Poykayil Yohannan

Poykayil Sree Kumara Gurudevan (17 February 1879 – 29 June 1939), known as Poykayil Appachan or Poykayil Yohannan^[a], was a spiritual leader, poet, Dalit emancipator, renaissance leader and the founder of the Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha ("God's Society of Obvious Salvation"), a socio-religious movement dedicated to the spiritual liberation and social upliftment of the oppressed castes of Kerala.^[1][2][3]

Poykayil Sreekumara Gurudevan
Born	Kumaran (1879-02-17)17 February 1879 Eraviperoor, Travancore, present day Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India
Died	29 June 1939(1939-06-29) (aged 60)
Occupation	poet social reformer
Nationality	Indian
Genre	Poetry theology activism
Spouse	V. Janamma (Ammachi)

Early life

Poykayil Appachan, born on 17 February 1879 in Eraviperoor near Tiruvalla in central Travancore (now Kerala ) grew up in a region which were dominated by upper-caste Hindus and Syrian Christians, which influenced his later efforts in organizing and uplifting oppressed communities.^[4] His parents were slave laborers for Christian families and they named the boy Komaran when he was a child, nicknamed Kumaran. He changed his name into Yohannan (Malayalam word for John). As a slave child, he learned letters and spread the message of equity and justice among fellow outcastes. He strategically used the Christian façade for spreading the word of salvation and liberation among the excluded. He broke the stereotype of Dalit Christian identity by rationally critiquing the very foundations of the teachings of the church and burning the Bible.^[5]

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. Yohannan concluded that Indian Christian communities continued to discriminate based on caste, and felt this defied the basic tenets of Christianity.^[6]

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.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[7][better source needed]}

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.^[8]

In popular culture

• Mannikkale Maanikkyam - Drama written by V. V. Santha kumar that features life of Appachan^[9]
• A documentary film titled Roopakam (Metaphor), directed by Prasobh Divakaran, also showcases the life and contributions of Poykayil Appachan. The film was selected for screening in the Focus category of the 12th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK).^[10]

See also

• Narayana Guru
• Ayyankali
• Chattampi Swamikal