Chapter VI

The Subalterns in Medicine: The Ezhavas

Varika Varika Sahajare!

469
Pathitharilla Manujaril! !

Come! Come!! My fellow beings!

None is low among men!!

In the landscape of political struggles· of the Indian subcontinent against colonial

dominance, the Guruvayoor Satyagraha was an important turning point. By 1936, the
term Satyagraha (truth-force) had already acquired a definite meaning in the lexicon of
the history of Indian freedom movement. Having been influenced by the ideas of
liberty, equality and a sense of brotherhood, t~e Ezhavas, a numerically preponderant
lower caste community in Kerala, gat~ered on ~he premises of one of the most
important temples of south India to peacefully demand for their rights to enter the place
of worship that had been hitherto denied to them, thereby 'challenging' the hierarchies
of the Hindu religious orde'r.

The widely acclaimed couplet urging fellow beings to join hands on a religious
platform and an ideology that all men are equal, was given by one of the most
prominent physicians among the Ezhavas, C. Krishnan Vaidyan, 470 who was also a
social reformer, .poli~ical activist and ah industrialist. It was. not by chance that an
indigenous Vaidyan whose profession primarily centred on ways and means of healing
the human body played an important role in a movement direct~d at curing what was

469
Guruvayoor Satyagraha. For further details see Vikram Menon, Princes amidst Dissent: The Growth
of Political Consciousness in the Princely States of Cochin and Travancore 1920 - 1938,. (M.Phil.
·Unpublished Dissertation), New Delhi: JNU, 1993.
470
, C Krishnan Vaidyan was born.in 1878. He studied Ayurvedam and Sanskrit from Ananthapurathu
Mootha Koil Thampuran. As a devout follower of Sree Narayana Guru, Krishnan Vaidyan started
various schools for the uplift of the Ezhavas. Even before his activism in the Guruvayoor Satyagraha he
had fought for the rights to temple entry in the Panavalli temple of his native place Who is Who in
SNDP, 1956(?), p. 71-72.

200
 believed to be the ills of the society. Sree Narayana Guru, who was the spiritual leader
of the Ezhavas and who had the most profound impact on the social history of modern
Kerala, was a Sanskrit scholar, a Yogz471 and above all an Ayurvedic Vaidyan.

An important question that arises in this context is how did medicine being
more than a method of cure gets entangled with the body politic of the society at large.
Similarly, how did the acquisition/negation of the dominant traditions by the Ezhavas
take place in the arena of indigenous medicine? How was the religious tradition re-
interpreted by the community in the light of its relationship with both the dominant
traditions of the land as well as under the new notions of science, medicine and
rationality as interpreted in its colonial contexts? What was the form of socio-cultural
interaction that existed among the different sections of the indigenous society? Did the
epistemic bases and the ideological influence transgress the .boundaries of ~aste? Was
there a reasonable amount of shared knowledge among different sections of the
indigenous society in Travancore overlooking the caste and religious boundaries? This
chapter seeks to unravel the close relationship between medicine and society as well as
the larger ideologies that underlie it in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century
Kerala.

While Guruvayoor Satyagraha was aimed at acquiring de-jure rights for the
lower castes in the traditional religious order, in essence, it turned out to be an attempt
to challenge the hierarchies of caste by integrating or negating the knowledge systems
of the high castes or being willing subjects of erasing the cultural practices of the caste
in question in their desire for a higher social position. 472 By the late 1930s when the
lower castes organized themselves to transgress the visual· boundaries of religious
spaces, the integration or negation of different streams of socio-cultural practices into
the life qf an Ezhava had already begun to take definite shape. 473

471
One who practices Yoga, a traditional method of acquiring self control through meditation, derived
form the Samhita text of Patanjali's Yogacara ·
472
Most social historians in Kerala agree on this kind of a character of backward caste movements. See
.R. N. Yesudas. People's Revolt in Travancore: A Backward Class Movement for Social Freedom.
Trivandrum: Kerala Historical Society, 1975; p. i28.
473
C. K. Krishnan Panikkar (1869-1933) fought for the right to walk on public roads that were earlier on
.meant for the exclusive use of the higher castes. Who is Who in SNDP, 1956(?), p. 69.

201
 In the colonial context, for the· Ezhavas, medicine, rather than being a mere
practice of health care, human body, its ailments and its therapeutic practices became
important sites of negotiation with the dominant caste Hindu tradition. Medicine
therefore became an important site for the articulation of the desires for caste
mobi_lization and social aspirations.

By the first decades of the twentieth century the various ideological debates that
were taking place within the community were acquiring concrete shape. The census of
1931 stated that, in the first decade of the twentieth century, the community was
'content to take things lying down'. Giving a detailed description on the state of affairs
it states that,

Taking the Ezhavas first into consideration, we find that changes that might well be
described as revolutionary have taken place in their social, socio-religio~s and religious
spheres of life. The first decade of the twentieth Century saw the community in its
dormant condition, content to take things lying down and meekly submitting to the old
disabilities it was subjected to under the rigours of the Malayali caste system, which had
branded it with an unapproachability of 36 degrees (36 feet) distance. There was no
leadership, no organisation, no union. But now the Ezhuvans are wide-awake; and, what,
is more, they seem to have no idea of going to sleep hereafter. Within the short space of
two decades the Ezhuvans have been transformed into a well-organised community with
their Samajams or associations successfully working for their soda!, moral and spiritual
uplift and waging war against their social disabilities. At the same time they were setting
their own house in order. We have seen from the last chapter how a religious
reformation tending towards the purification and elevation of their religious beliefs, rites
and forms of worship was effected in the community. The Ezhuvans have virtually
abolished touch and distance pollution with reference to the castes below them. They
opened many temples for themselves, as they had no access to the temples of the non-
polluting castes like the Pulayas who were of old unapproachable Ezhavas. 474

We try to argue and prove that the various developments that took place within
the community during the last decades of the nineteenth century, manifested into an
organized form by the early part of the twentieth century. It was the claims for a
superior position in the indigenous society that forced the Ezhavas to embrace
knowledge and a 'medical system', based largely on the classical Sanskri! texts,
particularly the Ashtangahridaya. This was even when Puthupally Raghavan, one of
the leading members of the Ezhava community and a literary figure, argues that the

474
Census oflndia, Travancore, Vol. XXI, Part I, 1931, p.245.

202
Ezhavas had no important place in the Sanskrit traditions of the Brahmans in Kerala: 475
If that is so, the epistemic paradigm on ·which their cultural and medicinal practices
were based on, needs serious interrogation.

As a mode of health care, Ayurvedic medical knowledge-as understood

through its modern terminology-is an integral part of Sanskrit knowledge and
practice, which is considered.to be an exclusive domain of the high caste Brahmans.
How does the lower caste, who were excluded from the mainstream life of the
indigenous socio-cultural sphere was different and distinct from the Brahmins, pursue
their health care practices? If the Ezhavas had a socio-cultural life independent of the
Brahmins, and were not part of the Sanskritic tradition, as has been claimed by
Raghavan, how should the medical practices of the community under consideration be
located within that indigenous medical tradition(s) of the Ezhavas? The chapter seeks
to address as to how the socio-reform movement that occurred among the Ezhavas,
were attempts to integrate them into the mainstream social life of the Travancore
society and transform their therapeutic practices.

As a society desirous of a higher social position they were attempting to

overcome their social disabilities by raising claims to the intellectual hegemony of the
castes above them in terms of hierarchy. The realization of this objective was
articulated through tracing a lineage with Buddhism. Though there exist various
versions of the existence of Buddhism in Kerala, substantial evidence has not been
discerned to justify this, nor could we trace a connection between the Ezhavas and their
Buddhist lineage. 476 The aim of the community was however to formulate an identity

475
Puthupally Raghavan (ed.), CV Kunjuramante Thiranjeduthakrithikal (selected works of C.V.
Kunjiraman), p. 83.
476
Referring on the sites that bear resemblance to Buddhist relics, Travancore Government records
mentions as follows, Two temples in Travancore, at Thiruvilai and Thakali in· Sherthalai and
Ambalpuzha Taluks respectively, suggest to the antiquarian importance of a particular kind, being
probable survivals of Buddhist viharas established not only to propagate the religion of the Gautama, but
also to devote whole heart·edly to the ·medical relief of the people ailing with manifold diseases. 'That
there were physicians and surgeons in the Buddhist monasteries is amply testified to by the references in
the Minhinthala inscriptions; and it is not improbable that Buddhist monks settled in Kerala and
practiced the science of medicine' along with their educational and proselytizing activities. There are
reasons to believe that there were in Kerala some Buddhist sanyasins who attained a marvelous degree of

203
within the higher caste tradition to Claim that the knowledge and tradition they
possessed were also part of the high caste medical knowledge and practices, which was
acquired through their connection with Buddhist religion and its knowledge form. 477
Thus the aim was to prove that though they were excluded from the mainstream Hindu
religion and its structure, in terms of knowledge, they were -also part of the same
epistemic bases which had informed the high caste Brahmans.

This claim made by the proponents of the lower caste reform movement to
represent their therapeutic practices as Ayurveda, by asserting their interpretation of
tradition, culture and society accelerated the process of hegemonization of a Sanskrit
based medical practice. This led to the consequent marginalization of the healing
techniques hitherto practiced by the community. They were in effect trying to prove
that their low position was -not due to their intellectual backwardness but one
artificially created by the caste Hindus.

