Shree Narayana Guru was a great saint who preached ``one caste, one religion and one God for man,'' as a call to all mankind to transcend the limits of formal religion and to work on the spiritual level towards evolving a close-knit world community; thereby maintaining communal harmony and brotherhood.This secular saint and a prophet of peace was born in 1865 AD at Chembazhanti, about 12 kms north of Trivandrum. Narayana Guru, also known as Nanu was initiated into reading and writing from the age of five. A keen student, he was quick in grasping sanskrit kavvyas (poetic works) and some years later started a school at Anchuthengu. It was there that he came to be known as Nany Asan (teacher).Nanu soon grasped the lessons of yoga and went into the world seeking solitary locations suitable for penance. Soon news spread that Nanu was living in Aruvipuram and that he was a saint who performed miracles. There he installed a temple; engraving the message of his life in granite - ``this is an ideal place, where everyone dwells in brotherhood, without differences of caste or religious hatred.''He wanted Kerela to be that model. Much later Gandhiji was influenced by the teachings of Narayana Guru and adopted his theory of one caste.The philosophy of the great saint has been a boon to all downtrodden and underprivileged at all times. In the present context, his messages have high significance too. ``Educate that you may be free, organise that you may be strong, industrialise that your financial status may improve.''
