Chattampi Swamigal 1853-1924)

Like Sree Narayana Guru, Chattampi Swamigal also worked for the readication of untouchability. He was born on August 25, 1853 in a Nair family at Kannanmula in the outskirts of Trivandrum. At the age of 24, he undertook an extensive tour of south India. In the course of which he established contacts with many religious saints of repute and got opportunities of acquiring mastery of Hindu theological literature. In his late twenties, he returned to Trivandrum and plunged into religious activities aimed at the eradication of social evils like untouchability. Chattampi Swanigal revolted against the existing social order in which the Brahmins enjoyed a monopolistic position. His main achievement was that he could rouse the social con- sciousness of the Nairs and make them fight against the social evils that had crept into their ranks. He always expressed his profound faith in the philosophy of Ahimsa and non-violence. He denounced the primi- tive custom of animal sacrifice observed in Temples as barbarous and inhuman and thus set the pace for its isolation in Temples owned by the Devaswom Department in Travancore during the Regency of Sethu Lakshmi Bai.

            In his religious work 'Vedadhikaranirupanam, Swamigal shattered the myth of Brahmins right to the monopoly of Vedic learning and asserted the right of every Hindu, irrespective of caste, have free access to the treasures of the Vedic lore. His another work Sarvamatasamarasyam' gives the gist of the truths common to all faith and emphasizes the fundamental unity of religion. He worked in close co-operation with Sree Narayana Guru in the common cause of Hindu social and religious regeneration.