Kerala Sivagiri Temple

Sree Narayana Guru (1856 - 1928) was a saintly man and a revolutionary social reformer. His aim was to cleanse the state of the menace of caste discrimination and induce a harmonious environment free from communal antagonism. He coined the slogan "Oru Jati, Oru Matham, Oru Daivam" (One Caste, One Religion, One God) to encase his lofty ideals. He preached that the ultimate spirituality stemmed from humanity. Sree Narayana Guru established the Sivagiri Temple, commonly known as the Sivagiri Mutt in Varkala, 46 km from Trivandrum.

Varkala is easily accessible from the Trivandrum International airport which has air services to various both national and international destinations. Varkala is connected with the rest of the state by excellent roadways. The city is only 46 km (one and a half hours by road) from Trivandrum. The city is accessible by rail from the nearby junctions at Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) and Eranakulam.

In 1904, Gurudev settled in Varkala and started his philanthropic activities in the area such as starting a charitable school etc. Here he built this Mutt and temple of Sarada, the goddess of knowledge (Saraswati) as seated in her white lotus. The Guru defied all common dictates of tradition while planning the temple and constructed windows, bathrooms with showers and taps etc in his mutt and did away with practices such as offering food and oil bathing the idol etc. The idol of the deity at Sarada Mutt was installed on the Purima (full moon day) in April 1912.

The Sivagiri Mutt soon grew to be the hub of all his reformist movements and the Guru resided here till 1928 when he passed away. The Mutt now enshrines his tomb and thousands of devotees throng the sacred land every year between 30th December and 1st January. Donning yellow clothes symbolizing their surrender to the Guru’s values, they gather at this temple shrine and promise to abide by the virtues preached by this holy man.

Last Updated on 24 May 2011