This article examines the moral foundations and reformist ideologies of Sahodharan Ayyappan and the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam within the broader landscape of Kerala's socio-political transformation. By contextualizing Ayyappan's emergence against the structural inequalities of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Kerala, the study traces how his rationalist critique of caste evolved from, yet diverged significantly from, the spiritual humanism of Sree Narayana Guru. The paper analyses the formative influence of British administrative reforms, early Ezhava petitions such as the Malayali Memorial and the Ezhava Memorial, and the institutional activities of the SNDP in shaping a new moral order. It also highlights Ayyappan's role in expanding the SNDP's agenda through anti-liquor campaigns, temple-entry activism, legislative interventions, and the articulation of a Declaration of Rights. Through a comparative reading of Guru's universalist ethics and Ayyappan's radical rationalism, the study argues that their combined legacies redefined public morality, democratized civic rights, and laid the intellectual groundwork for Kerala's modern egalitarian ethos.
Sravan S R (Tue,) studied this question.