Naveen Prasad Alex writes about Poikayil Appachan’s radical vision of caste abolition, memory, and unity—revealing the revolutionary potential of PRDS in reshaping Kerala’s subaltern history.
Naveen Prasad Alex
The Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha (P.R.D.S.) stands out as one of the most radical and distinct movements in modern Kerala history. Its uniqueness is closely tied to its founder, Poikayil Appachan (Poikayil Sreekumara Gurudevan), whose work spanned both spiritual leadership and social reform. Engaging with both colonial modernity and the Kerala Renaissance, Appachan politicized the experience of slavery—a bold intervention that reshaped subaltern liberation in Kerala. Far from symbolic reform, Appachan redefined spirituality as a means of resistance, forging a path that challenged both caste and class hierarchies. Yet, he remains marginal to dominant narratives of Kerala’s modernity. This article highlights the exceptionalism of PRDS—its inclusive vision, political depth, and enduring challenge to structural inequality. Appachan envisioned a radical class consciousness rooted in the material reality of caste, calling for a united struggle that transcended identity-based divisions (Jeevacharithra Punarakhyana Samithi, 2017). While many Kerala Renaissance organizations narrowed into caste-based identities, PRDS remained a radical exception.
Religions Betrayed Us: Where Shall We Go Now?
To understand Appachan’s ideology as a fundamental strand of the renaissance tradition, it must be examined in contrast to other contemporary movements, highlighting the distinctiveness of the path Appachan chose. Appachan rejected Hinduism because he saw it as a system fundamentally built on caste hierarchy, where the oppressed could never attain true equality (Swami & Anil 2021, Jose 2018). He understood that any attempt at reform within Hinduism would still be constrained by its deep-rooted Brahmanical structure, making liberation for the marginalized impossible. Appachan embraced Christianity under the name Yohannan, believing in the promise of an egalitarian Christian world (Swami & Anil 2021). He hoped that Christianity could offer liberation from the discrimination faced by him and his community, seeing evangelism as a path to emancipation. However, he soon realized that neither his deep knowledge of the Bible nor his commitment to the gospel earned him recognition among Savarna Christian groups (Swami & Anil 2021, Jose 2018). Appachan first joined the Mar Thoma Church but encountered severe caste discrimination there — for instance, while others were served food at the table, he was made to sit on the floor (Jose 2018). He later engaged with the Brethren and Verpadu churches, yet found no significant difference in their treatment of Dalit Christian believers (Swami & Anil 2021; Jose 2018). Appachan, an organic intellectual, was compelled to seek a path of liberation beyond religion. The lesson that the Bible and the gospel imparted to him was the strength to reject the colonial model of liberation for the first time.
പുലയനൊരു പള്ളി
പറയനൊരു പള്ളി
മീന്‍ പിടുത്തക്കാരന്‍
മരയ്ക്കാനൊരു പള്ളി
പള്ളിയോടു പള്ളി
A Pulayan’s church,
A Parayan’s church,
A fisherman’s church,
Divided into countless separate churches. (Sekhar 2007)
Appachan sang these words, exposing the deep divisions within Christianity. The realization that Christianization could not ensure social emancipation led Appachan to break away from the established churches and founded the Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha(Swami & Anil 2021). Upon receiving the enlightenment that no traditional religion or faith could truly aid in the emancipation of the oppressed, Appachan sang:
ഹിന്ദുമതത്തിന്‍ പുറവഴിയെ നമ്മള്‍,
അനാഥരെന്നപോല്‍ സഞ്ചരിച്ചു
ക്രിസ്തുമതത്തിന്‍ പുറവഴിയേ നമ്മള്‍,
അനാഥരെന്നപോല്‍ സഞ്ചരിച്ചു
ഹിന്ദുമതക്കാരും ചേര്‍ത്തില്ലല്ലോ നമ്മെ,
ക്രിസ്തുമതക്കാരും ചേര്‍ത്തില്ലല്ലോ
We roamed like orphans, rejected by Hinduism,
We roamed like orphans, rejected by Christianity.
