Tamil Nadu Timeline

Social ReformNational and Dravidian movements

Cheranmadevi Gurukulam controversy

· Cheranmahadevi

Cheranmadevi Gurukulam controversy
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Separate dining for Brahmin and non-Brahmin students at a Congress-funded gurukulam at Cheranmadevi caused a major controversy.

During the Non-cooperation Movement the nationalist V. V. S. Aiyar started a gurukulam at Cheranmadevi in Tirunelveli district with funding from the Tamil Nadu Congress. Around 1923 and 1924 a controversy arose when Brahmin and non-Brahmin students were found to be served food separately. E. V. Ramasamy and other non-Brahmin Congress leaders protested against the practice. The dispute deepened the divide between Brahmin and non-Brahmin members of the Tamil Nadu Congress and contributed to Periyar's decision to leave the Congress in 1925.

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