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{{short description|Indian social reformer and freedom fighter}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mannathu Padmanabhan
| image = Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai 1989 stamp of India.jpg
| honorific_prefix = Bharata Kesari
| caption = Mannam's stamp released on 2 January 1989, by the [[Government of India]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1878|01|02}}
| birth_name = Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai
| birth_place = [[Perunna]], [[Changanassery]], [[Travancore|Kingdom of Travanvore]]<br>(present day [[Kottayam district|Kottayam]], [[Kerala]], India)
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1970|02|25|1878|01|02}}
| death_place = [[Perunna]], [[Changanassery]], [[Kerala]], India
| resting_place = Perunna
| monuments = Mannam Memorial, [[Changanassery]]
| nationality = [[Indian people|Indian]]
| other_names = {{Unbulleted_list|Mannam|Bharata Kesari|[[Madan Mohan Malaviya]] of Kerala}}
| occupation = {{hlist|[[Social reformer]]|[[Teacher]]|[[Lawyer]]|[[Politician]]}}
| era = Reformation in Kerala
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]
| organization = [[Nair Service Society]], Democratic Congress (Political Party)
| known_for = Founder of the [[Nair Service Society]]
| movement = {{Unbulleted_list|Savarna Jadha|[[Vaikom Satyagraha]]|[[Vimochana Samaram]]}}
| boards = First President of [[Travancore Devaswom Board]]
| spouse = {{Unbulleted_list|{{Marriage|Mechettu Kalyani Amma|1901|1912|reason=died}}|{{Marriage|[[Thottakkattu Madhaviamma|Thottakkattu Madhavi Amma]]|1932|1968}}}}
| parents = {{Unbulleted_list|Nilavana Illam Easwaran Namboothiri|Mannathu Parvathy Amma}}
| works = {{ublist|''Pancha Kalyani Niroopanam ''|''Ente Jeevitha Smaranakal''}}
| honours = [[Padma Bhushan]],Prestigious Bharata Kesari title from the [[President of India]]
}}

'''Mannathu Padmanabhan''' (2 January 1878 – 25 February 1970) was an Indian social reformer and freedom fighter from the south-western state of [[Kerala]]. He is recognised as the founder of the [[Nair Service Society]] (NSS), which represents the [[Nair]] community that constitutes 15.5% of the population of the state.<ref>Socio Economic Survey by Govt. of Kerala, 1968</ref> Padmanabhan is considered as a visionary reformer who organised the Nair community under the NSS.<ref name=ip_mannathu>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianpost.com/viewstamp.php/Color/Brown%20and%20Green/M.%20PADMANABHAN |title=M. Padmanabhan |publisher=IndianPost, Govt of India |access-date=2012-04-25}}</ref>

==Early life==

Mannathu Padmanabhan Pillai was born in [[Perunna]] village in [[Changanacherry]], [[Kottayam District]], [[British India]] on 2 January 1878 to Easwaran Namboothiri of Nilavana Illam and Mannathu Parvathy Amma.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nss.org.in/about-mannam/ |title = About Mannam – Official website of Nair Service Society}}</ref> He began his career as a teacher in 1893 in a Government primary school. After a few years, from 1905 he changed his profession and started practicing law, in the Magistrates Courts.<ref name=ip_mannathu /><ref name=rrtd_mannathu>[http://www.rrtd.nic.in/biomannathu.html Mannathu Padmanabhan (1878-1970) - MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING, Govt of India]</ref>

==Nair Service Society==
[[File:Mannam Statue, Vaikom cropped.JPG|left|180px| Mannam Statue at [[Vaikom]], [[Kottayam]]]]

On 31 October 1914, with the help of a few others, he established the [[Nair Service Society]]. His main ambition was to uplift the status of the Nair community. From 1915 onwards, he gave up law practice and became full-time secretary of the Nair Service Society.<ref name=rrtd_mannathu /> Mannam revived and reshaped the old concept of village societies, the Karayogams, which practically set the tenor of family and village life. In 1924-25 the NSS persuaded the Travancore Government to enact the Nair Regulation which broke up the matriarchal joint family providing for paternal and maternal property to be divided among all the children.<ref name=ip_mannathu />
Padmanabhan was involved with the [[Nair Service Society]] as its secretary for 31 years and as its president for three years. He was honoured with the title ''Bharata Kesari'' by the [[President of India]].<ref name=rrtd_mannathu /> He also received [[Padma Bhushan]] in 1966.<ref name=ip_mannathu /><ref>[http://philaindia.info/kerasocialreformers.html KERALA - THE GOD'S OWN COUNTRY THROUGH INDIAN STAMPS] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111229212200/http://philaindia.info/kerasocialreformers.html |date=29 December 2011 }}</ref>

