Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam
 Sree Narayana Guru | |
| Abbreviation | SNDP |
|---|---|
| Formation | 15 May 1903 |
| Founder | Sree Narayana Guru |
| Type | Caste based organization |
| Headquarters |
 |
| Location | |
Official language | Malayalam |
Life time Chairman | Sree Narayana Guru |
The Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam also known as SNDP was founded in 1903 with the guidance and blessings of Sree Narayana Guru. The SNDP is a charitable society working for the spiritual and educational uplift of the Ezhava community for the past 114 years.The SNDP Yogam drew inspiration from the ideas of Narayana Guru, which suited the aspirations of the upwardly mobile Ezhava middle class, who were the main benefactors of the movement. In both religious and social matters, the Guru was a traditionalist who strove to create a modern outlook among the masses. Narayana Guru conceived of the temple as a social space where everybody could meet and exchange ideas. While pursuing his spiritual mission, he advocated education, industrialization, and abolition of caste as necessary prerequisites for social regeneration. Guru stood against caste-based discrimination that was largely prevalent in Kerala, as also across India. This work demonstrates that the SNDP was an organization of an emerging Ezhava middle class, which worked as both its strength and weakness. It focused on such issues as education, employment in government service, industrialization, abolition of cyclical rituals and caste, anti-alcoholism and the demand for a new law of inheritance. However, some mismatch between principles and practice exist in the functioning of the SNDP Yogam.
See also
References
- (Re)construction of ‘the Social’ for Making a Modern Kerala: Reflections on Narayana Guru’s Social Philosophy, Satheese Chandra Bose, published in Satheese Chandra Bose and Shiju Sam Varughese (eds.) 2015. Kerala Modernity: Ideas, Spaces and Practices in Transition. Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan.