Unit 3 — Colonial Andhra & Movements
Movement·Unit 3 — Colonial Andhra

Self Respect Movement

Periyar's radical anti-caste, rationalist crusade and its Andhra parallels — 1925 onwards.

1925 – 1944Founder: E. V. Ramasamy 'Periyar' (1879–1973)Launched: 3 May 1925, on quitting the Congress after Kanchipuram sessionFirst conference: 17–19 Feb 1929, ChingleputAndhra parallels: Tripuraneni Ramaswamy 'Kavi Raju'; Gora — Atheist Centre, Vijayawada 1940Importance 5/54 min readUpdated: 2026-07-01
PeriyarSuyamariyathaiAnti-casteRationalismKudi ArasuDravidar Kazhagam

Focus

Suyamariyathai Iyakkam launched 1925 by Periyar after the Vaikom Satyagraha (1924–25) and his break with Congress. Targets: Brahminism, patriarchy, superstition. Became Dravidar Kazhagam, 27 Aug 1944, Salem.

Self-Respect (Suyamariyathai)

Equal human dignity irrespective of caste or gender.

Anti-Brahminism

Rejection of priestly monopoly, Manusmriti, and Sanskritic ritual.

Rationalism

Critique of god, temple worship and superstition ('There is no god; the one who created god is a fool').

Women's emancipation

Right to divorce, property, birth-control, widow remarriage, choice in marriage.

Self-Respect marriage

Civil marriage without priest, mantra or fire — later legalised by Tamil Nadu Act 1967.

Dravidian identity

Non-Brahmin, non-Aryan cultural pride; later merged into Dravida Nadu demand.

  1. 1924–25

    Vaikom Satyagraha — Periyar jailed as 'Vaikom Veerar'

  2. Nov 1925

    Cheranmadevi Gurukulam controversy; resigns from Congress at Kanchipuram

  3. 3 May 1925

    Self-Respect Movement launched; 'Kudi Arasu' weekly begins

  4. 1928

    'Revolt' English weekly launched

  5. 17–19 Feb 1929

    First All-India Self-Respect Conference, Chingleput — presided by S. Ramanathan

  6. 1929–32

    Periyar tours USSR, Europe; adopts socialist orientation

  7. 1930

    Self-Respect Marriage Movement formalised

  8. 1937–40

    Anti-Hindi agitation against Rajaji's compulsory Hindi rule

  9. 29 Dec 1938

    Periyar takes over Justice Party at Chennai conference

  10. 1940

    Gora founds Atheist Centre at Mudunuru → Vijayawada — Andhra rationalist echo

  11. 27 Aug 1944

    Justice Party reorganised as Dravidar Kazhagam, Salem

  • 1924–25

    Vaikom Satyagraha

  • 3 May 1925

    Self-Respect Movement launched

  • 1925

    'Kudi Arasu' begins

  • 1929

    First Self-Respect Conference, Chingleput

  • 1938

    Periyar takes over Justice Party

  • 1940

    Gora's Atheist Centre — Mudunuru

  • 1944

    Dravidar Kazhagam formed

EV

E. V. Ramasamy 'Periyar' (1879–1973)

Founder, ideologue

'Vaikom Veerar'; UNESCO citation 1970 — 'Prophet of the New Age, Socrates of South East Asia'.

SR

S. Ramanathan

First Self-Respect Conference president, 1929

Ran the Erode Self-Respect League.

SC

Singaravelu Chettiar

Marxist collaborator

Linked Self-Respect to labour movement; drafted the 1932 Erode Programme.

MR

Muthulakshmi Reddi

Women's rights ally

Drew on Self-Respect ideas while moving the Devadasi Abolition Bill 1929.

TR

Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Chowdary (1887–1943)

Andhra rationalist — 'Kavi Raju'

Sutha Puranam (1920), Sambukavadha — Telugu literary attack on Brahminical mythology.

G—

Gora — Goparaju Ramachandra Rao (1902–1975)

Andhra atheist reformer

Founded Atheist Centre, Mudunuru (1940) → Vijayawada (1947); associated with Gandhi in constructive work.

UL

Unnava Lakshminarayana

Andhra depressed-class ally

Malapalli (1922) — literary companion to Self-Respect themes in Telugu.

KS

Kuthuru Suryanarayana Murthy & Nadella Simhachalam

Telugu Self-Respect activists

Organised anti-caste and rationalist meetings in Krishna & Godavari districts.