In its reality, Ezhava physicians while making alternative claims to indigenous

medicine. They, in effect attempted to formulate an identity within the higher caste
tradition, claiming that the knowledge and tradition that the community had with
regard to medicine, were not outside, but was rather within the stream of the
indigenous medical knowledge and practices.

scholarship in medical and other allied sciences, in which Rasa Vaisheshika is a monumental work
whose authorship is attributed to Bhandanta Nagarjuna, a Buddhist sanyasin of Kerala, who is said to
have been educated and trained by Buddhist monks. To those two temples flock even now, people pf all
sections and religions in Kerala, for treatment of diseases. In the temple of Tiruvilai, lunatics and those
whose minds are diseased are treated with success by the juice of a certain herb, which is administered;
while at Thakali lepers and those suffering with skin diseases are treated with uniform success by
medicated oil prepared in the temple. In view of the fact that a Buddhist relic still exists at Karumadi
close by the temple at Thakali which is dedicated to Sasta the Brahminised Buddha, it is conjectured that
the Shrine might have been a vihara where "the Buddhist monks carried on a course of medical
treatment of which the prescriptions that is preserved in the temple may be considered a relic." The
curious phenomenon is being investigated, but on account of the paucity of documentary evidence, no
opinion with a any definiteness can be hazarded. Proceedings of Her Highness the Maharani Regent of
Travancore, Archaeological Department, Administration Report, 1104 M.E, 1929, Trivandrum, 1930. p.
14. Kerala State Archives, Thiruvananthapuram. .
477
Kooiman argues that this claim to a Buddhist lineage might have been evolved due to the reason that
a large number of Ezhavas migrated to Srilanka by 1870's from the southern part of Kerala. The
influence of sri Iankan Buddhism on Ezhavas therefore sounds to be a recent phenomenon of the late
nineteenth century. Dick Kooiman, Conversion and Social Equality in India, the London Missionary
Society in South India in the /9 1h Century, Delhi: Manohar, 1989, p. 108.

204
Healing Techniques and Cultural Practices

Historical evidence proves that the Ezhavas as a social group practiced health care
methods for a considerable amount of time. Hortus Malabaricus, a multi-volume
compilation of medicinal plants by Vaan Rheede, the Dutch Governor of Malabar, in
the seventeenth century points out that the identification of plants, their classification
and the detailed description of their medicinal value was provided by Itti Achuthan
who was a Chogan (Ezhava) by caste and belonged to a family of physicians for
generations. This points out that at least a section of the Ezhavas had been practicing
medicine as early as the sixteenth century. Though, Malabaricus does not substantiate
the argument put forward by the Ezhavas that they had a medical tradition based on
Ashtangahridaya or other texts of the dominant social elites, indigenous health care
however had been an important occupation for them. In his testimony given in the
preface to Hortus Malabaricus, Achyutan writes as follows;

I Itti Achyutan, a Malabari doctor, Chego (Ezhava) by race, gentile and native of
Carapuram or the place called Coladda, who was born of great-grand parents, grand
parents and parents who were physicians or doctors, testify that I came to the city of
Cochin as per the orders of Governor Henry A. Rheede and through Manual Carnero,
interpreter of the Noble Indian Society, told and dictated names, medical powers and
properties of plants, trees, herbs and creepers, written and explained in our book and
which (plants) I had observed by long experience and practice; that this explanation and
dictation went without any doubt, nor would any of the Malabar doctors doubt about the
veracity of the things I said, I made these which I wrote by niy own hand and signed. 478

Thus in the pre-colonial era, the Ezhava physicians seemed to have had a
reasonable amount of knowledge about the biological wealth of the land and their

478
This extract has been taken from the revised re-edition ofHortus Malabaricus, a 12-volume treatise
on the plant wealth of Malabar (Kerala) published during 1678-1693, from Amsterdam. It was compiled
by the then Dutch Governor of Malabar at Cochin, Henrik Adriaan Vaan Rheede. Malabaricus enshrines
the indigenous knowledge of the hereditary medical practitioners of the Indian State ofKerala. The book
contains illustrations of 742 plants belonging to 691 modern species, together with their descriptions and
medicinal and other uses. All plants are described and illustrated under their local Malayala names,
written in Roman, Malayalam, and Arabic scripts. In most cases their Konkani, Portuguese and Dutch
names are also given. The entire text of the book is in Latin. K.S. Manila] (ed.), Vaan Rheedes' 1678
Hortus Malabaricus: with Annotations and Modern Botanical Nomenclature, University of Kerala,
Thiruvananthapuram, 2003. p. xxxii.

205
medicimil value. The detailed descriptions of the plants and their medicinal value have
been derived out of a long experience of observation, experience and practice
signifying the methods of cure in its pre-colonial situatio~s. This was based on a close
observation and interpretation of the manner in which diseases were understood and
the methods of eliminating it.

Achyuthan in his testimony categorically states that the plant variety and their
medicinal values mentioned by him were universal truths accepted by the society at
large. This opens up the need to examine the manner in which indigenous medical
practices were carried out in the pre-colonial days. In its modern day discourse
indigenous medicine was understood as a practice that was based completely on the
Sanskrit literature of the past. However, the relationship between medical practices
represented through Sanskrit based textual knowledge an9 its universalized
representation seems to be a recent phenomenon. Even in the testimony Achyuthan
makes no claim that the knowledge of the plants and its medicinal value that he
imparted to the Dutch explorers was based on any of the Sanskrit texts. This underlines
the fact that the reorganization of the indigenous .medical tradition of Ayurveda as
represented through a Sanskrit based textual literature seems to be an entirely modern
phenomenon, which was formulated by societies and groups who were desirous of a
higher social position in the contemporary society ..

Modernization of Tradition under Colonialism

As a community, the Ezhavas with a long tradition of engagement with health care
practices came under the influence of various colonial ideologies. New notions of life,
society and medicine undermined traditional practices and its ontologies that had
formulated the knowledge forms. By the mid-nineteenth century, old notions were
challenged by the influx of the new ideas of science, society, medicine, etc. The
Ezhavas as a social group in their desire for social prominence negotiated with both the
scientific rationality of the west as well as with the traditional knowledge systems of
the caste Hindus. The nature of interaction under colonial dominance ensured that as a

206
social group desirous of increased social mobility, they became willing subjects of
negating their own health care practices and ways of living by accepting the dominant
standards ofthe high castes. 479

This amounted t? the Ezhavas negating their own tradition as unscientific and
outside the paradigms of science. They believed that it was these cultural practices that
were unscientific in character and were the cause of their social backwardness. In
response they emulated the cultural practices of the caste Hindus. In 1861, Velayudha
Panikkar started the first Kathakali yo gam of the Ezhavas. He also fought for the right
of the Ezhava women to wear Mookukuthui (nose ring). 480 Large number of Sanskrit
schools was started under the name of Sree Narayana Vilasom Sanskrit School, in
different parts of the state. Thus as Jeffrey quotes there was a clearly discernable trend
among the Ezhavas to adopt the customs of the Nayars as was evident by their dress
and jewellery, the style of their newly built houses and the cremation of their dead.
This sanskritization and a growing self-confidence were the main factors behind the
formation of the Ezhava caste association, the SNDP. 481

Social reformers who emerged in the community forcefully argued and urged
their fellow caste men to shed their cultural practices with refined moral codes and
social practices. They glorified the idea of reason and individualist rationality along
with community mobilization. The new leaders of the ·community propagated
rationality, logic and spirituality based on Sanskrit and classical knowledge. 482 These

479
The census of India points out that the desire for higher social position by those castes, which were
hither considered lower in the social scale according to the ritual hierarchy. The census of India became
one of the most important sites where the demand for a higher social position was demanded and
articulated. The census of 1931, states that, "past experience has shown that the opportunity of the
census is generally seized by all but the highest castes to press for a higher recognition of claims for a
higher social status and to secure, if possible, a step upwards in the social ladder. If all the claims thus
advanced are to be conceded there may perhaps be no caste distinctions, among Hindus (so far as caste
names in the Census and Government records are concerned) in the course of a few censuses for all
Hindu communities may have to be classed as Brahmans by that time". Census of India, Travancore,
Vol. XXI, Part I, 1931, p. 250. .
480
Who is Who in SNDP, p. 229.
481
Robin Jeffrey, The Decline of Nayar Dominance: Society and Politics in Travancore, 1847-1908,
New Delhi: Vikas, 1976, p. 142.
482
In his application for the award of the grant-in-aid Padmanabhan Vaidyan stated that he belonged to a
very ancient and respectable family of Ayurvedic physicians in Travancore. He is one of the most

207
social elites were also the interlocutors between a community desirous of social
mobility and the various ideologies that were prominent in the late nineteenth century.
Thus there were two major contending views as to how the process of social mobility
was to be made possible. While a section argued that conversion to Buddhism would
enable them to overcome the disabilities attached to caste, a large section of the
community desired for a higher position within the Hindu fold. Thus, even when they
were making claims for a dominant Ayurvedic tradition and claimed that therapeutic
practices based on Sanskrit reached them through their· connection with Buddhism, in
reality they were making a negotiation with the dominant knowledge forms of the
Hindu religious structure.

