March 24, 2025

On 12 March 1925, the two great ideologists, the Mahatma and Shri Narayana Guru, met at Vanajakashi Mandira at Shivagiri in Kerala; where there is a Mahatma Gandhi Ashram now. The Vanajakshi Mandira is going to be a museum open to the public hereafter. Both stood for ideologies which were identical, both were revolutionaries, both were humanists, and more than anything else, both believed in the eradication of untouchability and other atrocities on lower sections of people. The difference is only in the fact that Shri Narayana Guru was deified and the Mahatma himself fought against any possible deification, especially in a country where common human gods were plenty. Undoubtedly, Shri Narayana Guru is the greatest contribution that Kerala made to the country in the last century.

They were ideologists. The word has Greek origin, ‘idea’ and ‘logos’, the latter meaning ‘study’. There are some ideologists who are experts in the propagation of belief systems, or a theory, or a specific pattern of living. There are also other ideologists who believe in the practice of a particular ideology and who would go up to the extent of fighting to establish the ideology. Both the great men belonged to the second category and they had very large numbers of followers who were willing to sacrifice their lives for the ideology.

Both believed in the idea of liberation. Primarily, it was liberating the people, especially the untouchables, from their plight including their ban from the temples. In addition, they were willing to fight for the status of the lower classes from the atrocities that were committed on them by the upper classes. Moreover, both stood against certain rituals which were against humane qualities practiced in the religion. More importantly, they stood up against several social practices which were against social harmony, and made thousands of people to follow them in the process.
Their meeting at Vanajakshi Mandira was commemorated on 12 March 2025 when Tushar Gandhi, the great grandson of the Mahatma was at the place in Shivagiri and he presented a Charaka at the picture of Shri Narayana Guru. Several important leaders from Kerala also were present. On the occasion Tushar Gandhi said that Guru and Bapu were both believers in similar ideologies and associated practice of belief systems. He added that the question of unacceptable practices and belief systems, both social religious, are in existence even now. Of course, the speakers on the occasion could not agree on who influenced whom better in that rare meeting between the Mahatma and the Guru.

Recent newspaper reports made special references to the issue of the appointment of a lower caste person, indeed not a scheduled caste or tribe, as an assistant to the pooja performer at the Koodalmanikyam temple at Irinjalakuda in Trissur District of Kerala. The poojary refused to accept the assistant in the temple and the matter was even referred to in the Kerala legislative assembly. A large number of people who gathered to listen to Tushar Gandhi and a few other speakers wondered why even after hundred years untouchability is being practiced. Despite the provisions of action available in the legal system, people even now practice untouchability in different ways. The Mahatma and Shri Narayana Guru would have never thought that untouchability would be practised even after a century after they fought together for abolishing the atrocious belief systems and their associated practices.

It is to be specially remembered that both the ideologists and the leaders who fought against social evils stood very tall among many others. When the Mahatma and the Guru met, there were also others who arrived with the Mahatma to the Ashram. C. Rajagopalachari, Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy and a couple of other Indian leaders also were present. Thousands of people had assembled together to listen to the Mahatma who spoke to them. The difficulty for the Mahatma and the Guru was that the Mahatma did not know Malayalam and the Guru did not know English. A local lawyer who was also a freedom fighter became the translator for both.

At Vanajakshi Mandira, both sat on a mat locally woven, and discussed the need for liberation of the Indian people from a foreign rule. They declared the importance of Khadi as the symbol of Indians wearing Indian clothes. They stressed the need for temple entry for all classes of people. They appealed to all people, especially the upper classes, to abolish practices like untouchability and denial of entry for lower classes into the temples. Both ahimsa and non-cooperation were important strategies for liberation. Both were in search of truth. They supported each other in the ideological belief systems. Both demanded equal justice for all. Equally strong were their appeal for avoiding religious rivalry.

15 March 2025 is also a hundredth anniversary of an unusual visit that the Mahatma made in Kerala within three days of his meeting with Shri Narayana Guru. He visited the house of George Joseph, a knowledgeable barrister and freedom fighter. The latter is the brother of Pothan Joseph, a well-known name in the journalistic world, even called the father of Indian journalism. Mr George Joseph was the editor of ‘Independent’, started by Jawaharlal Nehru and ‘Young India’, started by the Mahatma. He was a strong supporter of the Mahatma, particularly on legal issues. The very fact that the Mahatma visited Mr. George Joseph’s house speaks of the latter’s importance.

George Joseph practiced as a barrister at Madurai after having studied law in England. He joined the freedom movement through ‘Home Rule League’. He had his first meeting with the Mahatma at the then Madras in 1919. Thereafter, he gave up his practice of law and joined the struggles for freedom where he and his family burnt all foreign clothes in public. On 06 December 2021, he was arrested and put in jail along with many other national leaders. He was known as ‘Rosapoo Durai’ of Madurai as he fought for the rights of Piramalai Kallar community.

George Joseph gave valuable advice for and supported the Vaikom Satyagraha. However, as a Christian, he was not allowed to join the satyagraha as the local leaders thought so and the Mahatma concurred with them. George Joseph felt let down not only by the Hindus of the movement but even by the Mahatma. So, he left the platform of struggle against denial of temple entry and returned to Madurai. He also left the Congress and started his practice as a lawyer again. It is to reconcile with Mr George Joseph that the Mahatma visited his parents in Chengannur. This visit made George Joseph return to the Congress and the freedom movement.

Mahatma’s visit of the parents of George Joseph was specially noted not only by his family but also by a large number of freedom fighters. The reconciliation move by the Mahatma was the sign of his acceptance of people from all walks of life, particularly from the Christian community of Kerala. The hundredth anniversary of the Mahatma’s visit to Chenngannur house on 15 March 1925 was celebrated at Chengannur even though the famous house does not exist now. Mr George Joseph died in Madurai in 1938 and the property now is in the hands of one of the descendants. Barrister George Joseph Foundation had organised the commemoration of the Mahatma’s visit to the house of George Joseph hundred years ago.

The two visits of Mahatma in a period of one week, one with a revered sage of a community and another with a firm follower of the freedom struggle from yet another community have been written about and singled out exhibiting a special character of the Mahatma. It showed his immense faith in people as they are, however small or big they may be. Plenty can be written about the Mahatma’s personal nature of respectfully relating to other people and that too with a casualness that borders on declaration of personal worth of people. In fact, the two instances show the ways in which the Mahatma reached out to people and kept them with him for the freedom movement.