[[File:Logo_created_for_Nair_Service_Society.jpg |left|thumb|NSS Logo, [[Kerala]]]]

On January 2, 2022, [[Nair Service Society]] celebrated the 145th Mannam Jayanthi at NSS headquarters, Perunna in Changanassery.<ref>{{cite news|title=Curtains come down on Mannam Jayanthy|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/Curtains-come-down-on-Mannam-Jayanthy/article16982076.ece|access-date=3 January 2017|work=[[The Hindu]]|location =Kottayam|date=2 January 2017}}</ref>

==Political life==
He fought for social equality, the first phase being the [[Vaikom Satyagraha]], demanding the public roads near the temple at Vaikom be opened to low caste Hindus.He took part in the [[Vaikom]](1924) and [[Guruvayoor]](1931) temple-entry Satyagrahas; the anti-[[Dalit|untouchability]] agitations. He opened his family temple for everyone, irrespective of caste distinction<ref>{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20080407194840/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/01/03/stories/2002010303670300.htm Mannam-The Hindu]}}</ref> He became a member of the [[Indian National Congress]] in 1946 and took part in the agitation against Sir C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer's administration in Travancore.<ref name=rrtd_mannathu /> As the first president of [[Travancore Devaswom Board]] he revitalised many temples which had almost ceased to function.<ref name=ip_mannathu /> On May 25, 1947 Padmanabhan delivered his famous Muthukulam Speech at [[Muthukulam]], [[Alappuzha]]. He was arrested for [[Indian Freedom Movement]] on 14 June 1947.

In 1949, Padmanabhan became a member of the Travancore Legislative Assembly. In 1959, he along with Christian Churches led a united opposition against the State [[Communist]] Ministry, which became known as the ''[[Vimochana Samaram]]'' (liberation struggle). The cause of the ''[[Vimochana Samaram]]'' was the introduction of Land reforms Bill by the Minister KR Gowri , and this movement caused the dismissal of the Communist government under [[E. M. S. Namboodiripad]] on 31 July 1959.<ref name=ip_mannathu /> After the success of the movement he famously tethered a white horse at the Kerala Secretariat building as he had challenged to do if the dismissal was successful. The consequence of the dismissal was the beginning of President's rule in the state under Article 356 of the Indian Constitution.<ref name=rrtd_mannathu /><ref>[http://www.firstministry.kerala.gov.in/vimochna.htm ‘Liberation’ struggle - Kerala's First Government] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419181916/http://www.firstministry.kerala.gov.in/vimochna.htm |date=19 April 2012 }}</ref> In 1964 he was instrumental in the formation of Kerala Congress, the first regional party in India

==Death==
Padmanabhan died on 25 February 1970<ref name=rrtd_mannathu /> at the age of 92, after age related complications. Mannam memorial (or ''Samādhi'') is located at [[Nair Service Society|NSS]] Headquarters [[Changanacherry]]. He is regarded as the reformer and moral guide of the members of [[Nair|Nair community]].

{{Reformation in Kerala}}

==See also==
* [[Nair Service Society]]
* [[Mahatma Gandhi College]]
* [[Mannam Memorial N.S.S College, Kottiyam|Mannam Memorial N.S.S College]]
* [[NSS College of Engineering]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*Postage stamp issued details on [https://philaindia.info/mannathu-padmanabhan-pillai/ Mannathu Padmanabhan]
*[[V. Balakrishnan (author)|V. Balakrishnan]] & [[R. Leela Devi]], 1982, Mannathu Padmanabhan and the revival of Nairs in [[Kerala]], Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi.
{{commons category|Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai}}
*[http://rrtd.nic.in/biomannathu.html Brief Biography by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of INDIA]
*[http://www.indianpost.com/viewstamp.php/Color/Brown%20and%20Green/M.%20PADMANABHAN Mannathu Padmanabhan-Indian Post]

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1960–69}}
{{Padma Award winners of Kerala}}
{{authority control}}

==External links==
*{{ cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh79kPlnn1s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/Sh79kPlnn1s| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live| title= AIR Speech on 82nd Birthday }}{{cbignore}}
*{{ cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hUt1ZMOakQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/0hUt1ZMOakQ| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live| title= Patheyam TV Program}}{{cbignore}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pillai, Mannathu Padmanabha}}
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Kerala]]
[[Category:Malayali politicians]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in social work]]
[[Category:Politicians from Kottayam]]
[[Category:1878 births]]
[[Category:1970 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian social reformers]]
[[Category:Social workers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educational theorists]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian educational theorists]]
[[Category:Social workers from Kerala]]
[[Category:People from Changanassery]]
[[Category:History of Changanassery]]
[[Category:Kerala Congress politicians]]

Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai - Revision history

UpdateBot at 03:42, 24 January 2022