Panmana Ashram

Sree Chattambi Swamikal was a great scholar and saint who belonged to Kerala and was born in 1853. He is respected for being religious, humble and loving to all creatures, which inspired awe amongst his followers. He strictly practised the essential virtues that define an ideal sage, such as Ahimsa or Non-violence, Satya or Truthfulness, Asteya or Non-stealing, Brahmacharya, also known as Celibacy, and Aparigraha or Non-Acquisition. Such a controlled and simple lifestyle set an example for his followers, and he ended up influencing and widening the vision of people, thereby leaving a mark in the religious world.

He even braved the narrow and restrictive conventions that existed during his times and was successful in mastering many branches of art and learning. He also studied Tamil and Sanskrit from competent scholars outside Kerala, which gave him excellent command over Vedanta. Swamikal strove to educate the masses and to enlighten them and also desired to liberalise the traditional religious ritual practices that people followed by means of his writing and own personal life example. For this purpose, he travelled miles and miles on foot in search of knowledge; and when he finally acquired that knowledge, he wandered again as the inspirer of people.