sign in sign up
<<
Home , Ayyankali, Narayana Guru

International Journal of Research ISSN NO: 2236-6124

AYYANKALI AS A SUBALTERN HERO - A LEADER IN

Dr. S. Gopinath Assistant Professor of English (Shift II) PG & Research Department of English, Periyar Govt. Arts College, Cuddalore-1, Tamilnadu

Abstract: Today in Dalit History we respect , the Dalit torch in Kerala who battled politically sanctioned racial segregation. A contemporary of Dr. B R Ambedkar naturally introduced to the Pulayar people group in . In Kerala, were landless and misused, rebuffed for intersection into rank Hindu regions, and the two people were focusing of savagery that compelled to into draconian conditions of disrobing. Dalits were not permitted to wear legitimate garments and were prohibited to go into the basic road of a town or ride a truck before dikus. Dauntless Ayyankali chose to oppose these barbaric states of Dalits. The Pulayars whoever considered as Dalits was viewed as the most minimal gathering of individuals in the kingdom, and they experienced seriously harsh segregation, specifically from individuals from the groundbreaking Caste . The Pulayars of Kerala was a discouraged station, subject to intense segregation, and mortification. This article follows the standing based rough separation between rank Hindus and Dalits in Kerala. The present investigation is anything, but a historically draw of Ayyankali rather the creators find him and examine the sociopolitical scene of Kerala amid the time of Colonial innovation.

Keywords: Ayyankali, Social Justice, Social Exclusion, Dalit Identity, Discrimination.

Ayyankali (28 August 1863 – 18 June 1941) was conceived in Venganoor, a little town 13km north of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He was the most established of eight kids destined to Ayyan and Mala (rural work), who were individuals from the Pulayar people group of untouchables. He was naturally introduced to a family called Cheramar. His endeavors affected numerous progressions that enhanced the social prosperity of those individuals who are today regularly alluded to as Dalits. Ayyankali grew up to be a tall, well manufactured and great looking young fellow. He was known for his physical ability and capability in the hand-to-hand fighting. One specific youth occurrence made Ayyankali mindful of the station partials predominant in society. Ayyankali wedded Chellamma in 1888. The couple had seven youngsters. The rise of Ayyankali as a pioneer of ‘lower’ standings of Thiruvithancore, a royal province of South Kerala, amid the start of the nineteenth century, is a point of interest in the social history of Kerala. In November 1980, Indira Gandhi revealed a statue of Ayyankali at Kowdiar square in Thiruvananthapuram.

The primary ever reformer that the Kerala society delivered from the Dalit society was Ayyankalai. He was the principal Dalit progressive who sorted out the untouchable masses and battled for their human poise and rights. Have been conceived in mid-nineteenth century marginally later than Mahatma Jyothirao Phule he took up the reason for cancellation of . As a young, he began his disobedience to a restriction on the passage to open roads by the Dalits. From that point, he physically proceeded onward to sorting out the untouchable masses. He prevails about confronting the rash of the Kerala upper stations and in accomplishing, in any event, some essential privileges of poor people and untouchable masses that society. Today, he is the faction figure among Kerala Dalits.

Volume 7, Issue VIII, August/2018 Page No:877 International Journal of Research ISSN NO: 2236-6124

Ayyankali, while playing football with offspring of his age the ball kicked by Ayyankali fell on the top of a house. The Nair cautioned him not to play with diku young fellows. Profoundly hurt, he never promised to play with them and took numerous choices. This occurrence rolled out him makes an improvement in his life. Experiencing this social unfairness made Ayyankali join with similar Pulayan companions. These youngsters assembled to the finish of their workday to sing and move to society music that dissented the circumstance. Some went along with him in framing a gathering that tested and undermined individuals from the upper standings at whatever point an open door emerged, sometimes assaulting them physically. His ubiquity earned him the names of Urpillai and Moothapullai.

Dalits in the state were ridiculed as not simply untouchables, but rather ‘unstable’ and ‘unapproachable’. It is in these conditions that Ayyankali rose to wind up the Dalit voice in the social milieu of Kerala. Ayyankali was a dissident with a reason. He immovably stood established in guaranteeing Dalits had their offer of portrayal. Be that as it may, he didn’t assume the part of conflicting with the State. When there was no space for Dalits in people in generally circle, Ayyankali acquired progressive advances that sowed the seeds of future Dalit- drove strengthening.

In the avenues of Venganoor, the name Ayyankali is such a universal nearness, to the point that the express government’s choice to commend his introduction to the world commemoration on 28th August, his real date of birth instead of customary festivals on the date as indicated by the timetable (Avittam of Chingam) is still met with ridicule. Ayyankali was one of those eminent social reformers who assumed a real part in purifying the Hindu society of social shades of malice.

