Sree Narayana Sevika Samajam

Last updated

Sree Narayana Sevika Samajam
Sree Narayana Sevika Samajam.jpg
Formation1964
TypeNon Profitable
PurposeCharity
Headquarters Aluva
V.P.Seemandini
Website http://www.snsevika.org/

Sree Narayana Sevika Samajam is a charitable organization situated at Thottumugham, Aluva, Ernakulam District, Kerala, India which is also known as Sree Narayana Giri. [1] [2] [3] It was established in the year 1965 under Societies Registration Act, Travancore, 1955. Sreenarayana Sevika Samajam seeks to give a home to those who would otherwise have none. An atmosphere of a large family prevails in the orphanage. [4] [5] [6] The institution is totally managed by women. [7]

Contents

History

Giri is located on a hill in a village of Keezhumadu, near Thottumugham, about 5 km from Aluva, an industrial town in central Kerala. This hill has close association with the saint and social reformer, Sree Narayana Guru, and his follower, Sahodaran Ayyappan. The Guru used to spend long hours in meditation on this hill. The rock on which he sat is still carefully preserved under a cenotaph.

The land on this hill once belonged to a person convicted for murder. By the time he was released from custody, he had repented his act and later became a disciple of Sree Narayana Guru. The Guru gave him a name, Valmiki. He donated the hill to the Guru and it got the name Valmiki Kunnu(Valmiki Hill). In the course of time, it came to be known as Sree Narayana Giri. It was there that Sahodaran Ayyappan and his wife, Parvathy Ayyappan, set about practicing Sree Narayana Guru's precept that Service to humanity is Service to God. They established the Sree Narayana Sevika Samajam in 1964.

At that time Thottummugham was a backward area inhabited by the weakest sections living in poverty and misery. The first step was to start a school. Getting children to attend classes was not an easy task. Parents refused to send their children unless they were paid at least Rs.2 every day since the child could have earned that money by begging! Incredible, but true. It took patient cajoling to persuade parents to let their children attend school. Schooling them involved more than teaching them to read and write. The children had to be catalyst for social change and reformation, giving the poorest in society a sense of dignity and hope of betterment.

This lower primary school gives education to the local children up to the fourth standard when they would be about 10 years old. There are eleven teachers, including one for Arabic. Shortly afterwards, a Nursery School was started. There were just 32 children when the Nursery began. Although not directly related to the Nursery School, a balanced and nutritious meal is given to pregnant women, nursing mothers and children below 3 years. This programme, which is funded by the Kerala State Social Welfare Board, has been of a great benefit to women and children of this still relatively poor area.

The institution has been fortunate to elicit appreciation from eminent personalities of different walks of life. Sri. K.R. Narayanan the former president of India visited the institution and recorded his admiration.

Functions

The institution is working in different sectors.

Ananda Bhavanam : The Orphanage [8]

The idea of starting an orphanage took when a two-year-old boy was brought to Sahodharan Ayyappan with sore covering his body. His parents had died under a train and a policeman found the little boy wandering near the railway station. The child was treated by Sahodharan Ayyappan's son-in-law, who is a doctor. Sahodaran Ayyappan named the boy Jawahar and wished that he too could become the Prime Minister of India, believing that someone who had undergone such trauma in childhood would be motivated to use the machinery of State of good.

Anannda Bhavanam was established so that abandoned children could be given a home. They have successfully created the atmosphere of a family where children feel secure and go through all the usual childhood experience of pranks, fights, sulks and reconciliation. The girls who have grown up here often return after marriage to have their baby, as they would in any normal Indian family.

Santhi Mandiram : Home for destitute women

This section of the Samajam tries to bring peace to women who have no means to fend for themselves. There are many women staying in this place at present.

Visrama Sadanam

This part of Samajam looks after women over 60 years of age, who physically or mentally incapacitated.

Library

A library is also working in Samajam. More than 30000 books are available in the library.

Related Research Articles

Narayana Guru Indian spiritual leader and social reformer

Narayana Guru was a philosopher, spiritual leader and social reformer in India. He was born into a family that belonged to the Ezhava caste. He led a reform movement against the injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala in order to promote spiritual enlightenment and social equality.

Aluva Suburb in Ernakulam, Kerala, India

Aluva is a municipality and a suburb of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India. It is a part of the Kochi Metropolitan area and is situated around 15 km (9.3 mi) from the city center on the banks of Periyar River. A major transportation hub, with easy access to all major forms of transportation, Aluva acts as a corridor which links the highland districts to the rest of the state. Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery is 11.7 km from Aluva. Aluva is accessible through rail, air, metro along with major highways and roadlines.

Ernakulam Downtown in Kerala, India

Ernakulampronunciation , is a portion of the city of Kochi in central Kerala, India and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. The Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation and the Cochin Stock Exchange are situated here. Ernakulam is known as the commercial capital of Kerala. The Ernakulam Junction is a major railway station of the Indian Railways. Initially, Ernakulam was the headquarters of the Ernakulam District but was later shifted to Kakkanad. Ernakulam was once the capital of the Kingdom of Cochin. It is located 220 kilometres (137 mi) north - west of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city has served as an incubator for many Malayali entrepreneurs and is a major financial and commercial hub of Kerala.

