Padmanabhan Palpu

Dr. Padmanabhan Palpu LMS, DPH (Cantab) FRIPH (Lond) (2 November 1863 – 25 January 1950) was a bacteriologist and a leader of the Indian Renaissance.[1] He is well-known for his yeoman service during the plague in the erstwhile Mysore State. Dr. Palpu was posted as the first health officer during the plague outbreak and played a key role in containing the spread in Bangalore. The Maharaja of Mysore later felicitated him for arduous service to state, and he was instrumental in setting up the Victoria Hospital (Bangalore Medical College) in Bangalore.[2]

Dr. Padmanabhan Palpu
Born
Palpu

(1863-11-02)2 November 1863
Pettah, Kingdom of Travancore, British India
(present day Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India)
Died25 January 1950(1950-01-25) (aged 86)
OccupationDoctor
Spouse(s)Bhagavathi
ChildrenThree sons and two daughters

In 1903, he founded the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) with the guidance and blessings of Sree Narayana Guru to create a modern outlook among people.

Life

Palpu was born on 2 November 1863 in Pettah, Thiruvananthapuram,then a part of the princely state of Travancore in British India. His family was wealthy and well-educated. Dr Palpu married Bhagyavathi; they had three sons and two daughters. His third son Thampi (Nataraja Guru) was a famous disciple of Sree Narayana Guru and founded Sree Narayana Gurukukam at Varkala where Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati did his spiritual practice. [3][4]

Palpu attended Maharaja's College in Thiruvananthapuram but was subsequently refused admission to Travancore Medical College in 1878. He attended a similar college in Chennai and then went to England, where he continued his medical training at London and Cambridge. Returning to India, he found that his low caste status prevented him from obtaining employment in the Travancore Health Service, which meant that he had to relocate to Mysore to get work. Here he worked as the Jail Superintendent.[5][6]

Dr Palpu believed that community development should be through a spiritual leadership and education. So he approached Sree Narayana Guru to establish Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam SNDP. He also influenced the political philosophy of C. Kesavan.[7][8]

Dr. Palpu Memorial Award

2012 Dr. M. R. Rajagopal

2013 M. K. Sanu

2014 V. M. Sudheeran

2015 Gokulam Gopalan

See also (Kerala social reformers):

References
  1. "Dr. Palpu (Social Reformer) Padmanabhan". Geni.
  2. "How another pandemic gave rise to Karnataka's health services". Times of India.
  3. Wilson, Caroline (2011). "The social transformation of the medical profession in urban Kerala : Doctors, social mobility and the middle classes". In Donner, Henrike (ed.). Being Middle-class in India: A Way of Life. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 193–194. ISBN 978-0-415-67167-5.
  4. Nossiter, Thomas Johnson (1982). "Kerala's identity: unity and diversity". Communism in Kerala: a study in political adaptation. University of California Press. pp. 25–27. ISBN 978-0-520-04667-2.
  5. Gadgil, Madhav (2005). Ecological Journeys. Orient Blackswan. pp. 82–83. ISBN 9788178241128.
  6. Ramusack, Barbara N. (2004). The Indian Princes and their States. Cambridge University Press. p. 214. ISBN 9781139449083.
  7. Kumar, Udaya (2009). "Subjects of New Lives". In Ray, Bharati (ed.). Different Types of History. Pearson Education India. p. 326. ISBN 9788131718186.
  8. Kurup, K. K. N. (1988). Modern Kerala: Studies in Social and Agrarian Relations. Mittal Publications. p. 99. ISBN 9788170990949.

Further reading
  • Jeffrey, Robin (1974). "The social origins of a caste association, 1875–1905: The founding of the S.N.D.P. Yogam". South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. 1. 4 (1): 39–59. doi:10.1080/00856407408730687. (subscription required)
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