Neither did Hinduism embrace us,
Nor did Christianity offer us a place. (Sekhar 2007)
Thus, Appachan realized the root of discrimination and understood that without politicizing the issue of slavery.
Appachanism: The Revolutionary Declaration of the Subaltern Renaissance
Appachan believed that his ancestral history was meant to be remembered, not forgotten. Recognizing that the lived experiences of slavery were the true historical capital, he reclaimed the memories of enslavement to uncover the cultural exile of a people whose history had been erased. For him, the only essential resource for awakening and uniting his people was the lived reality of their ancestors’ enslavement. He held that progress was possible not by merely acknowledging who they were today, but by understanding who they had been in the past. There was no prior model for such a perspective in Kerala at the time.
Ayyankali and others may not have foregrounded the issue of slavery, possibly because slavery had already been legally abolished in Travancore by then. However, the mere declaration of abolition did not resolve everything—no efforts were made to rehabilitate or uplift the formerly enslaved communities (Paul, 2021). This reality drove Appachan to reclaim ancestral history and embrace the memories of slavery. His politicization of the issue was not just significant within the history of subaltern liberation but also played a unique role in the context of Kerala’s radicalism. His politics of writing were clear in his own words:
കാണുന്നീലോരക്ഷരവും
എന്റെ വംശത്തെക്കുറിച്ച്
കാണുന്നുണ്ടനേകവംശത്തിൻ ചരിത്രങ്ങൾ
എന്റെ വംശത്തിൻ കഥ
എഴുതിവച്ചീടാൻ പണ്ടീ
ഉർവ്വിയിലാരുമില്ലാതെ പോയല്ലോ’’
Not a single letter is seen
About my people.
Yet, countless histories
Have been recorded
For so many others.
For my people, there was no one
To write our stories at the very source.” (Sekhar 2007)
From this realization, Appachan resolved to construct his own lineage’s history. He was determined that nothing would hold him back from this historical mission. Revealing the unseen history of his enslaved ancestors was, for Appachan, an act of asserting identity. It was not just historical documentation but a radical political process. If left for others to record in the future, the true picture would remain distorted. That is why his enslaved lineage’s past must be told in its rawest, most unfiltered, and burning nakedness—for his people to know, for future generations to remember (Raj 2023). Appachan understood the politics of memory and erasure. To him, true survival with dignity was possible only by remembering the past, not by forgetting it (Raj 2023). Thus, his engagement with the question of enslavement was not merely an academic exercise but an act of political defiance. The realization that the enslaved community, long denied the ability to assert their identity, must now establish their presence through self-assertion was a turning point for Appachan. This awareness became a driving force in shaping a collective historical consciousness. The need to affirm the unity and identity of the oppressed lineage and to make their presence felt in the struggle for rights was in alignment with the socio-political climate of that time.
Appachan reaffirms his lineage, reclaiming indigenous existence while exposing the internal colonization that enslaved his people. He spreads the history of their lives, the forces that turned them into slaves under Brahminical rule, and the suffering they endured. For the world, he creates days of remembrance, asserting through song that the past must not be forgotten (Swami & Anil 2021). His people cannot move forward blindly, following paths set by oppressors without knowing their own history. Enslavement is not their weakness but a source of strength to rebuild. Their so-called flaws were imposed, not inherent. Once rightful heirs to the land, they were made slaves—a rupture, not fate. Appachan unveils this truth, urging them to reclaim their place. Appachan sang
ആദിനിവാസികളായി കേരള രാജ്യം തന്നില്‍
മോദമായി വസിച്ചിടും കാലം
ശാന്തമായി വസിച്ചിടും നമ്മുടെ പിതാക്കന്മാരെ
ബന്ധനങ്ങള്‍ ചെയ്തടിമയാക്കിയല്ലോ.
As indigenous people, in the land of Kerala,
They once lived in harmony and peace.
