Narayana guru (1856–1928), in whose name the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam was formed in early twentieth-century Kerala, challenged the claim that brahmins made to the exclusive possession of the wisdom and practices of the Vedic and Vedantic texts. Guru did this by preaching a variant of Upanishadic philosophy and establishing temples in which he installed the deities. Drawing mainly upon the writings of a disciple, Nataraja guru (1895–1973), this article explores the links between the spiritual and the political through a historicising perspective.
AbrahamJ. (2023). ‘Sanskritisation’ as appropriation of what was denied: A view from the Sree Narayana Guru movement in Kerala. Sociological Bulletin, 72(1), 18–37.
2.
AiyappanA. (1965). Social revolution in a Kerala village. Asia Publishing House.
3.
BalakrishnanP. K. (2006). Narayana guru. DC Books.
4.
CybilK. V. (2019). Victim(s), parasites and creative evolution: Narayana guru and anthropology of vision. In CybilK. V. (Ed.), Social justice: Interdisciplinary inquiries from India (pp. 155–178). Routledge.
5.
FoucaultM. (1972). The archaeology of knowledge. Pantheon Books.
GuruN. (1977). An integrated science of the Absolute (Vols. 1–2). D K Printworld.
8.
GuruN. (1989). Autobiography of an absolutist. D K Printworld.
9.
GuruN. (2003). The word of the Guru. D K Printworld.
10.
IliahK. (2001). God as political philosopher: Buddha’s challenge to Brahminism. Samya.
11.
JayaprakashM. S. (1996). Social protest in Travancore with special reference to C Kesavan. University of Kerala.
12.
KusumanK. K. (1976). The Abstention movement. Kerala Historical Society.
13.
NarayanB. (2011). The making of Dalit public in North India, Uttar Pradesh, 1950–Present. Oxford University Press.
14.
NarayanaprasadM. (2006). Narayana guru: Complete works. National Book Trust.
15.
OmanaS. (2013). Sree Narayana guru: Jeevithavum darsanavum [The life and vision of Sree Narayana guru]. Kerala Bhasha Institute.
16.
OmvedtG. (2003). Buddhism in India: Challenging brahminism and caste. Sage.
17.
QueenC. (1996). Dr Ambedkar and the hermeneutics of Buddhist liberation. In QueenC. S. & KingS. B. (Eds.), Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist liberation movements in Asia. SUNY Press.
18.
RaoA. (2009). The caste question: Dalits and the politics of modern India. California University Press.
19.
RaoM. S. A. (1957). Social change in Malabar. The Popular Book Depot.
20.
RoshniB. (2021). Pre-philosophical Advaita of Narayana guru. Paper presented in the Deleuze and Guattari Studies in India Collective, November 11–14, 2021. https://www.deleuzeindia.com/life-infinite-immanence-inflection-indeterminacy/
21.
SekherA. (2012). Sahodaran Ayyappan: Towards a democratic future. Other Books.
22.
SimondonG. (2020). Individuation in light of notions of form and information. University of Minnesota Press.
