''Sahodaran'' ( ml, സഹോദരൻ, meaning ''Brother'') was an Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

-language newspaper published in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...

from 1917 to 1956. It was the mouthpiece of Sahodara Sangham, an organisation founded by

Sahodaran Ayyappan Kumbalathuparambu Ayyappan (August 21, 1889 – March 6, 1968), better identified as Sahodaran Ayyappan , was a social reformer, thinker, rationalist, journalist, and politician from Kerala, India. A vocal follower of Sree Narayana Guru, he wa ...

to fight against the caste system in Kerala. After organising ''Misra Bhojanam'' in

Cherai Cherai ( ml, ചെറായി) smallest town located in north side of Vypin island. This town connects to kochin, North pravur and Kodungallur. It is a region in Kochi Taluk, a suburb of the city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India ...

in May 1917, Ayyappan wrote an article on the need to sweep away superstitions and sent it to ''

Mithavadi ''Mithavadi'' was a Malayalam-language newspaper published from Tellicherry and later from Calicut in Malabar, British India. It was established by T. Sivasankaran in 1907. Moorkoth Kumaran was the editor. He merged his '' Kerala Sanchari'' newspa ...

'', a prominent newspaper of the time run by

Thiyyas The Ezhavas () are a community with origins in the region of India presently known as Kerala, where in the 2010s they constituted about 23% of the population and were reported to be the largest Hindu community. They are also known as ''Ilhava' ...

. ''Mithavadi'' rejected the article and Ayyappan realised the need for a publication in order to propagate his rational thoughts. This led to the birth of ''Sahodaran''. Its first issue was published in September 1917 from Pallippuram near

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the Central Business District of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation ...

. It was initially published monthly. Ayyappan himself was the editor and it was printed at S. P. Press in Paravur. In 1918, ''Sahodaran'' became a bimonthly and the publication was shifted from Pallippuram to

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

. In 1920, the publication was again shifted to Ernakulam and the printing was done in Trichur. After a brief stoppage, ''Sahodaran'' resumed publication as a weekly from

Mattancherry Mattancherry (), is a locality in the city of Kochi, India. It is about 9 km south-west from the city center. It is said that the name Mattancherry comes from "Ancherry Mattom", a ''Namboodiri illam'' which the foreign traders then pronounc ...

in May 1925. It was again shifted to Ernakulam in 1937. ''Sahodaran'' strongly advocated for rationalism, socialism, labour movement, intermarriage, temple entry for the underprivileged and responsible governance. A number of articles on communist ideology appeared in ''Sahodaran''. An illustrated biography of

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

was published in the annual edition of 1929. ''Sahodaran'' ceased publication in June 1956, amid Ayyappan's efforts to turn it into a daily. An effort to relaunch the magazine was made in January 2021.

M. K. Sanu M. K. Sanu (born 27 October 1928) is a Malayali writer, critic, retired professor, biographer, journalist, orator, social activist, and human rights activist. He has authored over thirty-six books. He is a permanent member of the International B ...

, who was associated with ''Sahodaran'', was the chief editor of the relaunched magazine.

References

* * * {{Malayalam journalism Malayalam-language newspapers Defunct newspapers published in India Defunct Malayalam-language newspapers Newspapers established in 1917 Publications disestablished in 1956