Kumbalathuparambu Ayyappan, better identified as Sahodaran Ayyappan, was a social reformer, thinker, rationalist, journalist, and politician from Kerala, India. A vocal follower of Sree Narayana Guru, he was associated with a number of events related to the Kerala reformation movement and was the organizer of Misra Bojana in Cherai in 1917. He founded Sahodara Sangam, and the journal Sahodaran and was the founder editor of the magazine Yukthivadhi.

Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham (KYS) is a well known rationalist group based in Kerala, India. It stands for rationalism and humanism. It is the initiator of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations.

Sivagiri, Kerala suburb of Varkala city in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

Sivagiri is a pilgrimage centre in Varkala where the tomb or samadhi of Sree Narayana Guru is situated. The town is also the place where Guru build the Sarada Temple dedicated to Sarada Devi the goddess of knowledge. His tomb attracts thousands of devotees every year during the Sivagiri Pilgrimage days(Sivagiri Theerthadanam), from 30 December to 1 January.

Mannar, Alappuzha Town in Kerala, India

Mannar is a small business town in Chengannur Taluk near to Veeyapuram and Haripad in Alappuzha District of Kerala state, India, on State Highway 6. It is also known as the Bell Metal Town.

Muloor S. Padmanabha Panicker

Mooloor S. Padmanābha Panicker (1869-1931) was a poet and a prominent social reform activist from the Travancore region of present-day Kerala.

Alwaye Advaita Ashram

Advaita Ashram - the ashrams in Aluva, founded in 1913 Sree Narayana Guru. Here he also established a Sanskrit school to restore the sanctity of the language through which universal spiritual teachings can be grasped and imparted to dedicated disciples.

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.

M. K. Sanu

M. K. Sanu is a Malayali writer, critic, retired professor, biographer, journalist, orator, social activist, and human rights activist. He is a prominent literary figure who has authored over thirty-six books. He is a permanent member of the International Body for Human Rights, as well as the founding member of the Mithram, a school for the mentally handicapped, in Mulanthuruthy, Ernakulam District, Kerala. He was a member of the award selection committee of the Vayalar Rama Varma Literary Award; however, he resigned in September 2019. In 2011, he won the Padmaprabha Literary Award.

Peringottukara village in Kerala, India

Peringottukara is a village in the western coastal side of India, located on the western side of Thrissur district, Kerala. The village is much famous for Vishnumaya Temples. Peringottukara village includes kizhakkumuri, vadakkumuri, and peringottukara center. Peringottukara village has main two junctions, the four-way junction, and three-way junction. The four-way junction has a petrol pump, three-star hotel, hypermarket, nationalized bank, Co-operative banks, and grocery stores. Peringottukara 3 way junction also has the same facilities. There are Chathan Seva temples at Peringottukara, such as Kanadi Kavu, Avanangattu Kalari, and Devasthanam. Among these Kanadi Kavu is the biggest and oldest Temple. The biggest built, Shiva Parvathy Vishnumaya Terracotta Statue in Kerala is situated in front of the Peringottukara devasthanam, Its height is 52 ft.

Sree Narayana College, Nattika is a Government aided college in Nattika, Thrissur District of Kerala, India. It was founded in the name of Sree Narayana Guru in 1967. It is affiliated to the University of Calicut.

The SAS SNDP Yogam College is the first college in Konni, Kerala, India. It was started by the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), in 1995. resolved to establish a college at Konni in Memorial obeisance to the great philosopher and social reformer, Sahodaran Ayyappan, an ardent disciple of Sree Narayana Guru to provide better, higher educational facilities mainly for the backward classes of the region.

V. P. Seemandini

V.P. Seemandini is a designated Senior Advocate mainly practicing in Constitutional matters from 1976 in High Court of Kerala and Supreme Court of India.

Ezhava is a caste in Kerala. Shiva is a Hindu god. Siva idol was consecrated by social reformer Sree Narayana Guru at Aruvippuram, in 1888. Ezhava Siva refers not to Siva as God but to the tongue-in-cheek reply given by Sree Narayana Guru when questioned by a group of Brahmins about the legitimacy of a non Brahmin consecrating a temple. This was a major break from tradition as installation of idols by non Brahmins was considered blasphemy and Sree Narayana Guru belonged to the lower caste Ezhava community. The sarcasm was meant to highlight the immorality of Brahmins who denied social spaces and the right to worship from the lower castes.

The Reformation movement in Kerala refers to a socio-cultural movement that began towards the end of 19th century and led to large scale changes in the social outlook of the southern Indian state of Kerala.

Sree Narayana Guru College of Engineering and Technology

Sree Narayana Guru College of Engineering & Technology was established in 2003 by Sree Bhakthi Samvardhani Yogam. It is named after Sree Narayana Guru (1855–1928).

References