Advaita Ashramam

Narayana Guru (1854 - 1928), the great sage and social reformer from a village named Chempazhanthi near Thiruvananthapuram, transformed the social face of the State through his teachings. His father was a Sanskrit scholar and an Ayurvedic doctor. He was married but after a few years he became a wandering ascetic.

A new phase began in the Guru's life in 1904. He decided to give up his wandering life and settle down in a place to continue his Sadhana (spiritual practice).For this he chose Sivagiri, twenty miles to the north of Thiruvananthapuram. Goddess 'Amba' became his deity of worship.

Next, he started a Sanskrit school in Varkala. Poor boys and orphans were taken under his care. They were given education regardless of caste distinctions. At Varkala, a temple for Anjengo (Anjaneya) was built. Temples were built at different places - Trichur, Kannur, Tellicherry , Calicut, and Mangalore. A temple was built for Sharada Devi in 1912, at Sivagiri. Worship at such temples by different communities helped to reduce to a large extent superstitious beliefs and practices.

In 1913, he founded an Ashram at Alwaye. It was called Advaita Ashram. This was an important event in his spiritual quest. This Ashram was dedicated to a great principle – ‘Om Sahodaryam Sarvatra ‘(‘All men are equal in the eyes of God’). This became the motto of the new Ashram.

When Narayana Guru attained the age of sixty, his birth day was observed throughout the west-coast from Mangalore to Sri Lanka. Between the years 1918 and 1923 he visited and taught in Sri Lanka. In 1921, a Conference of Universal Brotherhood was held at Alwaye. Again in 1924, a conference of all religions was held at Alwaye. The Guru stressed the need for a Brahma Vidyalaya for a comparitive study of different religious faiths. An institution called Narayana Gurukula was established at the Nilgiris.

Sree Narayana Guru Devan has many followers and disciples. Nataraja Guru, a notable disciple of Sree Narayana Guru introduced the Guru's visions and ideals to the western world. He worked towards building 'Gurukulams' across the world. He was a great scholar and had a never-ending thirst for knowledge. He had pure devotion for Sree Narayana Guru.

Sivagiri Mutt

Sivagiri is a famous pilgimage centre in Varkala where reformer and sage Sree Narayana Guru's tomb is located.It is the place where the Guru was enlightened and got salvation. The Samadhi (the final resting place) of the Guru here attracts thousands of devotees every year during the Sivagiri pilgrimage days from 30 December to 1 January.

Gurudevan's association with Sivagiri in Varkala in south Kerala dates back to 1904. Varkala used to be known as the southern Benares. A lover of nature and places radiant with natural beauty, Narayana Guru built a hermitage on top of the Sivagiri hill and stayed there. He grew some plants around the place. That solitary hill began to attract public attention ever since Gurudevan appeared there.

In course of time, the Travancore state government granted the Sivagiri hill to Gurudevan and the people gave some of the surrounding places to him as gifts. Later Sivagiri grew into the nerve centre of Sree Narayana movements.

At first, an elementary school was established there. A night school was also founded for the illiterate people of untouchable castes (or the present scheduled castes and tribes). Lots of people came to Sivagiri to have a darshan of Gurudevan.

After travelling many places in South India and Sri Lanka and establishing temples, he did the prathishta of the goddess Sree Sarada at Sivagiri in April 1912. It ranks as the most remarkable among his consecration of temple deities, and occupies a distinguished place in history. Foundation for it had been laid in 1909. The same year he composed the poem "jananee navarathna manjari".

According to the Indian concept, the goddess Saraswathy is the prime goddess of knowledge. But there are very few temples in Kerala with Saraswathy prathishta. Sivagiri Sarada Mutt was planned and designed by Gurudevan who took particular interest in it. Ordinary temples do not have windows. Gurudevan called this temple, which is octagonal in shape, 'Sarada Mutt.’ Here unlike in other temples, there is no nivedyam (offering of food to the deity) or abhishekam (pouring oil, ghee etc on the idol). Devotees can worship the goddess by reciting hymns. The idol of Saraswathy seated on a white lotus is the symbol of knowledge blossoming on whiteness or purity.

The Sarada Consecration Committee had Dr.P.Palpu as its president and famous poet Kumaran Asan was the secretary. The Sarada temple and mutt has now become a unique place of pilgrimage. The Sri Narayana Jayanthi, birthday of the Guru, and the Samadhi day are befittingly celebrated in August and September respectively every year. On these days colourful raleighs, seminars, public meetings, cultural shows, community feasts and special rituals are held. In the last week of December, devotees of Sree Narayana Guru, donned in yellow attire, stream to Sivagiri from different parts of Kerala and outside, in what may be called a pilgrimage of enlightenment. Seminars and discussions on various themes of modern life ranging from industrialisation to women's emancipation are held during the days of pilgrimage. The Mahasamadhi of Sree Narayana Guru also attracts a large number of devotees and tourists.

The Sivagiri Mutt, built in 1904, is situated at the top of the Sivagiri hill near Varkala. Even decades after the guru breathed his last here in 1928, his samadhi continues to be thronged by thousands of devotees, donned in yellow attire, from different parts of Kerala and outside every year during the Sivagiri Pilgrimage days.The Sivagiri Mutt is also the headquarters of the Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham, an organization of his disciples and saints, established by the Guru to spread his concept of 'One Caste, One Religion, One God'(‘Oru jathy, Oru matham, Oru deivam’).