Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam


The Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam also known as SNDP was founded by Dr Padmanabhan Palpu called as Dr Palpu in 1903 with the guidance and blessings of Sree Narayana Guru to uplift Ezhava community in a spiritual way. Dr Palpu thought that his community will develop only through a spiritual leadership and education. So he find Sree Narayana Guru one of the Great Sanyasin at that time who was bother sanyasin of Chattambi Swamikal. Both were disciples of Vaikunda Swamikal. The SNDP is a charitable society working for the spiritual and educational uplift of the backward community for the past 114 years. The SNDP Yogam drew inspiration from the ideas of Sree Narayana Guru, which suited the aspirations of the upwardly mobile middle class, who were the main benefactors of the movement. In both religious and social matters, the Guru was a traditionalist who strove to create a modern outlook among the masses. Narayana Guru conceived of the temple as a social space where everybody could meet and exchange ideas. While pursuing his spiritual mission, he advocated education, industrialization, and abolition of caste as necessary prerequisites for social regeneration. Guru stood against caste-based discrimination that was largely prevalent in Kerala, as also across India. This work demonstrates that the SNDP was an organization of an emerging middle class, which worked as both its strength and weakness. It focused on such issues as education, employment in government service, industrialization, abolition of cyclical rituals and caste, anti-alcoholism and the demand for a new law of inheritance. However, some mismatch between principles and practice exist in the functioning of the SNDP Yogam.