90th Anniversary of Sivagiri Pilgrimage

Prime Minister will participate in the inaugural ceremony of yearlong joint celebrations of 90th anniversary of Sivagiri Pilgrimage.

Key Points

• Sivagiri Pilgrimage is held every year for three days from December 30 to January 1 at Sivagiri, Thiruvananthapuram. 
• According to the Shri Narayana Guru, the aim of pilgrimage should be the creation of comprehensive knowledge among the people and the pilgrimage should help in their overall development and prosperity.
• The pilgrimage, therefore, focuses on eight subjects:
• education, cleanliness, piety, handicrafts, trade and commerce, agriculture, science & technology, and organised endeavor.
• The pilgrimage started with a handful of devotees in 1933 but now has become one of the major events in South India.
• Every year, lakhs of devotees from all over the world irrespective of caste, creed, religion, and language visit Sivagiri to participate in the pilgrimage.
• Shri Narayan Guru had also envisioned a place to teach the principles of all religions with equanimity and equal respect.
• The Brahma Vidhyalaya of Sivagiri was set up to realise this vision.
• Brahma Vidhyalaya offers a course of 7 years on Indian Philosophy including the works of Shri Narayan Guru and scriptures of all important religions of the world.

About Shri Narayan Guru

• Sree Narayana Guru was born on 22nd August 1856 to Madan Asan and his wife Kuttiyamma in Chempazhanthy, a village near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
• The Guru was born into an Ezhava family, in an era when people from backward communities like the Ezhavas faced social injustice in the caste-ridden Kerala society.
• Gurudevan, as he was known among his followers, led a Reform movement in Kerala.
• He revolted against the caste system and worked on propagating new values of freedom in spirituality and social equality which transformed the Kerala society.
• He learned Vedas, Upanishads, literature, logical rhetoric of Sanskrit, Hatha Yoga and other philosophies.
• He gave the famous slogan “One Caste, One Religion, One God for All” (Oru Jathi, Oru Matham, Oru Daivam, Manushyanu).
• In 1888, he built a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva at Aruvippuram which was against the caste-based restrictions of the time.
• Later, in 1903, he established the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), a charitable society as the founder and president.
• In 1924, the Sivagiri pilgrimage was established to promote the virtues of cleanliness, education, devotion, agriculture, handicrafts, and trade.