Leaders of Vaikom Satyagraha includingT. K. Madhavan (sitting: middle row, last as one views the photograph)K. Kumar (standing last in the row behind TK Madhavan: (bearded)K. P. Kesava Menon (sitting, third) andAmachadi Thevan.
Most of the great temples in the princely state ofTravancore had for years forbidden lower castes (untouchables) not just from entering, but also from walking on the surrounding roads.[13][14] The agitation was conceived by theEzhava Congress leader and a follower ofSri Narayana Guru,T. K. Madhavan. It demanded the right of theEzhavas and 'untouchables' to use roads around theVaikom Temple.[5]
Mahatma Gandhi himself visited Vaikom in March 1925.[4]Travancore government eventually constructed new roads near the temple for the use of lower castes. The roads, however, kept the lower castes adequately away from the near environs of theVaikom Temple and the temple remained closed to the lower castes.[4][5][15][16]After the intervention ofMahatma Gandhi, a compromise was reached with RegentSethu Lakshmi Bayi who released all those arrested and opened the north, south and west public roads leading toVaikom Mahadeva Temple to all castes. Bayi refused to open the eastern road. The compromise was criticized byE. V. Ramasamy "Periyar" and some others. Only in 1936, after theTemple Entry Proclamation, was access to the eastern road and entry into the temple allowed to the lower castes.[17][4][5] Vaikom Satyagraha markedly brought the method ofnonviolent public protest to Kerala.[5]
T. K. Madhavan, anEzhava leader, first advanced the question of temple entry of lower castes in an editorial in Deshabhimani newspaper in December 1917.[6] Temple entry of lower castes was discussed and resolutions were introduced at meetings ofS N D P Yogam and theTravancore Assembly between 1917 and 1920.[6] In 1919, an assembly of nearly 5,000Ezhavas demanded the right to entry into all Hindu temples managed by the Government ofTravancore.[15]
In November 1920,T. K. Madhavan, walked beyond the regulatory notice boards on a road near theVaikom Temple. He later publicly announced his defiance to the district magistrate.[6] Madhavan's later temple-entry meetings in Travancore instigated counter-agitations from caste Hindus.[15]
T. K. Madhavan met with"Mahatma" Gandhi atTirunelveli in September 1921 to inform him of the predicament of Ezhavas in Kerala.[18] Gandhi, though initially oblivious to the position of the community in state, offered his support for the movement ("you must enter temples and court imprisonment if law interferes").[6]
At the 1923Indian National Congress session atKakinada, a resolution was passed which committed the party to work for 'the eradication of untouchability'.[18] This resolution was introduced by T. K. Madhavan.[18][15] The resolution also stated that 'temple entry was the birthright of all Hindus'.[15]
In January 1924, Congress leaderK. Kelappan convened an 'Anti-untouchability Committee' within theK P C C.[15][6] Kelappan later toured southern Kerala with a contingent of Congress leaders fromMalabar District.[15] Madhavan also succeeded in getting the finances, the Congress support and pan-India attention for the satyagraha.[18][19] TheS N D P Yogam also conveyed its approval of the agitation.[19]
Vaikom Siva Temple, like most other great temples of Kerala, had for years forbidden lower castes and the 'untouchables' not just from entering, but also from walking on the surrounding roads.[6]
On 30 March 1924, a Menon, aPulaya and an Ezhava activist, followed by thousands of others, most of whom in khadar, attempted to walk on the Vaikom temple roads. The three were arrested by the Travancore police.[15][6] More Congress activists, repeating the same act, were arrested by the police till the 10th April.[15] Among the arrested whereK. P. Kesava Menon,T. K. Madhavan, andK. Kelappan.[15][5][6] The other leaders who were arrested and convicted included TR Krishna Swami Iyer,[20]K. Kumar,[21][22][23] AK Pillai,[24] Chittezhathu Sanku Pillai, BarristerGeorge Joseph, EV Ramaswami Naikker also known asPeriyar, Aiyyamuthu Gaudar and K Velayudha Menon.[23]
Demonstrators marched each day to the Travancore police barricades (erected to "prevent clashes between communities"). They blocked the road, sat before the police lines on temple's four entrances and sang patriotic songs. Later in the campaign, activists undertook public fasts.[5][6] During this period, some caste Hindus spurred attacks by ruffians on the protesters.[6]
The events at Vaikom attracted pan-India attention. Congress leaderC. Rajagopalachari andE. V. Ramasamy "Periyar", then associated with the Congress, arrived at Vaikom and offered advice to the activists.[6] Most of the prominent Nair Congress leaders were subsequently arrested andChristian (Congress leader) George Joseph assumed the charge of the agitation.[15]
