Birth of Body and Spirit
| This article is part of the Reformation in Kerala series |
| Reformation in Kerala |
| Background |
|---|
| • Caste system in Kerala • Indian caste system • Untouchability • Forward caste • O. B. C. • SC and ST • Rejection • Apartheid • Stratification • Hindu reforms • Varna • Pulayar |
| Leaders |
| Vaikunda Swami Ayyavu Swamikal Chattampi Swamikal Sri Narayana Guru Ayyankali Arattupuzha Velayudhappanikkar Sahodaran Ayyappan Vagbhatandan Brahmananda Sivayogi Pandit Karuppan T. K. Madhavan Mannathu Padmanabhan V. T. Swadeshabhimani Vakkom Moulavi Chempakaraman Pillai G. P. Pillai Dr. Palpu Kumaranasan C. V. Kunhuraman C. V. Raman Pillai E. M. S. |
| Others |
| Channar Lahala Consecration at Aruvippuram S. N. D. P. N. S. S. Vaikom Satyagraham Guruvayur Satyagraham Upper Cloth Revolt Temple Entry Proclamation |
In 1809 a child was born to the couple Ponnu Nadar and Veiyelal in south India, at Swamithoppe in the Kanyakumari District(part of Travancore then). They were very poor. They initially named the child Mudisoodum Perumal, meaning "Lord Vishnu with a crown", but due to objections from those of higher castes, the family changed his name to Muthukutty.
The religious book, Akilam, tells of a legend of a child who was born dead, and then the soul of the deva Sampooranathevan was placed in the body. According to the legend, the parents found the child still for a time immediately after birth, then the child began behave normally. Thereafter, that boy grew up called Muthukutty in human history, and Sampooranathevan in Ayyavazhi mythology.
Muthukutty, a religious boy, had special interest in the worship of Vishnu. The holy book Akilam mentions that he had set a pedestal for Lord Vishnu in his house and worshipped the deity devoutly. At the age of seventeen, Muthukutty married Thirumalammal from the nearby village of Puviyur, and started a family with her. However, some believe that they were not married at all, but that, she had come to live with him only to serve him during his public activities. Thirumalammal had been previously married, but left her former husband to marry Muthukutty. According to quotes found in Akilam, they had a male child, who was sired by her first husband. Muthukutty earned his living as a Palmyra palm climber and as an agricultural laborer.
Read more about this topic: Ayya Vaikundar
Famous quotes containing the words birth of, birth, body and/or spirit:
“Before the birth of the New Woman the country was not an intellectual desert, as she is apt to suppose. There were teachers of the highest grade, and libraries, and countless circles in our towns and villages of scholarly, leisurely folk, who loved books, and music, and Nature, and lived much apart with them. The mad craze for money, which clutches at our souls to-day as la grippe does at our bodies, was hardly known then.”
—Rebecca Harding Davis (1831–1910)
“Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.”
—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 1:18,19.
“I travel light; as light,
That is, as a man can travel who will
Still carry his body around because
Of its sentimental value.”
—Christopher Fry (b. 1907)
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 3:11.