Tamil Nadu CM to Inaugurate Renovated Periyar Memorial in Kerala on December 12

Vaikom- Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is set to inaugurate the newly renovated memorial dedicated to social reformer and Dravidian leader E.V. Ramasamy Periyar in Vaikom, Kottayam district, Kerala, on December 12. The event will be presided over by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Prominent leaders, including Kerala Ministers V.N. Vasavan and Saji Cheriyan, along with Tamil Nadu Ministers Durai Murugan, E.V. Velu, and M.P. Saminathan, are scheduled to deliver addresses. High-ranking officials, such as Kerala Chief Secretary Sharada Muraleedharan, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary N. Muruganandam, and Kottayam District Collector John V. Samuel, are expected to participate in the ceremony.

The memorial, refurbished at a cost of ₹8.5 crore, serves as a tribute to Periyar's lifelong dedication to social justice. Spanning 70 cents of land, the facility features a permanent photo exhibition hall, a library, a visitor pavilion, a children’s park, and a statue of Periyar in a seated posture.

The inauguration coincides with the centenary celebrations of the Vaikom Satyagraha, a landmark social reform movement. In addition to this site, the Tamil Nadu government is also establishing a memorial for Periyar at Arookutty in Alappuzha district.

The Kerala government has allocated 54 cents of revenue land for the Arookutty memorial, where Periyar was imprisoned for a month in 1924 during the Vaikom Satyagraha. Officials from Tamil Nadu have indicated that the memorial, designed to reflect the jail where Periyar was incarcerated, will be developed following discussions with CM Stalin and other ministers.

The Vaikom Satyagraha (1924–1925) was a significant non-violent protest advocating equal access to the temple roads of the Vaikom Sree Mahadeva Temple in Travancore. Led by figures like T.K. Madhavan, K. Kelappan, K.P. Kesava Menon, George Joseph, and Periyar, the movement was instrumental in challenging caste-based discrimination.

Mahatma Gandhi’s intervention in 1925 facilitated a partial agreement, allowing access to three of the temple's four surrounding roads, while the eastern road remained restricted. Periyar criticized this compromise and continued the struggle for complete equality, which culminated in the 1936 Temple Entry Proclamation, granting lower castes unrestricted access to the temple and its environs.

The Vaikom Satyagraha remains a pivotal chapter in Kerala’s history, marking the adoption of non-violent protest methods in the fight for social justice.