Biography of Shree Narayana Guru

(1854)

The greatest social reformer of Kerala, Shri Narayana Guru was born in 1854 in Kerala in a well-educated family. His first teacher was his own father, Madan Asan.

He was blessed with a penetrating understanding and a sharp memory from early childhood. His formal schooling was completed in the village school of Chempazhantly Pillai.

Narayana Guru was a parivrajaka and he never stayed in one place for more than a fortnight. Even in those days when there was a paucity of good roads, he walked on foot to almost every village in Kerala and then to Madras. Everywhere and to every man, he advocated living a peaceful life. Consequently, there was a steep decline of crime in Kerala.

He has been credited for transforming the social fabric of Kerala and changing the beliefs of Keralites during those times. The Guru mostly relied on his own and other books like 'Vasistha Ramayana' of Valmiki and the "Yogasutas' of Patanjali.