Transforming lives of the subalterns in Kerala: legacy of St Kuriakose Elias Chavara

St Kuriakose Elias Chavara, a Syrian Catholic priest, was a distinguished figure in the history of socio-religious awakening in Kerala, India. He utilised his power as a priest to enhance the lives of the socially excluded communities, beyond the religious boundaries. By serving various roles, he intervened to elevate the subaltern and worked for their upliftment. The study aims to explore the interventions of St Chavara on the marginalised and to explain how these efforts improved their lives and transformed their societal status. This is a qualitative, descriptive study, based on primary and secondary sources. As a prolific writer, St Chavara produced an extensive collection of writings on subaltern perspectives, and thus the study employed a bibliographic method. The researchers visited archives, libraries and museums related to the life and activities of St Chavara to gather the primary sources. The researchers employed document analysis and conducted internal and external criticism to check the reliability and validity of the collected primary and secondary sources. The collected sources reveal clear evidence of his humanitarian-rooted initiatives for the marginalised groups in nineteenth-century Kerala. The study found that the multiple institutions pioneered by St Chavara, such as establishing schools, boarding schools for girls and homes for the destitute, affected the lives of Dalits, women, children, the poor and the elderly in Kerala society. These reforms have stimulated the marginalised communities to achieve holistic transformations in their lives and to acquire a better livelihood by fostering social changes and also helped them to integrate into the mainstream. Future research may explore comparative dimensions of St Chavara’s subaltern movements in relation to recent perspectives on equity and inclusion.