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Thanumalayaswamy temple

Context:S. Sivan Pillai’s memoir revealed Gandhi Visited the Temple in 1937

About the Temple

• The Thanumalayan Temple, also called Sthanumalayan Temple is an important Hindu temple located in Suchindram in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, India.
• The Thanumalayan Temple is of importance to both Shaivite and Vaishnavite sects of Hinduism, as the name Stanumalaya denotes Trimurtis; “Stanu” means Siva; “Mal” means Vishnu; and the “Ayan” means Brahma.
• The temple complex covers around two acres and has two gateway towers known as gopurams.
• The present masonry structure was built during the Chola dynasty in the 9th century, while later expansions are attributed to Thirumalai Nayak and the Travancore Maharajas.

1. Sivan Pillai

• Sivan Pillai was born in 1917.
• He joined the freedom struggle by becoming a member of the Indian National Congress in 1936.
• He took part in the Quit India Movement, the Struggle for Responsible Government in Travancore, and the Paliyam Satyagraha for the right of Dalit people to walk on the roads of Chendamangalam.
• He was in jail for almost seven years. The former MLA, Sivan Pillai passed away at the age of 87.

Paliyam Satyagraha

• Paliyam Satyagraha is the first post-independence Satyagraha organized in the state of Kerala.
• It was organized against the control of Paliyam road by the Paliathachans, hereditary Prime Ministers of Cochin state.
• The Satyagraha led to temple entry proclamation by the Raja of Cochin on 20th December 1947 and allowed all sections of people to walk through Paliyam road.