Chennai, Dec 8, 2024
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin will inaugurate the renovated memorial of social reformer and Dravidian ideologue E. V. Ramasamy Periyar at Vaikom, Kottayam district, Kerala, on December 12.
The ceremony will be presided over by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Several dignitaries, including Kerala Ministers V. N. Vasavan and Saji Cheriyan, along with Tamil Nadu Ministers Durai Murugan, E. V. Velu, and M. P. Saminathan, were scheduled to address the event.
Key officials such as Kerala Chief Secretary Sharada Muraleedharan, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary N. Muruganandam, and Kottayam District Collector John V. Samuel were also expected to attend the event.
The memorial, renovated at a cost of Rs 8.5 crore, highlights Periyar’s relentless struggle for social justice.
Spread across 70 cents of land, the complex includes a permanent photo exhibition hall, a library, a visitor’s pavilion, a children’s park, and a statue of Periyar in a seated posture.
The inauguration coincides with the centenary of the Vaikom Satyagraha, a pivotal movement in the fight for social reforms.
In addition to the Vaikom memorial, the Tamil Nadu government was constructing another memorial for Periyar at Arookutty in Alappuzha.
The Kerala government recently transferred ownership of 54 cents of revenue “poramboke” land to Tamil Nadu for this purpose. Periyar had been imprisoned in Arookutty Jail, then part of Travancore, for a month in 1924 during the Vaikom Satyagraha.
A senior Tamil Nadu government official stated, “Though the land ownership has been updated, we are yet to take possession of the site. The memorial will honour Periyar’s contribution to the Vaikom Satyagraha and feature a prison-like design. Plans will be finalised after discussions with Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and other ministers.”
The initiative was announced in 2023 by CM Stalin, with Ministers E. V. Velu and M.P. Saminathan visiting the site to oversee progress.
The Vaikom Satyagraha (March 30, 1924 – November 23, 1925) was a non-violent movement to grant lower castes access to the public environs of the Vaikom Sree Mahadeva Temple in the princely state of Travancore.
The campaign was spearheaded by leaders such as T. K. Madhavan, K. Kelappan, K.P. Kesava Menon, George Joseph, and E.V. Ramasamy Periyar.
At the time, lower castes were forbidden not only from entering the temple but also from walking on roads surrounding it. Mahatma Gandhi visited Vaikom in March 1925 to mediate.
Following his intervention, Regent Sethu Lakshmi Bayi allowed access to the north, south, and west roads but retained restrictions on the eastern road.
The partial compromise was criticised by Periyar, who continued to advocate for full equality.
In 1936, with the Temple Entry Proclamation, lower castes were granted access to the temple and its eastern road.
The Vaikom Satyagraha became a landmark in Kerala’s history of social reform, introducing the methods of non-violent protest to the region.(Agency)