Photograph ofSikhAkalis at the Vaikom Satyagraha, ca.1924. Reprinted in Mathrubhumi Daily. The localChristian leadership was alienated by a statement byGandhi asking them to keep clear from 'a Hindu affair' (April 1924).[4][15]Sikh Akali activisits fromAmritsar had also arrived at Vaikom to establish free food kitches to the satyagrahis (April 1924).[15] Gandhi called for the closure of the Sikh kitchens.[15]E. V. Ramasamy "Periyar", then with the Congress, also participated in the satyagraha and was imprisoned twice.[25][26] The participation earned Periyar the title "the Hero of Vaikom".[27] Some radical participants such as K. Aiyappan associated themselves with forms ofCommunism.[28]
Mulam Thirunal, the king of Travancore, died in August 1924.[18] At the advice ofGandhi, caste Hindus marched from Vaikom to Trivandrum to present a memorial to the ruler of Travancore (stating that caste Hindus did not object to lower castes using the roads) (starting from November 1924).[6][5]Mannath Padmanabha Pillai, leader of theNair community, led the second march to Trivandrum in 1925.[29] A resolution to allow Ezhavas to use roads near the temple was defeated by one vote in the Travancore Legislative Council (opposed by all official members, introduced in October 1924, voted in February 1925).[15][6]
Mahatma Gandhi, who had sent goodwill telegrams to the organizers, himself visited Vaikom in March 1925.[4][15] Gandhi held discussions with all parties (the protesters, the Namboodiri Brahmins,Sri Narayana Guru, and the queen of Travancore).[6][30] The police subsequently was withdrawn on the understanding that the activists would not enter the banned roads.[6]
The Vaikom Satyagraha settled with a compromise which allowed the entry of lower caste Hindus to (the newly constructed) roads on three sides of theVaikom Temple. The other side and the temple remained closed to the lower castes (November 1925).[18][31] The new roads also kept the lower castes adequately away from the near environs of theVaikom Temple.[4][5]
The Vaikom Satyagraha had failed to convince the Ezhava leaderSri Narayana Guru.[32][15] The Guru wanted activists to 'not only walk along the prohibited roads but enter the temple'.[32][15] The word on the street hinted that theNarayana Guru had distanced himself from 'the activities of theS N D P'.[15] He said to an Ezhava journalist,[28]
The volunteers standing outside the barriers in heavy rains will serve no useful purpose...They should scale over the barricades and not only walk along the prohibited roads but enter all temples... It should be made practically impossible for anyone to observe untouchability.
^abcdefJeffrey, Robin (1976).The Decline of Nayar Dominance: Society and Politics in Travancore, 1847 - 1908. Holmes & Meier Publishers. pp. 328,258–59.
^Vaikom Sathyagraha Rekhakal: Adv. P. Harikumar -Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-Operative Society Ltd: 2019 : pages 160, 217, 298, 299, 353
^Who is Who of Freedom Fighters in Kerala, Regional Records Committee 1975, Government of Kerala : Page/ Entry No 272
^abThe History of Trade Union Movement in Kerala : K. Ramachandran Nair : Kerala Institute of Labour and Employment - 2006: (also available is the e-book version at :https://indianlabourarchives.org retrieved on 30 Jan 2023: page no: 436)
^Kent, David."Periyar".Atheist Community of Austin. Archived fromthe original on 15 June 2010.
^Deihl, Anita (1977).E.V. Ramasamy Naicker-Periyar: A Study of the Influence of a Personality in Contemporary South India. Esselte Studium. pp. 22–24.
^Eugene F. Irschick,Politics and Social Conflict in South India: The Non-Brahmin Movement and Tamil Separatism, 1916–1929 (Berkeley:University of California Press, 1969), pp. 268–69.
^Mahadev Desai,The Epic of Travancore (Ahmedabad: Navajivan Karyalaya, 1937), pp. 17–21.
^M.S.A. Rao, Social Movements and Social Transformation: A Study of Two Backward Classes Movements in India (first published in 1979: reprint New Delhi: Manohar, 1987), p. 66.
T. K. Ravindran,Eight Furlongs of Freedom (New Delhi: Light and Life Publishers, 1980)
George G. Joseph,George Joseph: The Life and Times of a Kerala Christian Nationalist (Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 2003)
Robin Jeffrey, 'The Social Origins of a Caste Association, 1875–1905: The Founding of the S. N. D. P. Yogam',South Asia, Volume 14, Number 1, 1975.
Menon, Dilip M. (1994).Caste, Nationalism and Communism in South India: Malabar, 1900 - 1948. Cambridge University Press.
King, Mary E. (2015).Gandhian Nonviolent Struggle and Untouchability in South India: The 1924-25 Vykom Satyagraha and Mechanisms of Change.Oxford University Press.
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