The Antop Hill branch of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), No 3854, which comes under the Mumbai-Thane Union, is set to celebrate its 21st anniversary on April 8 at the Shanmukhananda Chandrasekharananda Saraswathi Auditorium at King's Circle.
The senior-most member of the Malayalam film industry, Padma Shri Madhu will be the chief guest at the function. Mollywood's comedy king Jagadeesh will grace the function as a special guest as well.
SNDP Yogam, initially founded in Kerala and later established in Mumbai, stands for following the social welfare activities and reforms laid down by Sri Narayana Guru at a time when caste discrimination was practiced at its peak.
Narayana Guru, also known as Sri Narayana Guru, (c. 1856 – 20 September 1928), was a social reformer of India. He was born into a family of the Ezhava caste in an era when people from such communities, which were regarded as Avarna, faced injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala.
He led a reform movement in Kerala, rejected casteism, and promoted new values of spiritual freedom and social equality. He stressed the need for the spiritual and social upliftment of the downtrodden through the establishment of temples and educational institutions. In the process, he denounced the superstitions that clouded the fundamental Hindu cultural convention of caste.
Oscar winner Resul Pookutty, National Award winner Surabhi Lakshmi, Manoj K Jayan, who completes 30 years in cinema along with Vijeesh Mani, who directed "Vishwaguru" and bagged a record for making a film in a shot span of time and its writer Pramod Payyannur will be honoured at the function.
Pandit Ramesh Narayan, considered to be a master of Carnatic-Hindustani music, Kerala state award winner Madhushree Narayan and Kalagurukulam Kannur are set to perform at the function.
Comedian Nelson along with Kalabhavan Sudhi, Kalabhavan Leena Lakshmi and Dileep Kottayam will also team up to entertain on the occasion.
