Kerala celebrates 160th Ayyankali Jayanthi with top leaders recalling his work

Kerala celebrated the 160th birth anniversary of renowned social reformer Ayyankali with senior political leaders remembering his contribution to uplift the oppressed and ensure education for the downtrodden in the state.

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala on Monday celebrated the 160th birth anniversary of renowned social reformer Ayyankali with senior political leaders remembering his contribution to uplift the oppressed and ensure education for the downtrodden in the state.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and the leaders of the Congress, among others, took to social media to remember the social reformer. “Ayyankali Ji with his undeterred efforts, paved the way for universal education in our society while establishing the rights of the farmers. His ideals will continue to guide humanity through time immemorial,” Shah said in a post on X.

---

Governor Khan said Ayyankali had the courage to defy oppressive tenets and to lead a historic struggle to ensure education for the downtrodden in Kerala.

Ayyankali (1863 – 1941) was a social reformer who worked for the liberation of Dalits, who were considered as untouchables, in the then princely state of Travancore.

In 1893, Ayyankali challenged the prohibition on lower caste people from using public roads in the erstwhile Travancore kingdom by riding a ‘Villu Vandi’ (bullock-cart).

In 1914, he enrolled Panchami, a Dalit child, in a school in Travancore, resulting in a massive agitation, and the school was burned down by the upper caste Hindus.

“Honouring the legacy of Mahatma Ayyankali, a beacon of social reform and empowerment, on his Jayanti. His tireless efforts to uplift the oppressed inspire us all. Let us pay tribute to him by continuing the struggle for a just and inclusive society that he envisioned,” Vijayan said in a social media post.

The Congress remembered Ayyankali as one of the most influential Dalit activists in colonial Kerala.

“He challenged the social atrocities and is widely remembered for his brave act of defiance, wherein he rode a bullock cart to defy caste oligarchs,” the Congress posted on social media.

In 2019, the iconic Victoria Jubilee Town Hall in the state capital, previously known as VJT Hall, was renamed after Mahatma Ayyankali.

The cover page of the 2019-20 state budget depicted a picture of Ayyankali and Panchami.

Ayyankali became a member of the assembly of Travancore, known as the Sree Moolam Popular Assembly (SMPA) or Praja Sabha in 1912 representing the Pulaya community.