VAIKOM SATYAGRAHA

Why in News?                                                                                                        

As the year 2024 marks the centenary of the Vaikom Satyagraha, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin jointly inaugurated the centenary celebrations, during a function held at Vaikom on April 1, 2023.

What is Vaikom Satyagraha?

• It is the first anti-caste movement, as the pupil of the depressed class and untouchables were restricted from entering the temple.
• This Satyagraha was to establish the rights of the oppressed classes to walk on the roads to the Shree Mahadeva Temple in Vaikom in Kottayam district.
• The issue of temple entry was first raised by Ezhava leader TK Madhavan in a 1917 editorial in his paper Deshabhimani.
• In AICC (All India Congress Committee) meeting in Kakinada 1923, K Madhavan along with Sardar Panikkar and KP Kesava Menon submitted a petition to the Travancore legislative council.
• The petition sought to grant the right to temple entry and worship of gods for all sections of the society irrespective of caste, creed, and community.
• It was launched on 30th March 1924.
• The movement in the vicinity of Mahadev temple in Kottayam district of Kerala took place during 1924-1925.
• Prominent people who supported this Satyagraha are Sree Narayana Guru and Periyar E.V Ramaswamy.
• Gandhi arrived at Vaikom in March 1925, held a series of discussions with leaders of various caste groups and met Maharani Regent at her Varkala camp.
• The Vaikom Satyagraha was officially withdrawn on November 30, 1925 after consultations between Gandhi and W.H. Pitt (police commissioner of Travancore).
• A compromise was reached following the release of all prisoners and grant of access to roads.
• Temple Entry Proclamation: In 1936, the historic Temple Entry Proclamation was signed by the Maharaja of Travancore which removed the age-old ban on the entry of temples.