While there was a consensus among the Ezhavas regarding the need to reform
the socio-cultural and religious practices, there was contending views on the nature of
the reform process itself. This was because the Ezhavas were also highly influenced by
the Christian missionaries who radically questioned the existing caste system and its
accompanying disabilities even when the community under question desired for an"
identity associated with the dominant ideologies of the caste Hindus. 483 While most
members of the community were desirous of staying within the broad Hindu religious
structure, a few among them, who were more militant in their approach towards caste
and social change, argued for inter-dining and relationship with the lower castes. This
group was led by Sahodharan Aiyappan, who· demanded inter-dining as a means of
484
social relationship with the castes lower than the Ezhavas. He formed the Sahodhara

eminent and influential members of the Ezhava community in the state and a profound Sanskrit scholar.
He has had a very decent, lucrative and efficient medical practice for over thirty years. He is above all a
philanthropist and a public man, who is held in high esteem through out the country. He was the
member of the SMP A on two occasions and is thoroughly conversant with administrative affairs. The
members of his family have .been from time immemorial loyal and law-abiding subjects of the sovereign
of the state. His career is a record of public service and he has always endeavoured to avert religious and
communal misunderstanding and to create harmony among all classes and ranks of her Highness'
subjects. Reorganisation of the Ayurveda Department Advisory Board. Vol. II, Bundle. No. 161, File
No. 1343/ Dated 30-11-30, Kerala State Archives, Thiruvananthapuram.
483
Robin Jeffrey, The Decline ofNayar Dominance, pp. 144-145.
484
The Sahodhara Sangham, an association formed in recent past advocated inter-dining and
intermarriage with the low castes like the Pulayans and, in spite of the strenuous opposition it
encountered in the beginning from the orthodox and conservative sections of the community, has
achieved its objects to a considerable extent. The restrictions on interdining with lower castes are widely
ignored and a few instances of intermarriage have also taken place. In short the Ezhavas are fast

208
Sanghom aimed at the promotion of universal brotherhood among all the religions of
485
the state. Mithavadi Krishnan and others favoured conversion to Buddhism.
Kumaran Asan, who was the general secretary of the SNDP union, a renowned poet of
the early twentieth century Kerala, demanded immediate reform of the Hindu social
order. 486 He articulated the concerns of the community through his poems. His
Chandalabhikshuki is about the story ofBuddha's disciple Ananda's conversation with
a Chandala woman (a low caste in north India) and her subsequent conversion to
Buddhism: They were of the view that to overcome the social stigmas and
disadvantages were to break from the Hindu religious fold. In contrary to this there was
another prominent trend that emerged among the Ezhavas. Gopalan Tanthri (Priest)
and others tried to re-convert the Ezhavas who had concerted to Christianity and
Buddhism back to Hinduism. 487 Thus among the emerging intellectual elites within the
Ezhavas the possibility of conversion became a contentious one.

Though a complete conversion of faith became a remote possibility, Buddhism

became an important means for the articulation of the concerns of the Ezhavas.
Similarly, Christianity and the precepts of Jesus Christ became important influence on
the community. The missionary relationship with the Ezhavas has been testified in the
Travancore and Cochin Diocesan records as follows,

Mr. Omaston had several conversions with Nanu Guru [Narayana Guru] who accepted
a bible from him. One finds considerable acquaintance with its contents among his
young disciples. His manager also whom I sometimes meet quotes our lord's sayings.
There is evidently in the guru's immediate circle an admiration of Christ and his
teaching. The young men in the asrama include some earnest spirits. 488

However, the possjbility of a religious conversion either to Buddhism or to

Christianity failed to gather momentum. As early as the first decade of the twentieth

developing into a progressive and enlightened community. Census of India Travancore, Part I, Report,
1931, p. 117.
485
C. Krishanan, (1866-1938) popularly known as Mitavadi Krishnan, the ownerofthe famous Press
Mitavadi while engaging in a wide ranging activities to bring about changes in social practices, and at
the same time being part of a large number of movements like the Guruvayoor Satyagraha,' Vaikkom
Satyagrahom etc., made strenuous efforts to spread Buddhism among the community, Who is Who in
SNDP 1956(?), pp. 65-66.
486
Ibid, p. 54.
487
Ibid, p. 117.
488
Travancore and Cochin Diocesan Record, June 1916. Vol. XXVI, No.3, p.ll4.

209
century, the missionaries regretted that 'for the last twenty years not a single Ezhava
was converted to Christianity' .489 Inducing the Ezhav~s to give up practices such as
demon worship confirmed to their own mission of spreading Christianity. Nonetheless
it also introduced other avenues towards sanskritisation. Though Exhavas did not
convert to Christianity, there were strong similarities between Sree Narayana Guru's
message and that of the missions. 490The members of the community were thus largely
desirous of a social upliftment within the hierarchy of the Hindu fold.

Though the missionaries' main target was to convert the people of the high
caste to Christianity, there was virtually no response from the social elites of
Travancore. Having failed in their aim, the missionaries sought to convert people from
the Ezhavas, who constituted the middle order of the society, which though in the
nineteenth century had a limited amount of success, failed to gather momentum by the
end of the nineteenth and virtually no conversion occurred among them during the first
half of the twentieth century.

Kooiman sites loose marriage ties and the fear of the Joss o(property, in the
wake of conversion to Christianity as few reasons for the reluctance shown by the
Ezhavas towards conversion. He further argues, that this resulted because of the rapid ·
improvement in the economic situation and a sharp demand in coconut products, both
coir and copr~, in the west. 491 Robin Jeffrey states that money brought educational and
social ambitions and thus increased respectability within caste society became a more
desirable goal than a dubious position between contemptuous Syrians and polluting
pulaya converts. 492 However, it was not just a matter of being an outcaste among the
'contemptuous Syrians and the polluting Pulayas', the proces~ of integrating the
cultural practices within the Hindu religion and faith ~as a much larger process.

489
Robin Jeffrey, The Decline of the Nayar Dominance, p. 138.
490
Manali Desai, "Indirect British Rule, State Formation and Welfarism in Kerala, India, 1860-1947",-
Social Science History, Vol. 29, No.3, p. 478. .
491
Dick Kooiman. Conversion and Social Equality in India, the London Missionary Society in South
India in the l9 1h Century. Manohar, Delhi. 1989. p. 84.
492
Robin Jeffrey, The Decline of the Nayar Dominance, p. 142.

210
 Thus the debate on the possible means of overcoming the social backwardness
either by the rejection of the existing social order or by integrating the markers of caste
remained central to their discourses regarding the strategies of caste mobilization
among the Ezhavas. Irrespective of the fact that there was various forms of debate that
emerged within the community as to the acceptance or negation of the cultural
practices of the community in question, it was quite clear that there was a desire among
the Ezhavas to accept the cultural and religious practices of the caste Hindus.

Narayana Guru and Reform

Even when the community was drawing parallels and tracing a lineage with the
philosophies and practices of Buddha and that the interest of the community was
articulated through forms of intervention that Buddhism had on the social order of
caste, the emerging intellectual elite, who were also socio-religious reformers, used the
medium of Hindu knowledge system and its forms in 'reforming' the community. It
. was Narayana Guru who struck a balance between the idea of the negation of the
dominant ideas and the integration of the cultural practices of the high castes. He
realized that even when a section of the leaders among the community were strong
critiques of the cultural practices of the high castes, in essence, the criticism was
primarily aimed to ensure that tradition be reformed and the lower castes could be
integrated into the social hierarchy of castes. The attempt was not to break with
religion rather it was to reform Hindu religion and tradition using new modes of
rationality. Most analysis of the reforms and social change that occurred among the
Ezhavas attributes therri to the work and activities of Narayana Guru. The census of
India report of 1931 notes that;

The one force behind these changes and reforms was the unique personality of the late
Sri Narayana Guru Swami whose teachings and influence galvanised the dormant
community into vigorous activity, and whose enlightened leadership, more than
anything else, was responsible for these achievements. A self made man, the Guru
came to be recognised as the spiritual head of the community in virtue of the solid
work he did for its uplift. 493

493
Census of Cochin, 1931, V XXI, P .I, pp. 260.

211
 The Ezhavas had few temples of their own and of these, most of the deities
worshipped in these temples were 'evil spirits' for whom bloody sacrifices of goats and
cocks were performed annually. 494 Sree Narayana built temples and placed mirror as
god, through this act he was urging his fellow human beings to worship the god within
oneself. His iconoclastic view was evidenced in his consecration of a nilavilak,ku, a
huge brass oil lamp instead of an idol in· Karamukku Kshetram in Trichur in 1920.495
He also consecrated temples with Ezhava priests. Narayana was constantly stressing
the ideal that there is only one caste, one religion and one god for human ~eings.

Though the fundamental desire was to question the f.t;agmentations of caste in

the indigenous societies, in its actuality the teaching of the guru ultimately was derived
and manifested in the form of the uniformity of ideas and concepts both of the episteme
as well as the universalities of knowledge forms. Most commentators argue that this
was an assault on Hindu hierarchy. However, the argument that is attempted here is to
locate this in the light of an attempt to integrate the cultural practices and positions of
the higher castes of Kerala. He was also driving the point that faith had to be
interpreted in the light of rationality, in the same way medicine also had to be based on
·logic and rationality. This enabled him to conclude that the indigenous society as
represented through its various forms were but offshoots of a single origin and form of
existence. Samuel' argues that the temple reforms should be understood in the context
of the religious condition of the Ezhavas. Thus claim to tradition was possible only
through the integration of the traditional knowledge systems analyzed in the light of
rationality, an argument that was vociferously articulated by the colonial authorities in
India. 496

494
V. T. Samuel, One caste, One religion One god: A Study ofSree Narayana Guru, New Delhi: Sterling
Publishers, Pvt. Ltd, 1977, p. 56.
495
Ibid, p. 56.
496
Panikkar resigned his job as a teacher of the Puthupally School and became a student of Kumaran
Asan to learn Malayalam literature. In 1914, he went to Malabar and learned Vedanta from
Vagbhadananda Swamikal. In 1919, he started the Atma Vidya Sangham (Movement for Self Education).
In his later years he changed his name to Aryabhata Swamikal and became a yogi. Narayana Guru
advised Puthenthopil Padmanabha Panikkar of Karthikapally to learn Vedas and Upanishads and to
engage in social work. This can be seen as an attempt to ~ppropriate Tradition.Who is who in SNDP
1956(?) p. 13.

