Poykayil Yohannan

Poykayil Sree Kumara Gurudevan (17 February 1879, in Eraviperoor – 1939), known as Poykayil Appachan or Poykayil Yohannan, was a spiritual leader, poet, Dalit emancipator, renaissance leader and the founder of the socio-religious movement Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha ("God's Society of Obvious Salvation").

Religious work
Yohannan joined the Marthoma church, a reformist sect among the Syrian Christians, but realised the church treated Dalits as an inferior class, and so left it. He then joined a new sect called the Brethren Mission where he faced similar instances of caste based discrimination. Johannan concluded that Indian Christian communities continued to discriminate based on caste, and felt this defied the basic tenets of Christianity.

In 1909, Yohannan left Christianity and started his own religious protest movement named Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha. He was known as Poikayil Appachan or Kumara Gurudevan afterwards. Johannan advocated spiritual liberation, and sought to empower and consolidate the Dalits, promoting a creed in which the "dalit castes" would be free of discrimination.

Work as a legislator
Appachan was nominated twice, in 1921 and 1931, to the Sree Moolam Praja Sabha, the legislative council of the princely state of Travancore.

Publications

 * Unknown Subjects: Songs of Poykayil Appachan. Translated from Malayalam by A.S. Sekher
 * Vadyakhoshangal Nadathunnavarum and Ente Vamshathepatti were featured in the Dalit Poem Collection named Kathal — published by DC Books
 * Poikayil Appachan's biography translated from Malayalam by Deepthy Krishna

Media representations

 * Mannikkale Maanikkyam - Drama by V. V. Santhakumar features Yohannan