Narayana Guru

Born in a poor Ezhava family in Kerala, Narayana Guru rose to great eminence as a scholar of Sanskrit, Tamil and Malayalam ad writer of devotional songs. He ceaselessly worked for the moral and social advancement of backward communities. He persuaded the Ezhavas to give up all superstitious religious practices and strongly advocated inter caste marriages and an instrument of breaking the barriers of caste and evolving a casteless and classless society. 

V.N. O'key/Kamat's Potpourri

Narayan Guru (1854 - 1928)
Portrait in India ink by V.N. O'key