---
layout: default
title: "Swami Anand Thirth: Introduction"
permalink: /amaa/swami-anand-thirth-introduction/
categories: [A. M. A. Ayrookuzhiel, Swami Anand Thirth]
description: "The introduction to A. M. A. Ayrookuzhiel's 1987 study of Swami Anand Thirth, outlining the author's research methodology, engagement with the anti-untouchability activist, and reflections on the limitations of Gandhian approaches to caste reform."
authors: A. M. A. Ayrookuzhiel
created: 2026-06-05
---

The **Introduction to *Swami Anand Thirth: Untouchability, Gandhian Solution on Trial*** explains how [A. M. A. Ayrookuzhiel](/amaa/) came to study the life and work of the Kerala social reformer Swami Anand Thirth. Drawing on personal interviews, diaries, court records, correspondence, and other archival materials provided by the Swami himself, Ayrookuzhiel outlines the sources used in preparing the study and reflects on the broader significance of Anand Thirth's lifelong struggle against untouchability.

The chapter also introduces one of the book's central arguments: that the persistence of caste discrimination exposes the limitations of approaches that rely primarily on moral persuasion and reform from within dominant social groups. Ayrookuzhiel contrasts these assumptions with B. R. Ambedkar's critique of Gandhian programmes and argues that Anand Thirth's experiences reveal the depth and resilience of caste prejudice across social, religious, judicial, and political institutions.

The full text of the Introduction section is reproduced below.

## Introduction

Swami Anand Thirth is known all over Kerala as a great fighter against the practice of untouchability in temples, schools, tea shops, restaurants, barber shops and other public places. His work extended over half a century. It had spread beyond the borders of Kerala to parts of Tamilnadu and Karnataka.

I was attracted to the idea of doing a study of his life and work as I thought it would throw much light on the nature of the problem of untouchability and on the extent to which works of men like Swami Anand Thirth had been effective.

I first met the Swamiji on 3rd October 1979. He was very happy about my proposal to write his biography and promised every help in my undertaking. He allowed me to take to Bangalore all his files, personal diaries, work reports, records of court cases against untouchability, and other materials, which greatly facilitated my job. The Swamiji very graciously accepted my invitation to come to Bangalore, and stayed with me and my family from 6th to 11th January 1980. I visited the Swamiji in Payyanur six more times between the years 1980 and 1986, staying with him sometimes up to a fortnight. I used these opportunities to gather his reflections on his life and mission. I have also had the benefit of discussing his work with some of his former colleagues and old boys of the Sri Narayana Vidyalaya hostel which the Swamiji started for Scheduled Caste children in 1932.

One of the important lessons of a lifetime of struggle by the Swamiji against untouchability and the oppression of Harijans is that it exposes the hollowness and naivety of the Gandhian assumption that caste Hindus will work for the removal of untouchability and that Harijan welfare was an "act of penance" for them. The experience of the Swamiji vindicates the position of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar who called the Gandhian programme of Harijan Sevak Sangh "an abomination," "a political charity." "Its real aim," said B. R. Ambedkar, "is to ensnare the untouchables, to make them the camp-followers of the Hindus and the Congress and to scotch any movement by them the aim and object of which are to free themselves from the social, religious, economic and political domination of the Hindus." According to Ambedkar, the problem of untouchability can only be solved by a civil rights' movement of a political nature coupled with a cultural component like the embrace of the Buddhist tradition. It can be solved neither by a reinterpretation of the Hindu value system nor by a change of heart on the part of Hindus as Gandhiji tended to believe.

The Swamiji's life also reveals how a social and religious prejudice like untouchability survives in the different sectors of a modern state such as politics, the judiciary, and law and order. If the Swamiji's life appears to be a failure, it is the failure of our political, judicial and religious systems to solve the problem of untouchability. The greatness of Swami Anand Thirth should not be measured in terms of the apparent or real failures and successes of his fight against untouchability. He fought as he did because he believed that a true disciple of Sri Narayana Guru had to live for a vision and a society that cuts across the boundaries of caste and institutional religions. His life witnessed to the truth of the oneness of man.

The reader will find that I have used in the course of this book a variety of nomenclature such as Depressed classes, Scheduled Castes, Harijans and Dalits to designate the traditionally untouchable community. It is true that I prefer the word "Dalits," a term which is becoming increasingly popular among these unprivileged sections. "Dalit" is derived from the word "Dal", meaning "to put as under," "to break up." It expresses the idea that Dalits are a broken people. But I had to use also the other terms as the people about whom I write had used them in their speeches and writings. Historical considerations therefore demand that I use the term appropriate to the context. Hence also the word "outcaste" meaning out-side the caste system, a word not found in some dictionaries but has come into use in India out of the social context.

Before I conclude, I must express my profound gratitude to Swami Anand Thirth for his whole hearted support and encouragement in my attempt to write the story of his life's struggle against untouchability. I am only sorry that I could not finish it before the Swamiji's health, particularly his eyesight, considerably deteriorated. However, I have the satisfaction that I was able to read to him certain passages from the manuscript.

In my attempt to understand Indian culture and its relation to the oppressed, Fr. Sebastian Kappen has been an inspiration and guide.

Sri Venugopal Kokken, a young confidant of the Swamiji, arranged and brought all the records relating to the activities of the Swamiji from the Narayana Guru Vidyalaya to Bangalore for my study. Sri Lakshman Rao Kadam, helped me with references and provided me with short summaries of lengthy case files and court judgements related to temple entry and other civil rights offences. I express my sincere thanks to both of them.

I am personally also very grateful to Sri Victor Koilpillai and Mrs. Jean Paranjoti-Augustine for editorial assistance and for help in the preparation of the Glossary and Index given at the end of the book. I must also thank the office staff of CISRS, particularly Ms. Gerry Titus, for typing out the manuscript in its several revisions.

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