Vagbhatananda Gurudevar
Encyclopedia
Vagbhatananda Gurudevar was a follower of the teachings and mission of Narayana Guru
.
He was born in a Thiyya family of North Malabar
to a Kalari
warrior and trainer, Kochu Gurukkal, in the beginning of 20th century. His real name was Kunhikkannan Gurukkal. He was a Sanskrit scholar steeped in the Vedas and Upanishads as well as classical Sankrit literature. He taught hundreds of pupils the Sanskrit language and literature at his home at Karapparamba. After becoming the disciple of Narayana Guru, he was asked by the Guru to concentrate on Malabar areas to remove social discriminations prevalent in the area and to work for the poor.
Unlike Narayana Guru, he disapproved of idol worship. The spiritual lectures he delivered across the length and breadth of Kerala gave him the title Vagbhatananda, by which name he has been known. He formed the Atma Vidya Sangham for the spiritual reformation of the people. Many of his inspired pupils continued his mission; one of the prominent among them was Shri Choyi Gurukkal of Perumanna village in Kozhikode. Choyi Gurukkal ran a Sanskrit School at Ramanattukara and later another at Kolathara, Cheruvannur, Kozhikode known as the Atma Vidya Sanskrita Vidyalayam for Sanskrit education of pupils belonging to lower untouchable classes of the society. Muslims also were taught at the Sanskrita Vidyalayam. The Vidyalayam prepared pupils for pursuing Courses in Ayurveda and taking Oriental Language Titles such as Vidwan.
The Vidyalaya was closed in 1955. Vagbhatananda formed an organization Uralungal Koolivelakkarude Paraspara Sahayya Sangham as part of his social revolutionary mission to fight the caste barriers and unemployment plaguing the region with Paleri family and others.
Narayana Guru
Sri Nārāyana Guru , also known as Sree Nārāyana Guru Swami, was a Hindu saint, sadhuand social reformer of India. The Guru was born into an Ezhava family, in an era when people from backward communities like the Ezhavas faced much social injustices in the caste-ridden Kerala society...
.
He was born in a Thiyya family of North Malabar
North Malabar
North Malabar , is a historic as well as geographic distinction in India used to refer the area covering; present Kasaragod and Kannur Districts, Mananthavady taluk of Wayanad District and Koyilandy & Vatakara taluks of Kozhikode District in modern Kerala and the entire Mahé sub-Division of...
to a Kalari
Kalari
The word Kalari means battle ground in Tamil and translates as "threshing floor" or "battlefield" in Malayalam. Training for Kalarippayattu, a martial art of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, is traditionally done inside the Kalari....
warrior and trainer, Kochu Gurukkal, in the beginning of 20th century. His real name was Kunhikkannan Gurukkal. He was a Sanskrit scholar steeped in the Vedas and Upanishads as well as classical Sankrit literature. He taught hundreds of pupils the Sanskrit language and literature at his home at Karapparamba. After becoming the disciple of Narayana Guru, he was asked by the Guru to concentrate on Malabar areas to remove social discriminations prevalent in the area and to work for the poor.
Unlike Narayana Guru, he disapproved of idol worship. The spiritual lectures he delivered across the length and breadth of Kerala gave him the title Vagbhatananda, by which name he has been known. He formed the Atma Vidya Sangham for the spiritual reformation of the people. Many of his inspired pupils continued his mission; one of the prominent among them was Shri Choyi Gurukkal of Perumanna village in Kozhikode. Choyi Gurukkal ran a Sanskrit School at Ramanattukara and later another at Kolathara, Cheruvannur, Kozhikode known as the Atma Vidya Sanskrita Vidyalayam for Sanskrit education of pupils belonging to lower untouchable classes of the society. Muslims also were taught at the Sanskrita Vidyalayam. The Vidyalayam prepared pupils for pursuing Courses in Ayurveda and taking Oriental Language Titles such as Vidwan.
The Vidyalaya was closed in 1955. Vagbhatananda formed an organization Uralungal Koolivelakkarude Paraspara Sahayya Sangham as part of his social revolutionary mission to fight the caste barriers and unemployment plaguing the region with Paleri family and others.