  • Institutionalised civil / Self-Respect marriage — legalised in Tamil Nadu by the Hindu Marriage (Madras Amendment) Act 1967.
  • Made rationalism and atheism a legitimate public discourse in South India.
  • Anti-Hindi agitations (1937–40, 1948–65) reshaped India's language politics and led to the Official Languages Act 1963.
  • Direct parent of the Dravidian political family: DK (1944) → DMK (1949) → AIADMK (1972).
  • In Andhra: seeded Gora's Atheist Centre and reinforced the Tripuraneni rationalist stream in Telugu literature.

Periyar's disillusionment came in three shocks: the Cheranmadevi Gurukulam feeding-row (1925), where V. V. S. Aiyar segregated non-Brahmin students; the Kanchipuram Congress refusing to endorse communal representation; and the Vaikom Satyagraha (1924–25), where he was jailed twice as 'Vaikom Veerar' for leading temple-road access for avarnas.

In May 1925 he founded the Self-Respect Movement — Suyamariyathai Iyakkam — a mass ideological platform independent of the Congress and the Justice Party. Its Tamil weekly 'Kudi Arasu' (1925) and English weekly 'Revolt' (1928) carried the message across the Madras Presidency, including the Telugu districts.

Between 1929 and 1932 Periyar toured the Soviet Union and turned distinctly socialist; the 1930s saw anti-Hindi agitations (1937–40 and 1948–65) and finally reorganisation as the Dravidar Kazhagam in 1944, from which the DMK (1949) and AIADMK (1972) descend.

Self-Respect ideas travelled north along the Coromandel through Kudi Arasu subscribers and Periyar's Telugu-district tours of the late 1920s. In Guntur, Krishna and Godavari the movement dovetailed with the Telugu rationalist tradition of Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Chowdary, whose 'Sutha Puranam' (1920) had already attacked Brahminical myth-history in the language of Vyavaharika Telugu.

The most durable Andhra descendant is Gora's Atheist Centre, founded at Mudunuru in 1940 and relocated to Vijayawada in 1947 — India's oldest secular-atheist institution, still active in social reform.

Politically, Self-Respect radicalism ate into the Justice Party's non-Brahmin base and pushed Andhra Congress (Rajaji ministry 1937) to adopt prohibition, temple entry and Harijan uplift as core planks.

AspectJustice Party (1916)Self-Respect Movement (1925)
NatureElectoral, constitutional partySocial-ideological mass movement
Class baseWealthy non-Brahmin landholders & professionalsPeasants, workers, women, Dalits
Attitude to religionReformist within HinduismRationalist — atheist critique
Attitude to CongressRival in elections; loyalist to RajIdeological rejection of Gandhian/Brahmin Congress
Chief instrumentCommunal G.O. 1921 / 1927Kudi Arasu press + Self-Respect marriages
End stateAbsorbed into Self-Respect (1938); becomes DK (1944)Continues as Dravidar Kazhagam → DMK / AIADMK

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Don't confuse
Justice Party
Self-Respect Movement

Justice = elite electoral non-Brahmin party. SRM = mass anti-caste rationalist movement.

Don't confuse
Vaikom Satyagraha
Self-Respect Movement

Vaikom (1924–25) = temple-road access struggle in Travancore. SRM = ideological movement Periyar launched after it.

Don't confuse
Kudi Arasu
Revolt

Kudi Arasu = Tamil weekly, 1925. Revolt = English weekly, 1928. Both edited by Periyar.

Don't confuse
Tripuraneni Ramaswamy
Gora

Tripuraneni = Telugu rationalist poet ('Kavi Raju'). Gora = Andhra atheist reformer, founded Atheist Centre 1940.

P-V-K-C-D

Periyar · Vaikom · Kudi Arasu · Chingleput 1929 · Dravidar Kazhagam 1944 — the five milestones.

60-Second Revision
  • Founder: Periyar E. V. Ramasamy; launched 3 May 1925 after Vaikom & Kanchipuram Congress.
  • First conference: Chingleput, Feb 1929, presided by S. Ramanathan.
  • Press: 'Kudi Arasu' (Tamil, 1925), 'Revolt' (English, 1928).
  • Andhra echo: Tripuraneni Ramaswamy 'Kavi Raju' (Sutha Puranam) and Gora — Atheist Centre, Vijayawada 1940/47.
  • Reorganised as Dravidar Kazhagam, 27 Aug 1944, Salem.

  • Vaikom Satyagraha years 1924–25

    MCQ

  • First Self-Respect Conference — Chingleput 1929

    MCQ

  • Kudi Arasu (1925) & Revolt (1928) — editors and languages

    MCQ

  • Gora's Atheist Centre — Mudunuru 1940 / Vijayawada 1947

    Fact

  • Compare Justice Party and Self-Respect Movement

    Mains

  • Assess Periyar's contribution to social justice in South India

    Mains

Justice Party

Social & Cultural Awakening

National Movement

Andhra Movement