212
 For Sree Narayana the caste names and titles that signified the ,ritual position
merely conceal the true identity of the human individual. He argued that the term
Ezhavan was a corrupt name for Sinhalan meaning that Ezhavas came from Srilanka,
.
and thereby struck a connection with Buddhism of Sri Lanka. 497 There were certain
attempts to place and interpret Ezhava history and tradition outside the Hindu fold.
The interpretation was based on a new historiography, where a lineage was traced
'
between the Ezhavas and Buddhism. This was to strike similarities between their
social situation of being a lower caste community and their reaction to the existing
social order, using the philosophies of the Buddha. However there is nothing in the
Ezhava tradition, with the possible exception of their Ceylonese claim to ancestry,
which seems to link them with Buddhism. 498

In the formulation of an ideology, in response to the emerging socio-economic

advancement among the members oft~e community, Narayana the spiritual head of the
community drew inspiration from the Advaita philosophy of the ninth century reformer
Shankara, and interpreted life and philosophy accordingly. 499 The fundamental
theoretical base of Advaita was its adherence to the principle that material objects and
understanding of the world were but illusions or Maya. The notion of Maya (which
means that all material objects of human life are just corruption on the ultimate form of
truth) was fundamental to the Advaita philosophy. The truth of the Atman (soul) and
the truth of the world, Brahman, was one. He argued that Atman (knowledge abou~ the
self) and Brahman (knowledge about the world) are the same. His worldly views
though seemingly distinct from the western episteme of science and knowledge, and
completely rooted on the indigenous philosophy of Advaita, in its reality the 91h century
Vedanta philosophy was used to demonstrate the universality and the singularity of
indigenous notions of truth.

497
The term Chovan or Chogan is said to be the corrupt form of the Sanskrit word Sevakan meaning one
who serves, which indicates his position in the social scale. The word occurs in a less corrupt form as
'Chevaka' in some of the old boat songs of Malabar thus pointing to the likelihood of its derivation from
'Sevaka'. The other term 'Izhava' is supposed to have come from Izham, a corruption of Simhalam
(Ceylon). Nagam Aiya, Travancore State Manual. p.399.
498
Samuel, One Caste, One Religion, p. 26.
499
G. Balakrishnan Nair. Sree Narayana Gurudeva Sampoorna Vyakyanam (Malayalam), Vol. 1,
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Bhasha Institute,. 2003. p.xi.

213
 This underlined that all truths were part of the general notion of life. Here
singular and localised truths were deemed to be corruptions on the universality of truth.
A reflection of this philosophy of Narayana in particular was part of the general
philosophical base of Kerala, as can be assumed from. the teachings of Sankara, which
compelled him to understand medicine as a single body of knowledge. Thus, as a
philosophy in need of the contemporary ideological currents·, Advaita was re-
interpreted to prove that localized healing techniques and ways of living were but
corruptions of the universal meaning of body, science and truths.

While an indigenous body of knowledge and medical practice was constituted

under colonialism, it became rather difficult to accommodate diverse cultures and
bodies of knowledge of the human body and its accompanying therapeutic practices.·
This also underlined that there was a superior form of therapeutics and health care
techniques, which encompassed the truth of the indigenous society. Here local health
care practices were seen as a corruption on the Ayurvedic medical practices and
methods. Narayana guru urged his followers to distance from the local health care
practices and cultural beliefs ofthe contemporary society.

Influenced· by the teachings of Sree Narayana Guru, there was a spurt of

literary, cultural, political and economic activities by the members of the community,
particularly in the regions mentioned above. Kesavan Asan started the newspaper
Sujanandini, from Paravoor in 1891 and C.V Kunjuraman ofMayyanad started Kerala
Kaumudi in 1911. 500 The influence that Narayana exercised on the emerging notions of
life and reform of the community is well attested. The census oflndia notes that,

The Ezhavas as a class having been influenced by his (Sree Narayana Guru's) teachings,
have greatly reformed their religious and social customs, but have remained within the
fold of Hinduism, subject to limitations of caste system. The younger generations have,
however, begun to show signs of revolt. Some of them are at least, are giving
expressions to their desire to break away from the orthodox Hindu religion and the caste
system, which is inevitably associated with it. 501

500
Samuel, One Caste One Religion, p. 167; who is who in SNDP. p. 68.
501
Census of Travancore, 1931, V. XXVIII, Part .I, p. 367

214
 Narayana was highly critical of the Varnashrama Dharma unlike many of his
contemporaries like Dayanandasaraswathi, Vivekananda and Gandhi who struck to the
idea of the Varnashrama Dharma in Indian society. He upheld a universal view that all
men are equal and constantly stressed the idea of humanity. 502 For him, racial
distinctions, like languages and customs, may give an appearance of variety to the
species, but they are only external factors of no fundamental biological importance. 503
Narayana argued that caste was simply a matter of false differentiation that had to be
504
abjured; religion or Matham was the literal meaning for opinion or belief. If there is
. .
any difference between men, ask, '[w]here is the so-called caste to be found, in men's
body or mind or spee~h or action?' 505· This negation of the idea of caste by Narayana
Guru became a compelling force for the political and social elites by the early decades
of the twentieth century. His critique on the caste divisions of the Hindu society and his
stress on an alternative notion of the society and humanity might have been moulded
by the influence ofChristianity. 506

It is also to be argued that it was the influence of the Christian missionaries on

Narayana that moulded his thoughts in a manner of universal humanity rather than
based on the Varnashramadharma alone. Christian influences in the thoughts never
overcome his desire for a respectable position within the Hindu religion rather than a
conversion to Christianity. Western Christianity's epistemic bases radically
transformed the Ezhava notion of life, self and medicine and integrated it with the
notions of 'modernity'. The new notion of the modern differentiated the truth from
untruth and science from culture, and religion from pagan belief. This led to the

502
G.Balakrishnan Nair. Sree Narayana Gurudeva Sampoorna Vyakyanam. (Malayalam)Vol, Kerala
Bhasha Institute, Thiruvananthapuram. 2003.
503
Udayakumar. "Self, Body and Inr~er sense: Some reflections on Sree Narayana Guru and Kumaran
Asan", Studies in History, Sage Publishers. New Delhi, p. 258.
504
Ibid, pp. 257-258
505
Samuel, One caste, One religion, p. 97.
506
Stephen Fuchs, writing on the social reform movement of Sree Narayana Guru, says, in his ·endeavour
the Swami was certainly inspired by Christian ideas, for in his time social work was still unknown
among the Hindus. The Christian influence is not surprising, as the swamis had had lived for some time
among Christians. Moreover the Christian missionaries worked for the social and economic uplift of
their low caste converts. Stephen Fuchs; The Rebellious Prophets: A Study in the Messianic Movements
in Indian Religions, New York: Asia Publishing House, 1965, p. 113.

215
emergence of the notion of 'Modernity' in the sphere of indigenous medicine, meant,
accepting the western scientific notions of truth.

There were also demands by a section ofthe society that 'caste' as a category of
analysis should be eliminated in the Indian context as the same signified a derogatory
practice in the context of the liberal ideas associated with the Indian National
movement. 507 However, the demand for an accelerated position within the indigenous
society was much higher in the period under analysis. 508

Economic Advancement and Social Mobility

The economic advancement among the Ezhavas generated a deep sense of desire
among the community for a higher social position within the religion and society in
which they were situated. This was because the idea of progress was articulated
through the process of integrating the cultural practices that were considered as the
prerogative of the high castes. Economic advancement was to be translated in terms of
social markers for advancement.

New economic opportunities and new modes of life at least by a section of the
Ezhavas forced them to look down upon the economic practices, which the community
was following, with contempt. The practice of distancing from the occupations hitherto
practiced by the communities was visualized among the Ezhavas. The practice of
tapping toddy remained one of the most important occupations of the Ezhavas during-
and prior to the period under study; however there was a large-scale attempt to deny

507
The practice of including caste as a criterion for of the Indian society analysis was withdrawn by the.
government of India after independence particularly from the census of 1951 onwards.
508
In response to the demand to discontinue the practice of using the criteria of caste in the analysis on
society, the Census of India argued that; Whatever may be the opinion about the reasons in general,
brought forward by the Honourable member in the legislative Assembly, for discontinuing the
classification of the Hindu population into castes and the subsequent discussion on the subject, there can
be no doubt about the general inaccuracy of the figures, as many members of the comparatively low
caste try to pass themselves off as belonging to a higher one, and the fact that the census acts as an
exciting cause of feuds between castes. Census ofTravancore, Vol. XXV, Part. I; 1921, p. 105.

