From counter narratives to spiritual pinnacle: The sporadic writings of a saint

The saint, Chattampi Swamikal was a spiritual leader who gave meritorious contributions for the enhancement of the cultural legacy of Kerala. He was a prolific writer who wrote about a number of themes with versatility and insight. This paper is an attempt to evaluate the counter narratives of Swamikal to upheld Tamil culture and civilization. His attempt to legitimize the position of Nair community as the flag bearers of Kerala culture and the need to modify their attitude in tune with time is analyzed here. The paper tries to make an estimate about the wide range of subjects like history, ethnological narrations, philology, anthropology and linguistic studies associated with Swamikal. He was a champion of social reforms in 19’th century Kerala. Like a traditional saint, Swamikal attained Samadhi at Panmana in Chavara in 1924.