Sree Narayana Guru was a philosopher, spiritual leader and social reformer in India. He led a reform movement against the injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala in order to promote spiritual enlightenment and social equality. A quote of his that defined his movement was "one caste, one religion, and one god for all human beings." He is the author of the Advaita poem Daiva Dasakam, which is one of the most used poem in Kerala for community prayer.
Madath Thekkepaattu Vasudevan Nair, popularly known as M.T., is an Indian author, screenplay writer and film director. He is a prolific and versatile writer in modern Malayalam literature, and is one of the masters of post-Independence Indian literature. At the age of 20, as a chemistry undergraduate, he won the prize for the best short story in Malayalam at World Short Story Competition conducted by The New York Herald Tribune. His first major novel Naalukettu, written at the age of 23, won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1958. His other novels include Manju (Mist), Kaalam (Time), Asuravithu and Randamoozham. The deep emotional experiences of his early days have gone into the making of MT's novels. Most of his works are oriented towards the basic Malayalam family structure and culture and many of them were path-breaking in the history of Malayalam literature. His three seminal novels on life in the matriarchal family in Kerala are Naalukettu, Asuravithu, and Kaalam. Randamoozham, which retells the story of the Mahabharatha from the point of view of Bhimasena, is widely credited as his masterpiece.
M. Fathima Beevi was an Indian judge who was a justice of the Supreme Court of India. Appointed to the apex Court in 1989, she became the first female judge to be a part of the Supreme Court of India, and the first Muslim woman to be appointed to any of the higher judiciaries in the country. On her retirement from the court, she served as a member of the National Human Rights Commission and later as the Governor of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu from 1997 to 2001. In 2023, she was honoured with Kerala Prabha Award, the second-highest honour given by the Government of Kerala. In the 2024 honours list, she was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan.
University of Kerala, formerly the University of Travancore, is a state-run public university in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma who was also the first Chancellor of the university. C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer, the then Diwan of the State was the first Vice-Chancellor. It was the first university in Kerala, and among the first in the country. It is accredited by NAAC with highest grade of A++ and scored 3.67 points out of 4.
Mannathu Padmanabhan was an Indian social reformer and freedom fighter from the south-western state of Kerala. He is recognised as the founder of the Nair Service Society (NSS), which represents the Nair community that constitutes 15.5% of the population of the state. His birthday is observed as Mannam Jayanti every year. Padmanabhan is considered a visionary reformer who organised the Nair community under the NSS.
The Nair Service Society (NSS) is an organisation created for the social advancement and welfare of the Nair community that is found primarily in the state of Kerala in Southern part of India. It was established under the leadership of Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai. The NSS is a three-tier organisation with Karayogams at the base level, Taluk Unions at the intermediate level and a central headquarters operating from Perunna, Changanassery in Kerala. G. Sukumaran Nair is currently the General Secretary.
Kanayi Kunhiraman is an Indian sculptor, best known for his outsize sculptures such as Yakshi of Malampuzha Dam Gardens, Sagarakanyaka at Shankumugham Beach and Mukkola Perumal trinity in Kochi. Taught by K. C. S. Paniker, he is a former chairman of the Lalit Kala Academy, India's national academy of fine arts. The Government of Kerala awarded him the inaugural Raja Ravi Varma Award in 2005. He is also a recipient of the Thikkurissy Award and the inaugural MS Nanjunda Rao National Award of the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. In 2022, he was honoured with Kerala Sree Award, third highest civilian award given by the Government of Kerala.
Gopinath Muthukad is an Indian magician and motivational speaker from Kerala. He employs magic as a medium to convey his messages to public. Muthukad founded the world's first magic academy, The Academy of Magical Sciences, and first magic museum, Magic Planet at Thiruvananthapuram.
Thinakkal Padmanabhan, popularly known as T. Padmanabhan, is an Indian short story writer of Malayalam literature. He is a recipient of several awards including the Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, the highest literary award of the Government of Kerala. He declined some of the earlier awards he was selected for which include Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award (1973), Odakkuzhal Award (1995) and Sahitya Akademi Award (1996). Mahatma Gandhi University conferred on him the honoris causa degree of the Doctor of Letters in 2018. In 2023, he was honoured with the Kerala Jyothi Award, the highest civilian award given by the Kerala Government.
Nadan is a 2013 Malayalam drama film directed by Kamal and written by S. Suresh Babu. Jayaram and Remya Nambeeshan play the lead roles, while the rest of the cast are former theatre artists that include K. P. A. C. Lalitha, Joy Mathew, P. Balachandran, Hareesh Peradi and Sasi Kalinga. It was produced by Anilkumar Ambalakkara under the banner of Ambalakkara Global Films. Nadan features some famous scenes from the famous Kerala People's Arts Club dramas Ningalenne Communistakki and Mudiyanaya Puthran.
C. V. Kunhiraman was an Indian social reformer, journalist and the founder of Kerala Kaumudi daily. A follower of Sree Narayana Guru, Kunhiraman was the author of a number of books covering the genres of novels, short story, poetry, biographies and essays. He was one of the leaders involved in the Vaikom Satyagraha of Reformation movement in Kerala which led to the Temple Entry Proclamation.
Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram is an institution for legal education at graduate and post-graduate levels in Kerala, India. Established by the then Maharaja of Travancore in 1875, it is one of the oldest law colleges in India. Affiliated to the Faculty of Law of University of Kerala and the Bar Council of India, the college is supervised and controlled by the Government of Kerala.
N. P. Mohammed, popularly known by his initials N. P., was an Indian novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Malayalam language. Along with his contemporaries like M. T. Vasudevan Nair, O. V. Vijayan, Kakkanadan, and Madhavikutty, he was known to have been one of the pioneers of modernist movement in Malayalam fiction. He was the president of Kerala Sahitya Akademi and a recipient of several awards including Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Novel, Lalithambika Antharjanam Award, Padmaprabha Literary Award and the Muttathu Varkey Award.
University College, Thiruvananthapuram, often abbreviated as UCT, is a public college situated in Palayam, Thiruvananthapuram, India. Established in 1866, it is one of the oldest colleges in Kerala. The college has been accorded "College with Potential for Excellence" (CPE) status by the University Grants Commission. University College is identified as a heritage institution by the Government of Kerala.
Dr. V. P. Gangadharan is an Indian oncologist, known for his support to poor and needy cancer patients by providing them with subsidised medicines and free counselling through Cochin Cancer Society. He was the former Head of the Department at Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. He has undergone training at The Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, London and George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. He was massively involved in the formation of Cochin Cancer Society in 2004, by coordinating people having experienced the ordeal of either having a cancer patient in their family or being a survivor of the disease. He is known to be as "Saint with Stethoscope". In 2023, he was honoured with Kerala Sree Award, third highest civilian award given by the Government of Kerala.
M. T. Vasudevan Nair
Mammootty
Gopinath Muthukad
Kanayi Kunhiraman
M. P. Parameswaran
Sathyabhama Das Biju
Vaikom Vijayalakshmi