But our forefathers, who dwelled here freely,
Were bound in chains and turned into slaves. (Sekhar 2007)
Despite enduring inhuman atrocities, there was never even a framework to question them—this is what Appachan asserts. While the privileged advanced by claiming lineage, superiority, heritage, rights, and power, once-free people were reduced to outsiders after colonization. By painting this contrast, Appachan lays the foundation for an alternative historiography. People who lost their rightful claim to the land through enslavement had no one to guide them toward a better path. Appachan critiques the idea that the path to liberation lies in the salvation promised by the Pratyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha. While community formation was a powerful socio-political process, he understood that isolated organizations alone could not bring real change. Instead, Appachan prioritized the collective strength of the enslaved people. He could never accept a caste- and subcaste-based identity formation as the way forward.
Appachan repeatedly emphasized the need for unity among the oppressed communities, rooted in their shared experiences of subjugation. He sought to awaken his people to the realization that no religion truly wanted the enslaved, as their so-called ‘deficiencies’ made them undesirable. His mission was to instil this awareness and mobilize them towards collective empowerment. Hence Appachan sung
ആയിരത്തിലധിക വർഷം അടിമയിൽ പെട്ട
നമ്മൾ അടിമ മറപ്പതമോ
താഥരെയൊരിടത്തും
മാതാവേറിടത്തും
കുട്ടികൾ അനാഥരായതും
മറപ്പതമോ
കാളയോടും പോത്തിനോടും
ഇണചേർത്തുകുട്ടികെട്ടി
വയലുകളിലുഴുതീടുമ്പോൾ
മഹാദൈവമേ ഖേദം മറപ്പതമോ
ആയിരത്തിലധിക വർഷം അടിമയിൽ പെട്ട
നമ്മൾ അടിമ മറപ്പതമോ
Enslaved for over a thousand years—
Shall we forget slavery?
Will there be an end to this
Like oxen and bulls,
Yoked together,
Forced to plow the fields
The father in one place,
The mother elsewhere,
Children left as orphans…
Enslaved for over a thousand years—
Shall we forget slavery? (Sekhar 2007)
What makes Appachan unique from his contemporaries is his vision of politicisation of caste slavery, a fact evident in his use of the term “Adima Santathikal” (Progeny of Slaves). While Dalit communities remained fragmented by caste and sub-caste divisions, Appachan saw only one way to unite them. He recognized that invoking their shared, caste-transcending history of subjugation could forge unity.”Adima Santathikal” (Progeny of Slaves) was a radical ideology that transcended caste-based mobilization, uniting Kerala’s oppressed through a shared history of dispossession. Unlike movements that reinforced sub-caste divisions, it recognized that caste oppression was inseparable from economic and social conditions, incorporating Dalits, Adivasis, and landless laborers into a common struggle. Rooted in Kerala’s unique history of ritual servitude and bonded labor, it offered an intersectional approach that acknowledged both caste and class oppression. By using songs and oral narratives, Appachan ensured this ideology was not just theoretical but a lived, collective consciousness driving resistance. Hence, Appachan was able to overcome caste and sub-caste divisions and resolve the long-standing debate of whether caste or class was the primary issue by building an intersectional ideology under “Adima Santathikal.”
In the Sreemoolam Prajasabha, the interventions of Ayyankali, Appachan, John Joseph, Kavarikulam Kandan Kumaran, and Kurumban Daivathan were all broadly aimed at uplifting the oppressed communities (Chentharassery, 2015). However, their approaches often reflected their specific representational interests (Chentharassery, 2015). A review of the Prajasabha records makes it evident that Appachan had the most pronounced commitment to Dalit unity (Chentharassery, 2015). Appachan championed issues such as education, land reform, the rights of Dalit women, and access to other vital resources—not just for members of PRDS, but for the broader Dalit community (Chentharassery, 2015). Among his contemporaries, Ayyankali stood with Appachan in the Sreemoolam Praja Sabha (Chentharassery, 2015). The term “Pratyaksha Raksha Sabha” literally means the assembly of immediate salvation. However, it is not a mere religious institution; it rejects both the Bible and Christian theological concepts while also distancing itself from Brahminic spiritual traditions (Swami & Anil 2021). Unlike the mainstream notions of salvation, this ideology envisions liberation as a realization achieved within one’s lifetime, not in an afterlife. It has no direct precedents and redefines spirituality as a social duty rather than a purely personal or metaphysical pursuit.
