SREE NARAYANA GURU

BIRTHDAY OF SREE NARAYANA GURU

(158th birthday of Sree Narayana Guru celebrated31st August-2012)

The 158th birth anniversary of renowned philosopher and social reformer of modern Kerala, Sree Narayana Guru, was celebrated.Communal harmony processions, conferences, community prayers, floral tributes and feasts were held all over the State. Special pujas, community prayers and community feast were held at Chempazhanthy Gurukulam in Thiruvananthapuram district where Guru was born.

Sree Narayana Guru Devan (1855 - 1928), also known as Sree Narayana Guru Swami, great saint, philosopher and social reformer, who preached 'One Caste, One Religion, One God for Humanity', dedicated his life for the redemption of the oppressed and suppressed classes of down-trodden population from the clutches of poverty and ignorance.The message of this year's celebrations is a call to make Kerala a model State.

SREE NARAYANA GURU

Sree Narayana Guru was born under the star 'Chathayam' in the month of 'Chingam' in 1856 AD (1032 of the Malayalam calendar) in the village of Chempazhanthi in Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala as the son of Madan Asan, a farmer, and Kutti Amma. Yet Gurudev reportedly told some of his followers that he was actually born in 1030. When his 60th birth anniversary was being celebrated 1916 he laughingly said "my 60th birthday (sashtabhdhapoorty) was quite a while ago.His parents, ‘Madan Asan’ and ‘Kutty Amma’ endearingly called him ‘Nanu’. At the age of five, he began his education in the neighboring school in the old “Gurukula” model.'Madan Asan' was also a teacher ("Asan") who was learned in Sanskrit and proficient in Astrology and Ayurveda. This is the place where Sree Narayana Guru's tomb is located and place where guru was enlightend and got the salvation. The Samadhi (the final resting place) of the Guru here attracts thousandsf of devotees every year during the Sivagiri Pilgrimage days 30th December to 1st January. The Sivagiri Mutt, built in 1904, is situated at the top of the Sivagiri hill near Varkala. Even decades after the guru breathed his last here in 1928; Gurudevan's samadhi continues to be thronged by thousands of devotees, donned in yellow attire, from different parts of Kerala and outside.The Sivagiri Mutt is also the headquarters of the Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham, an organization of his disciples and saints, established by GURU.This place, in due course, developed into the site of the Sarada Temple, and guru established an architecture was simple and different. For the first time in India, a temple with windows and ventilation was devised.The opening of this temple was uniquely marked by the inspirational ceremony of guest of hymns in praise of the mother Sarada                                                    Prof. John Kurakar