History of Venganoor
Venganoor is a region that was originally part of Thiruvallam Panchayat in the former Thiru-Kochi state. Venganoor Panchayat was formed on January 1, 1962. Venganoor is surrounded by world-renowned tourist destination Kovalam, the historically famous Vizhinjam port, the agricultural research center Vellayani, and the commercial hub Balaramapuram, along with Venganoor's own cardamom-growing areas.
It is a land inhabited by people of various castes and religions living in harmony and brotherhood. The majority of the population consists of agricultural laborers, alongside a significant number of handloom workers, while the rest are unorganized laborers. Educationally, Venganoor Panchayat can be considered well advanced. Shri Ayyankali was the product of an era when education was denied to underprivileged communities. Thanks to the efforts of great visionaries like him, significant transformations occurred in this sector over time. Today, a vast majority of the underprivileged population in this panchayat are educated and employed in government service. Venganoor has been famous since the reign of the Ay kings. Vizhinjam was the capital of the Ay dynasty, while their military center, armory, and stables were located in the adjacent Venganoor region.
Venganoor has an unbreakable link with the history of Venad. It possesses a historical legacy of paving the way for structural social change, starting from the era of Venganoor Pillai, who took the initiative in organizing resistance against autocratic feudal royal rule. Venganoor is the birthplace of several eminent personalities: Chempakaraman Pillai, who shone brightly in the history of Venad; E.V. Krishna Pillai, the famous satirical writer and father of renowned Malayalam film comedian Adoor Bhasi; and Shri Ayyankali, who organized the oppressed classes against landlordism and integrated them into the national freedom movement. The Sadhujana Paripalana Sangham founded under the leadership of Shri Ayyankali, along with its activities, remains a landmark chapter in Indian history. Mahatma Gandhi and Acharya Vinoba Bhave visited Venganoor to praise Shri Ayyankali's contributions.
Embracing the noble teachings of Great Sree Narayana Guru and Chattampi Swamikal, people of diverse castes and faiths live here in harmony. Both Shri Ayyankali and Shri Oottarathtala Govinda Pillai from the Venganoor region served as members of the Sree Moolam Praja Sabha.
Shri Mahatma Ayyankali
Ayyankali (August 28, 1863 – June 18, 1941) was a prominent social reformer in Kerala who fought for the upliftment of marginalized communities. He fought to establish the human rights of communities that were socially ostracized. Born into the Pulaya community, he gained widespread attention by organizing his people and asserting their freedom of movement through demonstrations of strength. With the establishment of the Sadhujana Paripalana Yogam in 1905, he became the undisputed leader of the Harijans.
Birth and Childhood:
Ayyankali was born on August 28, 1863 (Kollam Era 1039, Chingam 14) in an interior village called Venganoor in Thiruvananthapuram district. His birth star was Avittam in the month of Chingam. His father was Ayyan of the Perungkattuvela house, and his mother was Mala. Known as Kali in his childhood, he later came to be called Ayyankali. He was born into the Pulaya community, which was strictly denied the right to read and write. In Travancore and other parts of Kerala, landlords treated lower castes such as the Paraiyar and Pulayar like livestock working in the fields. Poverty, neglect, and humiliation were the only possessions of Kali's parents and community members. During that era, the Pulaya and Paraiyar communities were not even treated as human beings and faced total social boycott. They were viewed merely as tools for landlords to cultivate land. Due to untouchability customs, they were denied the rights to walk on public roads, wear decent clothing, or gain an education. The underprivileged state of his community deeply agitated his mind.
N.C. Sekhar
N.C. Sekhar was a member of the first Communist group in Kerala. His full name was Narayanan Pillai Chandrasekharan Pillai. He was born on July 2, 1904, in Venganoor, Thiruvananthapuram. N.C. actively participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1921. That same year, he joined the Swaraj Ashram and became a member of the Congress party at the age of sixteen.
After serving a prison sentence in connection with the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930, he returned to Thiruvananthapuram from Kannur Jail as the advocate of a completely new revolutionary spirit. Interactions with fellow prisoners in Kannur Jail (especially volunteers of the Hindustan Seva Dal) helped him realize that the Congress was a political organization representing capitalism. Consequently, the idea of a secret Communist organization began to sprout in his mind, leading to the formation of a secret organization named the Communist League in 1931. His knowledge of the Bolshevik Revolution, along with his prison experiences, inspired him to establish this secret party group.
Moving to Malabar in 1934, N.C. served in the leadership of the Congress Socialist Party and was entrusted with building up the trade union movement. In 1939, he went to Coimbatore to build the party network there. A Communist conspiracy case was charged against eight people, including N.C., leading to his imprisonment for six and a half years. He served as a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1954 to 1960. N.C. was suspended from the party in 1960. Although he joined the CPI(M) in 1964, he was expelled in 1967. N.C. passed away in Kannur in 1986.
