''Vivekodayam'' ('Dawn of wisdom') is a

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

literary journal established in 1904 to serve as a voice of the underprivileged communities in the Indian state of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

. It was founded by

Kumaran Asan Mahakavi Kumaran Asan (12 April 1871 – 16 January 1924) was a poet of Malayalam literature, Indian social reformer and a philosopher. He is known to have initiated a revolution in Malayalam poetry during the first quarter of the 20th century, ...

, a prominent poet of Malayalam literature, social reformer, disciple of

Narayana Guru Sree Narayana Guru () (20 August 1856 – 20 September 1928) was a philosopher, Spiritual Leader, spiritual leader and Social Reformer, social reformer in India. He led a Kerala reformation movement, reform movement against the injustice in t ...

and founder-secretary of the associated

SNDP Yogam The Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (S.N.D.P) is a social service organization that has been representing the Ezhava community from the Indian state of Kerala since 1903. The S.N.D.P Yogam was founded by Dr. Padmanabhan Palpu and ot ...

, who was inspired by the teachings of

Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda () (12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindus, Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. Vivekananda was a major figu ...

(The journal name was a tribute to him.).

History

Prominent poet, Kumaran Asan served as the founding editor of ''Vivekodayam'', which published its first monthly issue in April, 1904 and it soon became the leading literary journal in Kerala. Under Asan's editorship, ''Vivekodayam'' primarily served as a voice for the social reform message of SNDP Yogam. At the same time, it covered the literary, political, and social themes and published original literary works, literary criticism, informative writings, and inspirational essays. Its fierce advocacy of the interests of the Ezhava community led to it being popularly referred to as the ''Ezhava Gazette''. Asan continued as the editor of Vivekodayam till 1919, when he resigned shortly after his marriage. After several years of dormancy, the journal was revived by C.R. Kesavan Vaidyar. ''Vivekodayam'' is currently published quarterly by the Kumaran Asan National Institute of Culture (KANIC), which was founded in 1958 to preserve the writings and memory of Kumaran Asan.

Notable articles

Editorials written by Asan in ''Vivekodayam'' attracted widespread attention, and covered current affairs, criticism of the Government, and championed the cause of education and employment opportunities for the Ezhavas. ''Vivekodayam'' published Asan's starkly critical reviews of three contemporary Malayali ''Mahakavyam's'' (epic poems): ''Chitrayogam'' by

Vallathol Vallathol is an Indian Malayalam name that may refer to *Vallathol Narayana Menon (1878–1958), Malayalam poet ** Vallathol Award ** Vallathol Museum in Thrissur District, India ** Vallathol Nagar railway station in Thrissur District, India * Vall ...

, ''Umakeralam'' by

Ulloor Ulloor is a city locality in the Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. It was the home of the modern Malayalam triumvirate poet Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer. The Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram and Credence Hospital Thiruvananthap ...

and ''Rugmangadacharitam'' by Pandalam Kerala Varma. Asan criticized these works for being conservative in form and for blindly following the norms of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

epics. His criticism caused a stir in the literary community and engendered responses from the authors, and fans, of those works followed by replies by Asan himself. Besides original essays and criticism ''Vivekodayam'' included translations of works from other languages, such as James Allen's ''

As a Man Thinketh ''As a Man Thinketh'' is a self-help book by James Allen, published in 1903. It was described by Allen as "... ealingwith the power of thought, and particularly with the use and application of thought to happy and beautiful issues. I have tried t ...

,'' (translated by Asan; published as ''Manampole Mangalyam'') and

's Bengali poem '' Nachuk Tahate Shyama'' (translated by Asan; published in two issues in 1904).

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Swami Vivekananda Monthly magazines published in India Ezhava Magazines established in 1904 Malayalam-language magazines Quarterly magazines published in India Literary magazines published in India Mass media in Kerala