Ayyankali was one of the chief pioneers of the socially discouraged network who battled for their rights. He attempted numerous changes to end the shamefulness that this network was looking in the public at that point. Ayyankalli alongside Chattambi Swamigal, Sri Narayana , Mannathu Padmanabhan and other driving figures battled many driving fights against station segregation and made a feeling of solidarity among Hindus in Kerala. This social renaissance limited to change exercises in Kerala. In Kerala, Dalits were not permitted to stroll on open streets. Dalits were cautioned to sustain a separation of no less than 64 stages from and 128 stages from Namboodiris. Accordingly, Ayyankali did the incomprehensible. In his days, a man of Ayankalli's standing (Pulayars) was not permitted to purchase bullock trucks or stroll on streets saved for the upper positions. Anyhow, Ayankalli resisted these standards and strolled on open streets in a bullock truck purchased with his own cash.

With a solitary prominent act, Ayyankali is prevailing about subverting the customary request. Around then, the socially discouraged were prohibited from strolling unreservedly on streets. They were not permitted to partake in ordinary exercises of life as a society thought about them untouchable. From that point forward, Ayyankali started his rebellion against the underhandedness of untouchable by uniting the socially oppressed to battle against these prejudicial practices in the public. Ayyankali soon met his Guru Ayyavu Swami who was against the rank framework. Ayyankali was enlivened by his Guru to additionally initiate his development against social separations.

Amid Ayyankali’s more youthful days, the Dalits were not permitted passage into schools. He needed, in any event, the up and coming age of Dalits to have the training. In 1904 the Pulayas under his authority endeavors to begin their own particular schools since they were the denied section into government schools. These schools had no chalkboards. Sand on the floor was the book and fingers the pencil. In this way, Dalits tested the decision that they can’t contemplate in mystery.

Volume 7, Issue VIII, August/2018 Page No:878 International Journal of Research ISSN NO: 2236-6124

He battled for the reason for training for the dismissed socially oppressed kids who were not permitted to examine in school. Ayyankali battled a great deal to start a school at Venganoor for socially discouraged kids. The main school in the historical backdrop of Dalits was built up in Venganoor. Be that as it may, it was pulverized.

In 1907, Ayyankali built up the Jana Paripala Sangam (SJPS). The SJPS branches mushroomed in each one of the towns and villages of Travancore. This organization was shaped to join individuals from discouraged networks past the conventional fortifications of upper ranks. It additionally empowered Dalit women. These women proceeded to assume an indispensable part in raising assets for the Sangam. Ayyankali contributed essentially to guaranteeing equity to Dalits. He was instrumental in setting up network courts, whose neighborhood workplaces worked in each branch of the SJPS. From that point onward, the Great Ayyankali submitted numerous petitions to the legislature to enable Dalit youngsters to ponder in schools.

In the wake of establishing strong frameworks of his association, Ayyankali chose that SJPS should have its own particular magazine. The month to month ‘Sadhu Jana Paripalini’ started production with Chodikkuruppan as the proofreader. ‘Sadhu Jana Paripalini’ was maybe the principal magazine to be brought out by untouchables. With more endeavors, in 1907 the legislature passed a request to concede Dalit youngsters to schools. Be that as it may, the authorities at the outskirts undermined the request. The school administration composed of landowners also declined to actualize the request. All things considered, Ayyankali thumped at the entryways of schools and attempted to drive the administration to respect the administration arrange and concede Dalit youngsters. After more endeavors, Hundreds of workplaces of Sadhu Jana Paripaalana Sangham (SJPS) were transformed into schools.

Despite of the best endeavors of the administration, Dalits were not offered admission to the degree wanted. Ayyankali found an exit plan to fabricate our own particular schools. He trusted that one could ponder without reliance on the dikus. The consent to start such a school was gotten from the Dept. of Education. In this way, the main school of Dalits was set up in Venganoor. Nobody who adored his life approached to end up an instructor in this school. Among Dalits, there were none taught enough to be one. The administration paid Rs six every month. To urge educators to show Dalits, the administration offered Rs nine every month. After extraordinary pursuit one, Parameshwaran Pillai of Kaithamukku in Thiruvananthapuram chose to join the school.

He ventured up his voice for parallel rights for the socially oppressed. Ayyankali required the blacklist of agribusiness and cultivating by the socially discouraged until the point when a certain request was met. These requests were: 1. Right to Education for socially discouraged kids 2. Allowing socially discouraged to have tea in tea slows down 3. Resting hours for workers amid their work 4. Abolishing the in-kind wage framework and acquiring the money framework.

In Kerala, for many years, the Dikus (pariahs) had implemented a clothing standard for Dalit guys and females. They were prohibited from wearing ordinary garments. The administrator for all Dalits was to cover just those parts of the body between the midriff and knee. The scarcest freedoms have gotten conveyed fierce revenge of being fixing to a tree and given lashes. Dalit women were not permitted to cover the upper part of their body.

Volume 7, Issue VIII, August/2018 Page No:879 International Journal of Research ISSN NO: 2236-6124

The other lead was to wear pieces of jewelry of cut rock. The stone neckbands were an indication of servitude and lay on the exposed bosoms of ladies like a serpent. The request of the day for women was ‘not to cover the abdominal area’. Neckbands of glass dots and marbles hung together filled their necks in large numbers. Comparative stuff was twisted around the wrists. From the ears hung a bit of iron – ‘kunukku’.

