.

"Lastly, the report has to advert to the establishment of an Hospital for the cure of the diseased. Several circumstances led to the forming of this institution, but mainly the consideration, that many objects, who, through sickness, were chargeable on the poor fund, might be easily restored to health, and again capable of providing for themselves. The opinion has even already been found to be correct, and the value of the Establishment, as an auxiliary to the poor fund, sufficiently shown. It is therefore very satisfactory to know, that out of 43 persons admitted to the Hospital, only 6 have died, 2 been dismissed as incurable, and 29 cured, the remaining 6 either went away of their own accord, or were removed for improper conduct. For general information it seems proper to subjoin that, on admission to the Hospital, each individual receives a cloth/ except there be especial reasons for the contrary / a mat to lie on, and an earthern vessel for food (which are not taken away, on dismissal / and, where requisite, a comley is lent. Every individual also receives daily rice and salt and 1 pice for the purchase of Curry stuff; a Tieta is employed to cook for and to attend upon the sick at 3 pice per day, and a Muckawata at 1 Rupee per month. By favour of the Zillah Judge carrying of water, and other labourious work for the Hospital, are done by the prisoners.

"The Superintendent cannot close this report without expressing his Conviction that the association for the relief of the poor of Tellicherry will continue to flourish and abound yet more and more in usefulness, and that as in a certain place it is written the poor shall never cease from off the lands, so there shall never want persons, moved by the bounds of compassion, the common feelings of humanity, and the enlarged principles of benevolence to relieve them."

The name of Rev Francis Spring find mention in Proceedings of the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East.It records his success in converting the "heathens".The Missionary Register 1819 records:

"At Tellicherry,Mr Spring has prepared in Malayalim,the Church Catechism ,and parts of the Scripture and Liturgy.The more learned natives are struck with the beauty of our "Shasters":in ythis work he is much assisted by ( J ) Baptiste,the school master his Public Native School.Portugues and Nativ es come to Baptiste,there are 90 boys in the school ..a Poor Man's Fund had been established and is most liberally supported by Europeans and Natives of all ranks.upward of 400 objects-the blind,the lame,the destitute and the sick-being relieved thereby,weekly.a prejudice in favour of Mr Spring ,the "English Padre" has been hereby created among the Natives;and may,it is hoped,be eventually improved into more than a prejudice in favour of Christianity."

The primary agenda was conversion.

The Religious Miscellany Vol III of 1924 records:

"Rev Francis Spring, Chaplain at Tellicherry reports but unfavorably of the congregation at Cannanore .The irregular attendance at the school was such as to lead him to give it up".

Obviously, people were not interested in catechism or conversion.

He gave up in 1924 and went to England.

The protestant teacher J Baptiste was there in Rev Samuel Ridsdale's school in Fort Cochin,after his stint at Tellicherry.He was there inside,when a fire engulfed the building.

© Ramachandran