Poykayil Yohannan

Poykayil Kumara Gurudevan (17 February 1879, in Eraviperoor – 1939), known as Poykayil Appachan or Poykayil Yohannan, was a spiritual leader, poet, Dalit emancipator, renaissance leader and the founder of the socio-religious movement Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha ("God's Society of Obvious Salvation").[1]

Poykayil Sreekumara Gurudevan
BornKumaran
(1879-02-17)February 17, 1879
Eraviperoor, Travancore, present day Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India
DiedJune 29, 1939(1939-06-29) (aged 60)
OccupationRenaissance leader, poet, Dalit Emancipator
NationalityIndian
GenrePoetry, theology, activism
SpouseJanamma

Religious work

Yohannan joined the Marthoma church, a reformist sect among the Syrian Christians, but realised the church treated Dalits as an inferior class, and so left it. He then joined a new sect called the Brethren Mission where he faced similar instances of caste based discrimination. Johannan concluded that Indian Christian communities continued to discriminate based on caste, and felt this defied the basic tenets of Christianity.[2]

In 1909, Yohannan left Christianity and started his own religious protest movement named Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha. He was known as Poikayil Appachan or Kumara Gurudevan afterwards. Johannan advocated spiritual liberation, and sought to empower and consolidate the Dalits, promoting a creed in which the "dalit castes" would be free of discrimination.[3]

Work as a legislator

Appachan was nominated twice, in 1921 and 1931, to the Sree Moolam Praja Sabha, the legislative council of the princely state of Travancore.[4]

Publications
  • Unknown Subjects: Songs of Poykayil Appachan. Translated from Malayalam by A.S. Sekher
  • Vadyakhoshangal Nadathunnavarum and Ente Vamshathepatti were featured in the Dalit Poem Collection named Kathal — published by DC Books

Media representations
  • Mannikkale Maanikkyam - Drama by V. V. Santhakumar features Yohannan

References
  1. A. T. Philip The Mar Thoma Church and Kerala society 1991 "One of the outcome was the booklet entitled Poikayil Yohannanum Veda vaipareethyavum (Poikayil Yohannan and antitheology). Yohannan is addressed as ' Appachan' by his followers."
  2. J. W. Gladstone (1984). Protestant Christianity and people's movements in Kerala: a study of Christian mass movements in relation to neo-Hindu socio-religious movements in Kerala, 1850-1936. Seminary Publications. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  3. Poikayil Johannan Archived 1 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Dr. Alex Thomas; I.S.P.C.K. (Organization) (1 August 2007). A history of the first cross-cultural mission of the Mar Thoma Church, 1910-2000. ISPCK. ISBN 978-81-7214-969-7. Retrieved 30 March 2012.

Further reading
  • Mohan, P. Sanal (2013). "Religion, Social Space, and Identity: The Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha and the Making of Cultural Boundaries in Twentieth Century Kerala". In Channa, Subhadra Mitra; Mencher, Joan P. (eds.). Life as a Dalit: Views from the Bottom on Caste in India. SAGE Publications India. ISBN 978-8-13211-777-3.
  • V. V. Swamy and E. V. Anil, "Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha - Orma, Pattu, Charithrarekhakal", Adiyardeepam Publications, 2010
  • 'Vyavastayude Nadapathakal', Society of PRDS Studies, Unseen letters, Slate Publications, 2017
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