Chattampi Swamikal birth anniversary

Today September 12^th is the birth anniversary of a great saint and social reformer Sri Chattambi Swamikal.

Born in 1853, he fought against social injustice and strive hard to bring  social equality to an otherwise heavily ritualistic and caste ridden Hindu society that prevailed around the late 19th and early 20th centuries across the present-day Kerala

Swamikal encouraged vegetarianism and professed non-violence.He was a scholar in Malayalam,Sanskrit and Tamil. He was open to learning other religions and authored several literary works on spirituality and the history of language.

’Christhumathachedanam’ written by swamikal critically analyses the fallacies of Bible which helped to counter the rampant missionary conversion activities at the time.

Chattampi Swamikal was known by different names through his intellectually and spiritually enriched life. Swamiji’s original name is said to have been Ayyappan, although he was later known as Kunjan Pilla and also as Shanmughadasan. In later life his formal name as a respected sage was Sree Vidyadhiraja Parama Bhattaraka Chattampi Swamikal.

After Swamikal went into Maha Samadhi in 1925, his mortal remains were enshrined at his Samadhistanam at Panmana near Kollam. The site is today called Panmana Ashramam, which is a centre for social service and spiritual practices.

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