Hinduism

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

 is the indigenous religion of Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

 and Hindus make up about 57% population of the state according to the 2001 census. Hindus in Kerala usually have a lower birth rate

Birth rate

Crude birth rate is the nativity or childbirths per 1,000 people per year . Another word used interchangeably with "birth rate" is "natality". When the crude birth rate is subtracted from the crude death rate, it reveals the rate of natural increase...

 and a higher death rate compared to the general population.

Kerala is home to Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 saints and swami

Swami

A swami sometimes abbreviated "Sw." is an ascetic or yogi who has been initiated into the religious monastic order founded by Adi Sankara, or to a religious teacher.The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology as...

s of all castes. Vaikunda Swami

Ayya Vaikundar

Ayya Vaikundar , according to Akilattirattu Ammanai , a scripture of the Ayyavazhi, was a Manu Avatar of Narayana, incarnated as Muthukutty or Mudisoodum Perumal, a Nadar of Swamithoppe, Tamil Nadu Ayya Vaikundar , according to Akilattirattu Ammanai (or Akilam), a scripture of the Ayyavazhi, was...

, who was the first among the saints of Kerala was a Nadar

Nadar (caste)

Nadar is one of the prominent castes of Tamil Nadu, South India. The term, Nadar, in Tamil literally means one who rules the land. The Nadars are also commonly called as Annachi . Nadars are an entrepreneurial south Indian caste and constitute 12% of Tamil Nadu's population...

. Narayana Guru

Narayana Guru

Sri Nārāyana Guru , also known as Sree Nārāyana Guru Swami, was a Hindu saint, sadhuand social reformer of India. The Guru was born into an Ezhava family, in an era when people from backward communities like the Ezhavas faced much social injustices in the caste-ridden Kerala society...

, Sant Enadinatha, Sant Ilakkulaccanrar, Sant Tiruppana were all Sudra

Shudra

Shudra is the fourth Varna, as prescribed in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig veda, which constitutes society into four varnas or Chaturvarna. The other three varnas are Brahmans - priests, Kshatriya - those with governing functions, Vaishya - agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders...

, Cheraman Nayanar

Cheraman Perumal (Nayanar)

Rajasekhara Varman usually identified with the Cheraman Perumal Nayanar was second king of the Later Chera dynasty and a Saivaite-Nayanar regal saint. He is said to have ruled from the seat of Cheras, Karuvur Vanchi located on the shores of Anporunai or from Mahodayapuram...

 was a Kothayar, Chattampi Swamikal

Chattampi Swamikal

Sree Vidyadhiraja Parama Bhattaraka Chattampi Swamikal was a Hindu sage and social reformer. His thoughts and work influvenced the launching of many social, relegious, literary and political organizations and movements in Kerala and for the first time gave voice to those who were...

,Brahmasree Neelakanta Gurupadar,Jagadguru Swami Sathyananda Saraswathi

Swami Sathyananda Saraswathi

Swami Sathyananda Saraswathi also known as Chenkottukonam Swamiji, was a Hindu spiritual teacher, orator, historian and religious scholar. He was the founder of Hindu Aikya Vedi, and remained its chairman until his death....

 & Swami Chinmayananda were of the Nair

Nair

Nair , also known as Nayar , refers to "not a unitary group but a named category of castes", which historically embody several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom bore the Nair title. These people historically live in the present-day Indian state of Kerala...

 caste, and Adi Shankara

Adi Shankara

Adi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...

 was a Nambuthiri Brahmin

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

. The Harijan Parayas of Kerala claim to descend from Sant Vasistha. Kollengode has a structure near Thirthala-Koottanad Road, in memory of a Harijan saint, Sant Paakkanar. In the Rapayan Tujjal, the narrator (dancer-reciter) is a Harijan and a descendant of Sant Pakkanar. The Periya Puranam, possibly written by a Paraya, describes the Parayas. Further, the Vishvakarma Purana was written by a sonar

Sonar

Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...

 (goldsmith).

Chenkottukonam Madathipathi Jagadguru Swami Sathyananda Saraswathi

Swami Sathyananda Saraswathi

Swami Sathyananda Saraswathi also known as Chenkottukonam Swamiji, was a Hindu spiritual teacher, orator, historian and religious scholar. He was the founder of Hindu Aikya Vedi, and remained its chairman until his death....

 is popularly regarded as the father of contemporary Hindu renaissance in Kerala for the victorious movements he led for temple rights and the establishment of Hindu Aikya Vedi

Hindu Aikya Vedi

The Hindu Aikya Vedi or Hindu Ikyavedi or Hindu United Front is a "platform to bring all Hindu organizations together", active in the state of Kerala in India. The group is dedicated to bringing in various sections in Kerala Hindu society such as the Nairs and the Ezhavas under a single umbrella...

 for integrating hindus of all classes.He is reckoned as the greatest karmayogi to uphold Sanatana Dharma since Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...

 internationally.

The official festivals of Sree Narayana Jayanti (Narayana Guru's birthday) and Sree Narayana Samadhi Day (Narayana Gurus passing away) are celebrated by the Keralites in memory of a great Shudra reformer of their society.

The modern Hindu Karma yogi

Karma Yoga

Karma yoga , or the "discipline of action" is a form of yoga based on the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Sanskrit scripture of Hinduism. Of the four paths to realization, karma yoga is the science of achieving perfection in action...

 saint Amma Mata Amritanandamayi

Mata Amritanandamayi

Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Devī , primarily known simply as Amma ["Mother"], is a Hindu spiritual leader and guru, who is revered as a saint by her followers. She is widely respected for her humanitarian activities...

 was selected to represent Hindu Dharma in the World Parliament of Religions in September 1991. Bhagawan Nityananda

Bhagawan Nityananda

Bhagawan Nityananda was an Indian guru. His teachings are published in the "Chidakash Gita". Nityananda was born in Quilandy , Kerala, South India.- Early life :...

 is another important Hindu saint reognized worldwide.

Several Hindu movements important to Hindu history took place in Kerala. These were Shankara

Adi Shankara

Adi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...

's Advaita, Vaishnava Alwar, and Shaiva

Shaivism

Shaivism is one of the four major sects of Hinduism, the others being Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas," and also "Saivas" or "Saivites," revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer,...

 Nayanar

Nayanar

Nayanar can refer to:*Nayanars, Shaivite saints from Tamil Nadu, India.*Nayanar , an honorific title used by certain clans of Nair caste from the north Malabar region of Kerala, India.*Nayanar, title used by Isai Vellalar of Tamil Nadu...

.

Kerala has several ancient Hindu temples. In the medieval Alwar Divya Desam text, out of 108 Vaishnava temples all over India adored by the Alwars, eleven of those are in Kerala. The Karppillikkavu Sree Mahadeva Temple

Karppillikkavu Sree Mahadeva Temple

The Karppillikkavu Sree Mahadeva Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva located in Manjapra, a village in the Ernakulam district of the Kerala region of India....

, (one of the most ancient in India) dedicated to the Kirata Avatar

Avatar

In Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....

 of Lord Shiva

Shiva

Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

still exists in Kerala.