Ayyankali composed a fomentation in against these ‘adornments’ and requested that the Dalit women surrender the propensity for wearing accessories of cut rock. He instructed them to wear a legitimate shirt. This frustrated dikus particularly and mobs broke out at different places in Kerala. Be that as it may, Dalits incorporating their ladies were in no state of mind of trade-off and soon the cruel clothing regulation turned into a thing of past.

It is imperative that Ayyankali did every one of these exercises despite being unskilled. It was his immaculate sorting out abilities that made this conceivable. As his endeavors for bringing the socially discouraged on an equivalent stage assembled steam, he got the bolster from numerous conspicuous pioneers. One of them who helped Ayyankali in his undertakings on social changes was Sri . Ayyankali’s endeavors soon started to fructify. In the year 1900, socially oppressed were permitted to movement openly in broad daylight places. In 1914, the instructive limitation on the socially oppressed kids was lifted, and they were permitted to join schools. The numerous social confinements on socially oppressed women also vanished as individuals acknowledged the socially discouraged into standard society.

In 1907, Ayyankali began another affiliation called Sadhujana Paripalana Sangam for the reason for human rights and social equity. Numerous ventures were attempted by this relationship for the financial and instructive development of the socially oppressed. Ayyankali was designated to the Travancore gathering in the year 1910. As a pioneer known for his awesome initiative characteristics, Ayyankali endured assuming a noteworthy part in the improvement of the socially discouraged in the following three many years of his life. The legislature of has discharged a stamp in his name.

Ayyankali likewise spearheaded a development for democratizing open places and declaring the privileges of laborers even before the foundation of any specialists (that is socialist) associations in Kerala. He soon turned into a voice for the untouchables in Kerala and related himself with honest to goodness social reformers who were meant to, rebuild the wanton Hindu society. No big surprise that Ayyankali was later named to the get- together of Travancore in 1910 by the then rulers as a characteristic of acknowledgment of his administration capacities. In the gathering, the individuals who laughed at Ayyankali being an uneducated low-station were stunned to discover in him a persuasive speaker.

Ayyankali’s mammoth endeavors are best depicted by this announcement of a student of history N K Venkateswaran who wrote in 1926: “ Pulayas are arousing at a fast rate. They have a delegate in the Praja Sabha. The blessed messenger of progress has waved a light finished this land. The flashes from the light will mix to end up a red-hot surge. The old moth ate social mores would be rinsed by flame. They will sit close by the individuals who call themselves ‘high ones’. They have effectively stepped up about arranging gatherings and advancing their equitable requests. It is a satisfying sight to watch their future culture on the ascent.”

Volume 7, Issue VIII, August/2018 Page No:880 International Journal of Research ISSN NO: 2236-6124

By 1941 he was an exceptionally wiped out man. At last, he kicked the bucket of Asthma on 18th June 1941, this challenging child of Kerala passed away abandoning a heritage of social change, advance, and an enduring inheritance. Dalits in Kerala particularly Pulayas will stay thankfully to him for giving them common freedoms and breaking the chains of subjection until the end of time. Although, as with the revered Sree Narayana Guru, this academic isn’t known for most Indians aside from his adherents in Kerala. Ayyankali greatly affected different segments of the public even after his lifetime. In Kerala, he is considered on indistinguishable class from Sri Narayana Guru.

In 1980, the then executive Indira Gandhi disclosed a statue of Ayyankali in Trivandrum. Similarly, as his statue, the inheritance of Ayyankali keeps on standing tall among different factions of the public, particularly the socially oppressed network. On 8th September 2014, a memorable minute was seen about the first run through, the festivals of Dalit symbol Ayyankali’s introduction to the world commemoration was proceeded the Prime Minister of India. The Prime Minister has made a notable motion by regarding Ayyankali. He said that, ‘one can trust that the entire of India will become more acquainted with the life and lessons of this reformer and holy person’.

Select Bibliography Abhimanyu, C. (1990) Ayyankali. (Mal.) Thiruvananthapuram: Dept. of Cultural Publications. Nissar, M. & (2007) Ayyankali: Dalit Leader of Organic Protest. Calicut: Other Books. T.H.P. Chentharassery, Ayyankali, The First Dalit Leader, Mythri Books, Thiruvananthapuram, 2005 Javarnesa Beegam, “ Ayyankali and the Social Awakening Among the pulayas”, Journal of Kerala studies, vol. III.

Select Webliography http://roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1914:ayyankali-a-pioneer-a- revolutionary-a-hero&catid=115&Itemid=127 http://samvada.org/2016/articles/remembering-social-reformer-ayyankali/ https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/keralas-venganoor-struggle-between-dalit-groups-claim-ayyankali- shrine-47405 https://bharathgyanblog.wordpress.com/2017/08/28/ayyankali-birth-anniversary/ http://indiafacts.org/mahatma-ayyankali-brief-profile/ http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/14215/7/08_chapter%202.pdf http://velivada.com/2017/04/06/dalit-history-month-honoring-ayyankali-watch-ayyankali-way/ http://www.che.ntu.edu.tw/ntuche/

Volume 7, Issue VIII, August/2018 Page No:881