216
their traditional occupations and to shift to newer forms of occupations and ways of
living. 509

Narayana Guru urged the members of the community to distance themselves

from trade associated with toddy tapping, from coconut and palm trees and their sale.
He argued that 'Liquor is poison. It should not be manufactured, should not be given to
others or used by oneself. The tapper's body stinks, his clothes stink, his house stinks;
whatever he touches stinks'. 510 In reference to the process of social mobility and
demand for a higher social position among the lower castes in Travancore, the Census
of India states that,

In the preliminary enumeration, the Chanars in this state returned their caste as such and
their occupation as toddy drawing. But after the preliminary enumeration of this state
was over, permission was granted to the Chanars in the province of Madras to change
their caste name into Nadar Kshatriyas, they wanted to have in the final census their
caste name changed similarly and their occupation altered into agriculture. As the final
census consists only in the checking of the preliminary enumeration figures, the change
was not effected. It is extremely doubtful whether, for the trouble taken in collecting the
information and tabulating the figures, corresponding benefit is derived. If the
classification by traditional occupation is equally so, when the Ezhavas have in public
meetings solemnly disclaimed all connections with toddy drawing which has been their
traditional occupation till now. 511

This is further attested by Edgar Thurston who writes that 'with the progress of
culture and enlightenment, the occupation of extracting liquor from coconut palm ·has
ceased to be looked upon with favour, and such families are now given to that pursuit
have come to be regarqed as a low division of the Chovas'. 512 Thus, there were
attempts to shift from their traditional practices and engage in newer forms of
occupation, which was considered as superior in the hierarchy of economic position.
This shift in belief systems was stated by Nagam Aiya he writes, 'Both Animistic and
fetish ideas have entered largely into the popular conceptions of Hinduism, and

509
Buchanan by the beginning of the nineteenth century notes that other than engaging in the climbing of
palm trees and allied occupations, they were also found in other occupations such as wood cutters,
farmers, boatmen, and even a few small traders, school-masters and Ayurvedic physicians., Francis
Buchanan, A Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar, London:
Higginbothams, 1807, p. 421.
510
Dharmatheertham, The Prophet of Peace, p. 47.
511
Census of Travancore, 1921, V. XXV, Part. I, p 105.
512
Edgar Thurston, Castes and Tribes, Part. II. p. 398.

217
Animistic tribes have in their turn adopted some of the rituals and forms of Hindu
worship'. 513 However what was occurring among the tribes was being vigorously
'
pursued among the Ezhavas.

The fundamental argument put forward in this context is that a similar

movement occurred within the indigenous medical tradition whereby those health care
practices which were considered to be part of the Brahmanical knowledge and practices
Were accepted by the Ezhavas.

The period under study witnessed a large number of Ezhavas shifting to the
practice of indigenous medicine in the name of Ayurveda. This occurred largely among
those who were barbers within the Ezhavas. Ezhavathis were a section of the Ezhava
community who were engaged in the profession of Barbers. They shifted to the
practice of Ayurveda. 514 The temple rites were conducted by the Ezhavattis (Vattis),
which was an important functional sub-caste of the Ezhavas. The chief function of the
Vatti is to act as the barber of the Ezhavas, but, he used to function 'in the capacity of
quasi-priests at all important rites in connection with birth, initiation, and death.' 515

There was a close relationship between the rise in their economic position and
the social reform movement that occurred within them. To point out, the region around
Mayyanad, Paravoor and Varkala, which constitutes a small region of the south-
western coastline of the erstwhile princely state of Travancore, became the earliest
geographic space where initiatives for social reform occurr~d. 516 ·In the 1870s

513
Nagam Aiya, Travancore State Manual, p. 40.
514
Izhavathis are the barbers of Ezhavas. Formerly they were also their priests ... the majority of them
have, however, given up their traditional occupations and taken to medical and other professions. Census
of Travancore, 1931, V. XXIII, Part. I, p. 3 82.
515
The priest who officiates for the religious ceremonies of the Ezhavas is called as Vathis, probably a
corruption of the Tamil Vathiar, which means a teacher or a priest. It is curious to observe that these
Vathis perform the function of the priest as well as of the barber to the community. Nagam Aiya,
Travancore State Manual, p. 400, also see A. Aiyappan, Jzhavas and Cultural Change, Madras: Madras
Government Museum Bulletin, 1943, p. 58.
516
The region mentioned above is relevant for the reasons that the first wave of migration from Kerala to
abroad occurred form these regions. ,People from Paravoor, Mayyanad, Varkala and the surrounding
localities in the pistrict of Kollam from all castes and communities, particularly from the Ezhavas,
migrated to Singapore, Malaya, and other Southeast Asian countries. Their economic advancement in

218
Mayanadu, a coastal congregation m the Quilon district, numbered about 300
adherents, of whom about two-thirds of the male adults left for Ceylon. 517 There was
also a migration of people from this region.to the Southeast Asian countries. This rapid
change in the economic situation was in turn actualised through the establishment of
the Sree Narayana Dharma Pari pal ana Yogam (SNDPY) in 1903, a movement aimed at
the reform of the community as well as achieving social and economic progress. 518 The
. .
region became the focus of the reform movement among the Ezhavas. In 1905
Narayana Guru summoned a large gathering at Paravoor aimed at abolishing all
customs and practices, considered harmful for the community. 519 In the new context, a
large number of the cultural practices which the community was hitherto practicing
were branded as harmful to their interest.

Modernization of the Medical Tradition among the Ezhavas

The process of integrating the high caste medical practices of the Ezhavas was set in
motion by the active intervention of the royal palace of Travancore. By the mid
nineteenth century members of the ruling families of Travancore, Attingal, Kilimanoor
and Haripad, like Ananthapurathu Moothakoil Thampuran, Attingal Moothakoil
Thampuran, Harippad Rajaraja Varma Moothakoil Thampuran, and others taught the
lower castes Ayurvedic medicine based on Ashtangahridaya. 520 K. C. Kumaran

return transformed into the earliest interventions made by the community in terms of their political,
social and religious interventions. Particular mention is to be made about, CV Kunjuraman who was one
of the founders of the Indian National Congress in Travancore, C. Kesavan, R. Shankar, who were the
leaders of the congress party, as well as of Sree Narayana Guru himself, who was from Chempazhanthi
the region adjacent to the places mentioned above. This underlines the close connection between
economic advancement and the rise of the socio-religious reform movements. Who is Who in SNDP.
517
Dick Kooiman, Conversion and Social Equality, p. 108.
518
SNDP was formed in 1903 with Narayana Guru as President and Kumaran Asan as secretary. A
journal named Vivekodhyam was also established as"the mouthpiece of the Union. Balakrishnan Nair G.
Sree NarayanaGurudeva SampoornaVyakyanam.(Malayalam), Vol.l Kerala Bhasha Institute:
Thiruvananthapuram, 2003. p. 803.
519
Samuel, One Caste One Religion, p. 60.
°
52
Krishnan Narayanan Kaniyar of Niranam in his application for the award of the grant in aid from the
government stated that he is a member of an ancient Ganaka family of the Hindoo caste, and the
·President of the Ganaka Samajom, Mannar and that his family had a very long succession of Ayurvedic
physicians; as such he possess a long-standing experience in Ayurvedic medicines. That he also have
had the very happy privilege of being a loyal and faithful disciple. of His Highness the Mootha Koil
Thampuran of Anathanthapuram and of Raya Sankaran Thirumani. And has 24 years of experience in

219
Vaidyan, and C. Krishnan Vaidyan, learned Ashtangahridayam- from
Ananthapuathumoothakoil Thampuran, Kochucherukkan Vaidyan and Kochukunju
Vaidyan were instructed by Harippadu Rajarajavarma Moothakoil Thampuran and
Attingal Mootha Koil Thampuran respectively. Similarly higher castes practitioners
also taught Sanskrit based medical practice to the Ezhavas. Vamannoor Vidhwan Potty
taught Kochukunju Vaidyan Ayurvedic medical practice. 521 Those ~ho had acquired
medical knowledge from the royal palaces, in turn, disseminated the same to the
members of their community, as they found this as a means of social acceleration and
as a process of integrating the knowledge arid practices of the high castes. 522

. By the beginning of the twentieth century there were a large number of

Ayurvedic physicians among the Ezhavas. 523 Uppottu Kannan, who was a high-ranking
officer with the Government of Madras, was an early proponent of Ayurveda. He
collected a large number of ~edicinal plants from various parts of the province,
established a Botanical garden and also published the first commentary of Bhaskara on
Ashtangahridaya in Malayalam. 524 P. M Govindan Vaidyan published a journal known
as Vaidyamanjari, and also translated Ashtangahridaya into Malayalam. 525 The
opportunities thrown open by colonial influence led to the emergence of a new class of

Ayurvedic medicines ... p. 42. Mention should be made ofK.,Kochuvaidyan, Also see. Who is Who in
SNDP: 1956(?), p. 71. -
521
Who is who in SNDP. p. 29.
522
An application submitted from K. Kochuvaidyan, for the award of the grant in aid to the government
of Travancore stated that he passed the Ayurvedic higher Grade Medical Certificate Examination in
I 092 after undergoing a course of instruction under the illustrious physician Ananthapurathu His
Highness Moothakoil Thampuran, That he is now enjoying very wide practice in Central Travancore and
that his services as a physician are highly appreciated both by the authorities and the general public. He
was for two years government examiner in Ayurveda, that he belongs to a hereditary family of Ezhava
Ayurvedic physicians a Koipally Karazma in central Travancore and the members of his community are
the least represented in the department. of Ayurveda even though his community can boast of a
proportionally larger number of Ayurvedic physicians. Permanent Arrangements Consequent on the
Retirement of Mr. K. Narayana Pillai, Chief Vaidyan, Ayurveda Hospital and Dispensary, on the 6'h
Edavom, 1105, Bundle No. 52 File no. 6/31, LGB, Kerala State Archives, Thiruvananthauram.
523 •
V Nagam Aiya .. The Travancore State Manual. p. 401.
524
The members of the Royal palace imparted Ayurvedic education to the people overlooking their
caste. In an application for the award of grant Krishnan Narayanan Kaniyar ofNiranam writes that he is
a member of an ancient Ganaka family of the Hindoo caste, and the President of the Ganaka Samajom,
Mannar. My family had a very long succession of Ayurvedic physicians; as such I possess a long-
standing experience in Ayurvedic medicines. Reorganisation of the Ayurveda Department Advisory
Board. Volume II, Bundle No. 161, File No. 1343/ Dated 30-11-3, p. 42; Who is who in SNDP, pp. 24-
25.
525
Who is who in SNDP, p. 111.

