Padmanabhan Palpu
Dr. Padmanabhan Palpu LMS, DPH FRIPH was a bacteriologist and a leader of the Indian Renaissance. He is well-known for his yeoman service during the plague in the erstwhile Mysore State. Dr. Palpu was posted as the first health officer during the plague outbreak and played a key role in containing the spread in Bangalore. The Maharaja of Mysore later felicitated him for arduous service to state, and he was instrumental in setting up the Victoria Hospital in Bangalore.
In 1903, he founded the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam with the guidance and blessings of Sree Narayana Guru to create a modern outlook among people.Life
Palpu was born on 2 November 1863 in Pettah, Thiruvananthapuram,then a part of the princely state of Travancore in British India. His family was wealthy and well-educated. Dr Palpu married Bhagyavathi; they had three sons and two daughters. His third son Thampi was a famous disciple of Sree Narayana Guru and founded Sree Narayana Gurukulam at Varkala where Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati did his spiritual practice.
Palpu attended Maharaja's College in Thiruvananthapuram but was subsequently refused admission to Travancore Medical College in 1878. He attended a similar college in Chennai and then went to England, where he continued his medical training at London and Cambridge. Returning to India, he found that his low caste status prevented him from obtaining employment in the Travancore Health Service, which meant that he had to relocate to Mysore to get work and worked as the Jail Superintendent.
Dr Palpu believed that community development should be through a spiritual leadership and education. So he approached Sree Narayana Guru to establish Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam SNDP. He also influenced the political philosophy of C. Kesavan.Dr. Palpu Memorial Award
2012 Dr. M. R. Rajagopal
2013 M. K. Sanu
2014 V. M. Sudheeran
2015 Gokulam Gopalan