Through tireless effort,
Let us build our foundation instantly,
Let us dispel all objections,
Let us create a life of true joy. (Sekhar 2007)
To understand Poikayil Appachan’s vision, one must also recognize his radical stance and the challenges he faced. Unlike many of his time, he introduced a radical and humanistic approach, urging those with a shared historical experience to unite beyond caste identities and form a modern, egalitarian society. His movement, PRDS, was a progressive community, envisioning a material life built on dignity, labor, and equality—free from gender, caste, and religious divisions (Jeevacharithra Punarakhyana Samithi , 2017). Appachan envisioned a radical class consciousness based on the experience of slavery, recognizing caste oppression as a material reality and advocating for a united struggle where the oppressed could transcend caste divisions while confronting its structural inequalities (Jeevacharithra Punarakhyana Samithi ,2017). While many organizations that emerged during the Kerala Renaissance eventually narrowed into caste-based identity groups, PRDS remained a radical exception. It fostered a unity beyond caste and sub-caste divisions, where people from different backgrounds not only joined the movement but also built deep social and even marital bonds, forming a truly inclusive community (Jeevacharithra Punarakhyana Samithi, 2017).Unlike other movements that stagnated within caste boundaries, PRDS continued its progressive legacy, especially in women’s leadership (Jeevacharithra Punarakhyana Samithi, 2017) .
However, literate Kerala failed to embrace Appachan’s radical vision. His ideology represented the most radical indigenous strand of the Kerala Renaissance, a fact that cannot be erased. Had Progressive movements integrated Appachan’s thought, modern Kerala could have practically embodied a truly secular and casteless class structure. A contemporary revival and reformulation of Appachanism could have made Kerala radicalism more creative and transformative. The delayed recognition of his ideology is tied to the contradictions within Kerala’s politics of literacy and caste identity. It also raises deeper questions—why has Kerala’s progressive political consciousness failed to actualize the Dalit unity that Appachan envisioned?
Reference
- Ajay Sekhar. M. (2007). Songs of Poykayil Appachan. Kottayam: Adiyardeepam Publication.
- Chentharassery, T. H. P. (2015). Kerala Charitrathinu Oru Mukhavura. Mythri Books.
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- Jeevacharithra Punarakhyana Samithi. (2017). Vyavasthayude Nadappathakal. Slate Publication.
- Jose, N. K. “Dalit Bandhu.” (2018). Poikayil Yohannan Upadeshi (Kumara Gurudevan). Inbooks Publications.
- Lenin, K. M. (2018). Poykayil Appachan: Keezhalarude Vimochakan [Poykayil Appachan: Liberator of the Oppressed]. Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-Operative Society Ltd. (SPCS).
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- Raj, A. (2023, February 16). അനുയായികൾക്ക് ലഭിച്ച ഉറപ്പിൽ നിന്നാണ് അപ്പച്ചൻ ദൈവമാകുന്നത്. Keeraleyam Masika (online).
- Swami, V. V., & Anil, E. V. (2021). Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha: Orma, Pattu, Charithra Rekhakal. Adiyardeepam Publication.
About the Author: Naveen Prasad Alex, originally from Kozhikode, Kerala, is an IMPRS Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, Germany. He holds a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from Krea University, India, and an M.Sc. in Biology from the University of Turku, Finland. Naveen has published several research papers in various journals, focusing on ecology and evolutionary biology. Beyond his work in the sciences, he is deeply passionate about history and has authored articles in both Malayalam and English for various magazines, exploring historical themes including Ambedkar’s legacy, anti-caste movements, and the Kerala Renaissance.