220
social elites largely concentrated in the cities. They also had the opportunity to acquire
the dominant forms of knowledge either western or indigenous that was re-constituted
as a result of the influx ofwestern ideas.

The integration of the dominant Ayurvedic knowledge into the cultural life of
the Ezhavas was accompanied by the development of new thoughts, which tended to
retrieve indigenous medical tradition from magic and Mantras. Though it is difficult to
re-constitute a different medical episteme of_the Ezhavas, it rather remains a matter of
further enquiry as to the possible means of tracing the medical practices from the larger
medical paradigm of the entire subcontinent in the name of Ayurveda. However, stray
references of the socio-cultural and religious practices of the Ezhavas can be found out
during the eighteenth century prior to their process of modernization. Francis Day,
Writing in 1863, argues that,

In their religion devil worshippers, or rather propitiators of evil spirits; their offerings
consisting of bloody sacrifices, for a cock, hog, sheep, or goat, are generally acceptable
to the deity, who has no objections to !he ardent spirits. 526 •

Similarly the practice of Mantravada (the practice of spells) was common

among many Ezhavas and occasionally a patient was to be treated by a medical man
and 'a practitioner of spells' simultaneously. The spirits that are specially worshipped
are housed in the devotee's home and others have temples built in which bronze icons
represen~ing them are ,placed. Offerings of food, toddy and the blood of cocks and
sometimes of goats, and the dance of Shaman through whom he blesses the devotees
are the chief items in the ritual for the worship of the spirits. 527 They worshipped
Bhadrakali and Madan. 528 Madan, a male character is often seen with fear among the

526
Francis day. Land of the Perumals, Madras, Adelphi press, p. 320.
527
Samuel, One Caste One Religion ,p. 32.
528
Writing about the religious practices of the Ezhavas, Nagam Aiya states that 'Hinduism Is the
prevailing religion and there are Saivaites and Vaishnavites among them. The Ezhavas have numerous
temples of their own. The most popular deity is Bhadrakali, but Sasta, Virabadran and Madan also
count a large number of devotees among the Ezhavas. One of that community, Nanu Asan (Narayana
Guru) by name, a Sanskrit scholar and a pious religious reformer, horrified by the animal sacrifices
offered to Bhadrakali, had that deity replaced by Subrahmania, son of Siva, and the leader of the
celestial army. This deity is very popular with the Ezhavas of Central and South Travancore. Nagam
Aiya. V, The Travancore State Manual. Trivandrum: The Travancore Govt. Press, 1906. p. 399.

221
natives, Mateer writes that, 'he is supposed to be very large and tall, his body being of
black colour and covered with hair like that of a cow'. Images of Madan are never
made. He is said to strike men with sudden illness, and is in consequence greatly
feared. 529 Thus as Risley states, "Hinduism is animism more or less transformed by the
530
philosophy", However, the acceptance of a dominant truth for a higher social
position was accompanied by attempts to distance from the practices which the
community was hitherto practicing.

Similarly the practice of Visha Chikitsa was common among the Ezhavas. 531
Since serpents were believed to be the favourites of Kali, many serpent images were to
be seen in the temples and shrines. of the Ezhavas, and there was a close
interconnection between the practice of Visha vaidyam by the members of the
community and the practice ofworshipping serpents as part ofKali worship. 532

In the new context attempts were made to critically evaluate and modernize the
practices that they were hitherto practicing. A. Kurumpan founded the Achara
Parishodana Sanghom, the movement to evaluate the traditional practices. 533 The
cultural practices that prevailed among the community were examined and interrogated
in the light of rationality. Forceful arguments were made by the leaders of the
community to give up toddy tapping and consumption of liquor. The truth about "life
was inextricably linked to the cultural meani11gs within the Hindu religion and culture.
This was also aimed at imbibing Sanskrit as truth, and truth as the self.

Once on a visit to the house of A. Kesavan, Sree Narayana Guru urged him to
refrain from the consumption of meat and fish. Social reform for the community meant

529
Samuel Mateer, Travancore and its People. p. 194.
530
V. Nagam Aiya, Travancore State Manual, p. 40.
531
In his application of the grant, Mr. K. Narayanan stated that he is an Ezhava holding the Vishavaidya
Visharadha Diploma. He possesses a good knowledge and sufficient experience in the treatment of eye
diseases. He is a very useful and popular vaidyan enjoying the confidence of a large number of patients
who resort to his Vaidyasala for treatment. Though he is a specialist for the treatment of eye diseases he
treats successfully poison cases as well. Sanctioning grant-in-aid of Rs.15 per mensem to three
Vaidyasalas at Chirayinkil, Chennithafa and Cherthla, Bundle. No 151, File no.l51/30, LGB, 15-11-
1930, p. 2, Kerala State Archives, Thiruvananthapuram.
532
C Achyutha Menon, Kali worship in Kerala, Madras, 1943, p. 31.
533
Who is who in SNDP, Kollam, 1956? p. 24.

222
the purification of the body and the self from its local and contemporary cultural
practices that were considered as the cause of the weakness of the community. 534
Medicine and food as a way of healthy life and as a method of cure are closely
interconnected in the indigenous medical tradition and society. Ayurveda itself means
'knowledge of life' or simply a 'way of life' .535 It is a practice by which a healthy life
is maintained through the consumption of food that keeps the normal life going or
rejuvenates the body from its ailments. Consumption of fish and meat formed. an
important part of the diet among the Ezhavas. Creation of a new dietary pattern was an
emulation of the cultural practices of the higher castes. Here cultural backwardness was
equated with social backwardness and social backwardness as a result of physical
backwardness. The physical backwardness thus was intricately related to the
consumption pattern and health. The Acharams (traditional practices) were replaced by
a new notion of the Sadacharam (moral codes of practices). Sadacharam, as norms for
a healthy way of living according to a moral code, became an important way of living
for the community. The purification of the self and. the Samudayam (community)
became most important agenda of social reform among the Ezhavas. 536

The emergence of the self was an important aspect of social mobility and
modernization. 537 Tradition, with the traits of rationality and logic, became an
important way through which it was analyzed. The rise of the individual was based on
a supposedly rational order. Rationality was to be the hallmark of the individual even
when he defended tradition in the societal sphere. They sought to defend the elements
of science in tradition. The ability of the indigenous physician to read the pulse was
seen as the command that the Vaidyan had over scientific principles. It was understood
that the physician even without having an internal view of the human body could get
the knowledge of the heart beat of the patient, and hence the internal functioning ofthe

534
Ibid, p. 72. . .
535
Wujastyk, Dominik. The Roots of Ayurveda: Selections from Sanskrit Medical Writings, Selection,
Translations & Introduction, New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1998. p.3
536
P. R. Kochukunju founded the Sadachara Prabodhini Sabha (movement for the promotion of right
practices) and the Sadachara Prabodhini Sahagarana Sanghom Who is who in SNDP, p. 92. In 1890, P.
K Krishnan founded the Sanmarga Pradhayani Samajom (Movement for Right Moral conduct), Ibid. p.
63, 14-16.
537
Ibid. p. 13.

