Vaikunda Swamikal was one of the earliest social reformers who attempted for the emancipation of the

deprived castes. He opposed the Hindu orthodoxy and the religious conversions made by the Christian
missionaries. He founded a religious thought of his own called Ayyavazhi for the liberation of the
avarnas from the cruel torturing of the higher castes. He was born in a lower caste family , Nadar, and
his parents named his as Mudichoodum Perumal. But due to the vehement opposition of the orthodox
hindus, his parents had to rename him as Muthukkutty. He was born in Swamithope in Kanyakumari
district of Travancore state. He challenged the discriminations faced by the nadar community and
questioned the caste system itself. In his speeches he questioned the huge taxes imposed on the Nadar
community and rationale behind the free voluntary services to the state by the people. In 1836 he
founded an organization called Samathwa Samajam in Swamithope with the intention of creating the
idea of equality of all human beings in a situation in which caste rules were strictly followed and those
who violates the rules were stringently punished.