Poykayil Yohannan Explained
| Poykayil Sreekumara Gurudevan |
| Birth Name: | Kumaran |
| Birth Date: | 17 February 1879 |
| Birth Place: | Eraviperoor, Travancore, present day Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India |
| Spouse: | V.Janamma (Ammachi) |
| Occupation: | Renaissance leader, poet, Spiritual Emancipator |
| Nationality: | Indian |
| Genre: | Poetry, theology, activism |
Poykayil Sree Kumara Gurudevan (17 February 1879, in Eraviperoor – 1939), known as Poykayil Appachan or Poykayil Yohannan, was a spiritual leader, poet, Dalit emancipator, renaissance leader and the founder of the socio-religious movement Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha ("God's Society of Obvious Salvation").[1]
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.[2]
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. 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.[3]
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.[4]
Publications
- Unknown Subjects: Songs of Poykayil Appachan. Translated from Malayalam by A.S. Sekher
- Vadyakhoshangal Nadathunnavarum and Ente Vamshathepatti were featured in the Dalit Poem Collection named Kathal — published by DC Books
- Poikayil Appachan's biography translated from Malayalam by Deepthy Krishna
Media representations
- Mannikkale Maanikkyam - Drama by V. V. Santhakumar features Yohannan
Further reading
- Book: Mohan, P. Sanal . Religion, Social Space, and Identity: The Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha and the Making of Cultural Boundaries in Twentieth Century Kerala . Life as a Dalit: Views from the Bottom on Caste in India . Subhadra Mitra . Channa . Joan P. . Mencher . SAGE Publications India . 2013 . 978-8-13211-777-3 .
- V. V. Swamy and E. V. Anil, "Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha - Orma, Pattu, Charithrarekhakal", Adiyardeepam Publications, 2010
- 'Vyavastayude Nadapathakal', Society of PRDS Studies, Unseen letters, Slate Publications, 2017
- Raj,Anandu. “അനുയായികൾക്ക് ലഭിച്ച ഉറപ്പിൽ നിന്നാണ് അപ്പച്ചൻ ദൈവമാകുന്നത്.” Keraleeyam Online, Feb. 2023. https://www.keraleeyammasika.com/poyikayil-appachan-kerala-dalit-prds-renaissance/
Notes and References
- A. T. Philip The Mar Thoma Church and Kerala society 1991 "One of the outcome was the booklet entitled Poikayil Yohannanum Veda vaipareethyavum (Poikayil Yohannan and antitheology). Yohannan is addressed as ' Appachan' by his followers."
- Book: J. W. Gladstone. Protestant Christianity and people's movements in Kerala: a study of Christian mass movements in relation to neo-Hindu socio-religious movements in Kerala, 1850-1936. 30 March 2012. 1984. Seminary Publications.
- http://www.poykayilyohannan.org/About%20Church.htm Poikayil Johannan
- Book: Dr. Alex Thomas. I.S.P.C.K. (Organization). A history of the first cross-cultural mission of the Mar Thoma Church, 1910-2000. 30 March 2012. 1 August 2007. ISPCK. 978-81-7214-969-7.
