Deprived communities, systematically denied access to education, were compelled to observe numerous corrupt customs, their understanding obscured by ignorance. The Ezhava community in which Narayana Guru was born, epitomized this plight, with the lives of backward people often resembling enslavement. Recognizing the prevalence of such wrongful practices, Guru provided essential leadership and guidance to these communities, including the Ezhavas, thereby initiating profound social change.
Organizations such as the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham, and Narayana Gurukulam were instrumental in upholding Guru's objectives and beliefs. Among the detrimental communal practices he helped dismantle were 'Thalikettu Kalyanam' (a mock-marriage ritual), 'Thirandu Kuli' (a puberty ceremony), and 'Pulikudi' (a pregnancy ritual). Furthermore, he actively participated in the Vaikom Satyagraha, driven by the aim of eradicating untouchability prevalent within Hinduism.
The Guru convinced the community members that many traditional customs were incompatible with social progress and therefore needed to be abolished for advancement. By doing so, he eliminated the stagnation of a community. He understood the truth that a community could only be uplifted through the reform of its customs.
Many marriage-related customs had persisted over time. ‘Thalikettu Kalyanam’ was one of them — a mock marriage ceremony where young girls are symbolically married before they attain a marriageable age. People were brought in on elephants and horses with great pomp and seated in a pandal. The ritual involved tying the ‘thali’(a thread/locket) around the neck of the young girl marking her as marriageable. The SNDP Yogam first took up the issue of social reform by encouraging community members to abandon ‘Thalikettu Kalyanam’.
Proper awareness was necessary to change a society that was destroying itself by spending money on feasts and clinging to irrational customs. At a meeting chaired by Narayana Guru in Paravur (Kollam district) in 1904, he demanded that customary reforms be implemented. This led to the discontinuation of ‘Thalikettu Kalyanam’ and the introduction of a new, simpler marriage system.
At the Guru's request, Yogam workers organized public meetings and family gatherings in all taluks to propagate these instructions. During this period, the Guru toured North Travancore and presented his reforms to the locals. In the Neyyattinkara Taluk of Thiruvananthapuram district, the Guru personally intervened and stopped a highly elaborate ‘Kettu Kalyanam’ that was about to take place at the pandal itself. He instructed community members that marriage as an institution needed to change with the times. He suggested that wedding ceremonies should be extremely simple, with only a limited number of people’s participation. This further inspired other communities to abolish their corrupt customs.
