Narayana Guru and the Formation of Political Society in Kerala: Anti-Caste Revolt, Religion and the Untouchables

Abstract

This article is an attempt to examine the salient features of a lower caste revolt began in Kerala in the nineteenth century. It was led by Narayana Guru (1854–1928), a spiritual leader with a distinctive urge to break free from the rules of pollution demarcated by Brahmins in the practice of knowledge. I argue that in the wake of this movement, a strong assertion of community was represented by the Ezhava, a caste which suffered pollution in Hinduism. The defining characteristic of this community today is that of a class—the OBC. In the existing lacunae of non-governmental categories to define the nature of this community, and the philosophy of Advaita remaining an impediment rather than an empowerment to expand the central notions of his thought, I argue that the transition from caste to community represented by Narayana Guru can no longer be situated in the discourse either of Sanskritization or of subalternity, but of the use of technologies of deification.