223
body. This was seen as an important landmark in the indigenous medical system, as all
traditional knowledge that Ayurveda possessed was deemed to be 'scientific',
irrespective of the fact that.surgery was rarely practiced, leave alone·any theory derived
from anatomical conclusions~ofthe human body based on the visual gaze. The aim was
to prove that intuitions in Ayurveda were not illusions but on the other hand, concrete
conceptions, which were the result of scientific gazes endowed with divinity. The pulse
was thus the gateway of the scientific location of human body in the traditional
knowledge system. An Ezhava physician therefore attributed both clivinity and
rationality to tradition and tradition was interpreted it as scientific. Thus Ezhava
physicians claimed to be part of a larger body of universal kno~ledge. Kunjuraman
Vaidyan was one of the most prominent indigenous medical physicians among the
Ezhavas. He acquired the degree of Ayurveda Bhooshanam from Madras Ayurveda
College and was also trained at the Calcutta Kaviraj pharmacy and from Bombay High
Caste Hindu Hospital. In 1915 he started an Ayurveda hospital at Kollam and a journal
named Ayurveda was also published from Kollam. He also started an Ayurveda High
school and a Sanskrit school. 538 In a memorandum submitted to the government
Kunjuraman explains his plan to re-organize the indigenous medical structure of the
state both in terms of its diss~mination as an organized pedagogy as well as the re-
organization of the same through 'scientific' means. He demanded that the,

The students admitted in the College should be holders in Sanskrit Vidhwan, Siromani,
Mahopadhyaya and other recognised examinations and native states with a satisfactory
knowledge of English; or graduates who have taken Sanskrit as their second language. In
this connection it may be recognised that as the knowledge of the minute definitions of
the principles of the Ayurvedic system implies that the knowledge of Sanskrit logic
should be given preference in the matter of admission. It should be made compulsory
that. the curriculum for the study must consist of origimil Sanskrit text Books on
Ayurveda namely Charaka, Susutha, Malineethanthra, Nandikeswaratanthra,
Vridhavagbhada, Vagbhada, Rasarathndsamuchaya, Rasagangadhara,
rasahridhayathanthra, etc. 539

538
Who is who in SNDP, p. 43-44.
539
Scheme for establishing Ayurvedic Institutions in Madras & Other Provinces, submitted to the
minister for medicine, Government of Madras, Submitted by S.K. Vaidyan, A.M.A.C (Author and
originator) and N. Kunjuraman Vaidyan A.M.A.C, p. 2. Kerala State Archives, Thiruvananthapuram.

224
 This was in tune with the demand for Sanskrit education in the indigenous
medical tradition to constitute an indigenous medicine on scientific ,lines. The Ezhavas
under the period becomes the most vocal proponents of the sanskritized form of
.knowledge and culture. They demanded that the study and practice of the indigenous
medicine should be based on the Sanskrit literature of the past. This was an attempt to
get rid of their contemporary cultural practices' in their attempt to prove that they are
scientific.

Similarly he argued that a large number of diseases found in the subcontinent

could be eliminated by the medicinal knowledge possessed by the Ayurvedic
physicians. The diseases like tuberculosis, diabetes, cancer, etc., were considered to be
of serious cha.llenge to the society. It was not part of the general argument and
discourses on which the indigenous medicine as represented through Ayurveda was
based entirely on the language of Sanskrit literature, rather, alike the western norms of
governmentality as discussed by Foucault, the idea of excluding those considered as
'the sick and the weak' from the society was part of the idea of society visualized by
the lower caste medical practitioner. Kunjuraman argued that the government should
maintain separate wards for the treatment of deadly diseases. 540

No one will deny the fact that venereal diseases and its terrible consequences, leprosy,
cancer, tuberculosis, diabetes, and typhoid-malaria-and pneumonia-fevers are more
prevalent in India than in any other country. Among Indians illiteracy and poverty, not
being checked as elsewhere contribute much to their spread. Diabetes is prevalent even
among rich because they are ignorant of proper diet and exercise. Indians suff~r more
from the dreadful consequence of syphilis than the foreigners who imported the disease,
as the latter's system are more inured to it. It is not easy to say how many of our
countrymen fall (a) prey to these terrible scourges of human race. These rank foremost
among the several killing diseases. In view of this light it will be a great blessing to the
suffering people if special wards attached to the hospitals, and special hospitals, are
maintained by the government. Three separate wards may be provided in each hospital,
one for venereal diseases another for diabetes and a third one for typhoid-malaria-and
pneumonia fevers. As regards leprosy, tuberculosis and cancer it is most advisable to
maintain these separate asylums in each linguistic area. Each of these must be placed
under the charge of an eminent Ayurvedic doctor who has invented special .remedies and
methods for the cure of the disease for which the hospital in his charge is intended. He
may be given necessary facilities before his appointment for his ·medicines and methods
being experimented for ascertaining the truth of their efficiencies. Of course he must

540
Ibid, pp. 2-3.

225
 surrender his right on the medicines and methods to Government to his merit being truly
recognised. We know for certain reasons that there are Ayurvedic doctors who have
special rem~dies uni~ormly foun'd successful in curing these diseases. 541

However with regard to the production and distribution of the Ayurvedic

medicines, he was critical of the large-scale production initiated particularly by P. S.
Varier and Kottakal Arya Vaidyasala. It was because, as a community, the Ezhavas
who were suffering from social and economic disabilities were not in a position to
engage in the production of Ayurvedic medicines on a large scale. He therefore argued
that the production of Ayurvedic drugs should be undertaken by the government
through a central laboratory as a possible means towards the standardization of
Ayurvedic medicines. He pointed out that,

What is needed more towards the revival of Ayurveda is the establishment of a large
central laboratory for th~ preparation of Ayurvedic remedies for supplying not only the
various Hospitals and dispensaries but also to the. Ayurvedic Medical shops run by
Government in all the district towns, and other important centres so as to prevent the
purchase of carelessly prepared and partially efficient medicines from pharmacists that
are exploiting the modern revival of Ayurveda for· their pecuniary profits. Until the
government can do this, those local and municipal authorities that run Ayurvedic
dispensaries will not be doing the real benefit to the suffering population as they prepare
medicines prepared by vendors who prepare ·them with mercantile interest. The
government must take the needed trouble to appoint a committee of physicians drawn
from different linguistic areas who possess the ability of selecting and standardising the
medicines necessary for the distribution in the different hospitals and dispensaries
instead of using inferior medicines .on an average of not less than ten times what
efficient and genuine medicine would cost ifthey are prepared in the central laboratory.
It is only then that the prejudices against Ay.urveda will be removed and its superiority
over other systems of medicine is established. 542

He was also of the opinion that mass production of Ayurvedic medicines had
to a large extend compmmised the quality of the indigenous medicines and therefore
argued that government should invest in the production of medicines and have to
543
actively engage in its distribution. He was also of the opinion that Ayurvedic
544
medical education should be supported by the western medical education. He
maintained that,

541
Ibid, pp. 4-5.
542
Ibid, p. 9.
543
Ibid, p. 9.
544
Ibid, p. 9-10.

226
 For deriving the full benefit of the establishment of a central laboratory it is also
absolutely necessary to establish a botanical garden for the availability of all the
necessary drugs in proper condition for the preparation of the medicines in the
laboratory. We find that the ancient Rishis subjected the whole of Animal, mineral and
vegetable kingdoms to the closest possible scrutiny and analysis for the benefit of the
human race and discovered the minutest detail of medicinal properties of not only the
common plants, mineral and animals, but also the rarest and most valuable plants, drugs
and precious stones, minerals and animals available only on the heights almost
inaccessible of the Himalayan and other mountains and in the depths almost
unfathomable of oceans. Their revelation of the healing powers, hidden in nature leads
to a grander conception of earthly creation than can be set forth by any other aspect of
it. 545

Similarly like Palpu, he argued in favour of western medicine, on the

. -
understanding that indigenous medicine could be rejuvenated through its integr~tion

with western medicines. 546 He also argued that languages. like Sanskrit and English
should be taught to children from childhood so that Ayurvedic education could be
547
carried forward. Similarly the Ezhavas desired for their upliftment with the aid of the
548
state. As a large number of the members of the community acquired Ayurvedic
education from different parts of the subcontinent, they demanded employment and
grant from the government of Travancore. 549

545
Ibid, pp. 5-6.
546
Ibid, p. 16.
547
The children of this province, nay, the whole oflndia should be educated from the very beginning in
their vernacular, English and Sanskrit languages in one and the same school. The study of the three
languages must be affected giving equal importance to the three and those who become graduates may
be admitted in Ayurvedic and Allopathic sides according to their taste and tendency. It goes without
saying the graduates who have taken up Sanskrit-logic as optional only should be admitted in the
Allopathic side of the medical college. Ibid, p. 3.
548
Kunjuraman argued, "Of course both the Ayurvedic and Allopatic students must study both these
systems-Dne as main and the other as subsidiary-and those who have taken up allopathy as main may
be employed as doctors in Allopathic hospitals and dispensaries and also as professors in the Allopathic
Branch of the Medical college, and the students who have taken up 'Ayurveda' as main may be
appointed as Doctors in the Ayurvedic hospitals and dispensaries and as professors in the Ayurvedic
branch ofthe college". Ibid, p. 17.
549
B. Nilakanan, Bishagacharya, grant-in-aid Ayurveda Physician, Nagercoil in a letter to the Dewan of
Travancore, stated that, "As of my qualifications I beg to state that I belong to a hereditary family of
Ezhava Ayurvedic Vaidyans and was initiated into the study of Ayurvedic medicine early in my life.
With this advantage behind me I joined the S.K.P.D Ayurveda College at Madras in its flourishing
period under the distinguished guidance and principal ship of the late Pandit D. Gopala Charlu and
passed the "Madhyama" Examination, My rank being first from the college. Then to complete my
practical studies I visited several other Ayurvedic institutions in and outside the presidency conducted on
up to date lines. As soon as I returned to Travancore in 1088 (1913 A D). M.E, it was entertained by the
late Mr. Parameshwaran Moos, the then Ayurveda Director as a Grant-in-aid Vaidyan at
Padmanabhapuram where I remained for about two years as an Ayurvedic practitioner serving a large
number of people in south Travancore. I was then transferred to Nagercoil by Dr. Sankara Menon, the
director of Ayurveda and given a promotion to the second grade; here:; by enabling me to draw a grant-in-

