Vivekodayam
Categories
| Literary magazine
|
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Frequency
| Quarterly
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Founder
| Kumaran Asan
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Founded
| 1904
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First issue
| April 1904, 1079 Medom 30
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Country
| India
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Language
| Malayalam
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Vivekodayam
('Dawn of wisdom') is a
Malayalam
literary journal established in 1904 to serve as a voice of the underprivileged communities in the Indian state of
Kerala
. It was founded by
Kumaran Asan
, a prominent poet of malayalam literature, social reformer, disciple of
Narayana Guru
and founder-secretary of the associated
SNDP Yogam
, who was inspired by the teachings of
Swami Vivekananda
(The journal name was a tribute to him.).
History
[
edit
]
Prominent poet, Kumaran Asan served as the founding editor of
Vivekodayam
, which published its first monthly issue in April, 1904 and it soon became the leading literary journal in Kerala. Under Asan's editorship,
Vivekodayam
primarily served as a voice for the social reform message of SNDP Yogam. At the same time, it covered the literary, political, and social themes and published original literary works, literary criticism, informative writings, and inspirational essays. Its fierce advocacy of the interests of the Ezhava community led to it being popularly referred to as the
Ezhava Gazette
. Asan continued as the editor of Vivekodayam till 1919, when he resigned shortly after his marriage.
After several years of dormancy, the journal was revived by
C.R. Kesavan Vaidyar
.
Vivekodayam
is currently published quarterly by the Kumaran Asan National Institute of Culture (KANIC), which was founded in 1958 to preserve the writings and memory of Kumaran Asan.
[6]
Notable articles
[
edit
]
Editorials written by Asan in
Vivekodayam
attracted widespread attention, and covered current affairs, criticism of the Government, and championed the cause of education and employment opportunities for the Ezhavas.
Vivekodayam
published Asan's starkly critical reviews of three contemporary Malayali
Mahakavyam's
(epic poems):
Chitrayogam
by
Vallathol
,
Umakeralam
by
Ulloor
and
Rugmangadacharitam
by
Pandalam Kerala Varma
. Asan criticized these works for being conservative in form and for blindly following the norms of
Sanskrit
epics. His criticism caused a stir in the literary community and engendered responses from the authors, and fans, of those works followed by replies by Asan himself.
Besides original essays and criticism
Vivekodayam
included translations of works from other languages, such as
James Allen
's
As a Man Thinketh
,
(translated by Asan; published as
Manampole Mangalyam
)
and
Swami Vivekananda
's Bengali poem
Nachuk Tahate Shyama
(translated by Asan; published in two issues in 1904).
[10]
References
[
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]
Bibliography
[
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]
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Biography
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Works and
philosophy
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philosophy
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Poems/songs
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Lectures
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Miscellaneous
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Foundations
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Disciples
and friends
| Monastic disciples
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Other disciples
and friends
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Memorials
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Depictions
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Namesake
educational
institutions
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Books about
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Researchers
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