227
 The belief in individualism and the sense of liberty promoted individm:
initiatives in medicine. While the community embraced Ayurveda in their desire for
claim to tradition, surgery and biomedical practice were equally promoted. Moden
medical practice meant science, rationality, logic and objective knowledge. Narayan
Guru encouraged his community to learn and practice Western medicine as well. H
told P. K. Narayanan Vaidyan, a practitioner of Ayurveda, to practice surgery an1
biomedicine. 550 Many practitioners among the Ezhavas had acquired the degree fron
the Ayurvedic colleges outside the state. 551 Palpu, who was also a nominated membe
of the Legislative Assembly, while highlighting the health conditions of the state o
Travancore referred to the unsatisfactory condition of medical relief in the state, owin:
to the want of an adequate supply of drugs and specified that sufficient encouragemen
was not given to native Vaidyans, who were seen only as a bad substitute for Englisl
doctors. In his opinion the question of state's attitude towards the Vaidyans and his ar
had to be carefully considered and defined by the government. If it was found that h<
was very much inferior to his English rival, it should be further considered whether h<

aid of Rs. 25 per month. Since my transfer to Nagercoil my practice grew up to a considerable extents<
much so I was compelled to open a hospital especially in order to meet the demands of patients fron
very far off places. Though I am conducting the hospital according to the government rules regarding th1
same and had applied for a grant to your Excellency's government. I ain not yet fortunate enough to ge
any help in this direction. I may also submit that recently I have been the recipient of the diploma o
"Bishagacharya" from the Dacca Medical College, Bengal. Further I am an Ezhava, which communit)
can claim a larger number of successful Ayurvedic physicians, but at the same time not yet al
represented in the higher ranks of the service if the Ayurveda Department. As submitted already I am on(
of the grant-in-aid Vaidyans (second grade) from whom the department has hitherto been recruitin~
competent Vaidyans for the vacancies that arose from time. This evidently is an additional claim tc
support my prayer. I have now 17 years to my credit as a grant-in-aid vaidyan and I humbly beg to stat(
that I am enjoying a very wide practice in the whole of south Travancore. If an enquiry is made, yow
Excellency will certainly be convinced of my proficiency as an Ayurvedic Physician, and m)
competency to be in charge of an Ayurvedic hospital again, a kind perusal of the testimonials, copies o
which are already sent to the government along with my application for grant to my hospital a
Nagercoil, will also testify to my popularity and efficiency as a Vaidyan. I therefore most humbl)
request that your Excellency may be kindly pleased to recognize my claims by appointing me to the pos1
of the chief Vaidyan, Ayurveda Hospital at Thiruvananthapuram that will soon fall vacant and thm
encourage my humble services for the cause of Ayurveda. Award of Grant to the Ayurveda Hospital a,
Nagercoil conducted by Vaidyan B. Nilakanan, Bundle. No. 148,File. No. 106A/ 30, Ayurvedz
Department, pp. 14-16. Kerala State Archives, Thiruvananthapuram.
550
Who is Who in SNDP, p. 151.
551
. Award of Grant to the Ayurveda Hospital at Nagercoil conducted by Vaidyan B. Nilakanan, Bundle.
No. 148, File. No. 106A/ 30, Ayurveda Department, p. 12.

228
should not be made useful at all. If it was possible to improve him, it should be done,
otherwise his practice ought to be summarily ended in the public interests. 552
The movement towards the revival of the traditional knowledge under
colonialism was accompanied by the revival of classical Sanskrit language, as most of
the traditional literature of the social elite was in this language. Sanskrit became the
new medium of a revived tradition. The sanctity of Sanskrit as a divine languag·e, that
encompassed the elements of ancient science, was glorified and the language was
revived. Kumaran Asan in one of his articles wrote

It would be better if one acquires the basic knowledge in a classical language like
Sanskrit, for the soul of India lies in the Sanskrit literature', in the legislative Assembly
debates he argued for the compulsory education of Sanskrit and the pursuance of such
disciplines as Ayurveda, Jyotisha, Malayalam literature etc." 553

The spread of Sanskrit accelerated the dissemination of Ayurvedic knowledge

among the Ezhavas. A large number of Sanskrit schools were started by the emerging
social elites of the Ezhavas and its learning promoted. 554 The mastery of Sanskrit
helped in the dissemination of Ayurvedic knowledge based on a dominant ideology,
which was hitherto confined largely to Brahmin households (illams). Students who had
acquired the basics of Sanskrit found it easy to acquire Ayurvedic medical knowledge.
Ayurvedic schools were started at Kallam and Attingal, which helped in the organizing
and dissemination of Ayurveda through a proper framework and curricula. 555 The
Ezhava physicians formed associations and organisations like the Uttara Kerala

552
Kerala State Archives (1912: Some suggestions for the promotion of medical relief research, File no.
457, General, Sree Moolam Popular Assembly, Subjects eighth session, Assembly Proceedings, Eighth
Session Paper 69, subject No. 57, Palpu suggested that the government should give native medicines a
fair trial and a fair chance of justifying its existence and its historical usefulness, by making some
provision for competent research into the properties of the drugs ordinarily used by the Vaidyans and the
methods employed by them in treatment; and he proposed that a full time young medical graduate should
be set apart, with a proper laboratory, for this work of research, it being his duty especially, to publish
the results of his investigation in English and in the vernacular. He then pointed out the harm done by
some native physicians through their ignorance of physiology, anatomy, chemistry, antiseptic treatment
and the properties of mineral drugs and poison, and he proposed as remedial measure, that a grant-in-aid
or diploma should be given only to those candidates who have passed from the Ayurveda Patasala.
These would undergo a further examination in the above subjects, conducted by a board constituted by
the Durbar Physician-facilities being afforded at the same time for Vaidyan candidates to attend the
hospital.s and learn work therein. .
553
Enaadu Annual Publication- 1986, Thiruvananthapuram,- "Asan's Educational Thoughts", p. 181.
554
Who is who in SNDP 1956(?), p. 189.
555
1bid.pp. 43-44.

229
Vaidya Samajom, Ayurveda Mahamandalam, Uttara Kerala Dharma Vaidya Sala,
Ayurveda Samajom, etc. 556

This new knowledge over time spread among the community along with other
forms of traditional Sanskrit literature, philosophies like Nyaya, Jyotisha, Yoga, etc.
replacing the earlier methods of therapeutic practices associated with treating like
Mantram, Kaipunyam, Ottamuli, etc. Velayudan Vaidyan 557 popularly known as
Arackkal Vaidyan acquired the knowledge of indigenous medicine from Pappu
Vaidyan a physician among the Ezhavas. He was famed for his Yukti Chikitsa,
Kaipunyam, Ottamuli and other forms of indigenous treatment. However, in the course
of time these practitioners who followed indigenous and local practices largely
practiced by a subaltern group were replaced by a refined medical practice of the
dominant tradition. 558

Print as a Medium of Socio-cultural Hegemony

The press played an important role in the dissemination of knowledge among the
lower sections ofthe society. Language, literature and print have often been viewed as
the means for contests over power, propagation of dominant ideas and the fashioning
of national, regional and community identities:559 The dissemination was also
accompanied by a claim to authenticity, which was attached to tradition. Books printed
at the Church Mission Society (CMS) Press were copied into palm ·leaf manuscript.
Those who possessed manuscripts acquired a certain sense of authenticity and laid
claim to traditional knowledge. Manuscripts were copied and produced in bulk by the

556
Ibid. pp.43-44.
557
Who is Who in SNDP, p. 230.
558
Irt 1917, (1083 ME) Narayana Guru visited Kotar near Nagercoil and removed the images of Malian,
Chudalamadan Karinkali and other Dhurdevathas and built a temple named as Pillayar kovil and placed
a beautiful Ganapathi idol as the icon. In the same time he also wrote Vinayakashtakom a Sanskrit poem
in praise of Ganapathi. Balakrishnan Nair G, Sree Narayana Gurudeva Sampoorna Vyakyanam
(Malayalam), Vol.l, Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Bhasha Institute, 2003, p. 3.
559
Charu Gupta, p. 20. .

230
second part of the nineteenth century, leading to a reconstitution and dissemination of
the dominant tradition. 560

The print explosion created a wide arena for the circulation of ideas that led to
the cultural hegemony of the print and created a dynamic public sphere. 561 The easy
availability of books helped a wider readership among the community.· What is
interesting is the fact that Ayurveda as a system of medicine, which was believed to be
of 'divine intervention', hitherto became a prerogative of the Brahmin households and
got printed at a press which was owned by the Christian Church. Such activity helped
in making Ayurvedic knowledge a mass based activity and a secular enterprise. Thus
the new public domain with its print culture, emergence of urban centres, means of
communication and' above all the understanding that knowledges are secular and had to
be disseminated, enabled communities who were hitherto kept away due to rigid caste
boundaries to engage themselves in knowledge.

Conclusion

The indigenous medical tradition among the Ezhavas underwent rapid

transformation under colonial dominance. Social reform for the community meant that
many of the cultural practices of the community were to be reformed or to be given
away. with in their process of becoming 'modern'. Those cultural practices, which the
community sought to transform or give away with, became in effect part of their
dietary and health care practices. This was also accompanied by a movement towards
imbibing the cultural practices of a Sanskritic tradition considered to be part of the elite
section of the population. Thus modernity and social reform for the community in
effect erased many of the therapeutic practices, which the community was earlier
engaged in.

560
Notes on BaJa chikitsa copied into Palm Leaf as manuscript from the book printed at the CMS press,
Kottayam, Oriental Manuscript Library, University ofKerala, 1868.
561
Charu Gupta, p. 21.

231