It is through Narayana Gurukulam that the continuation of Gurudeva's tradition of wisdom shines light on the society today. Narayana Gurukulam was started by P Natarajan, who was a disciple of Narayana Guru when he was alive. Narayana Gurukulam is a combination of the name Narayana Guru and Kulam. P Natarajan, later known as Nataraja Guru, was also a world-class talent among the Guru's disciples. Natarajan, the son of Dr. Palpu, who made crucial contributions to the history of Kerala's renaissance, was released to Guru's guardianship on the request made by Guru himself. Guru was finding the direct heir of his wisdom tradition.
After receiving his MA and LT degrees from the University of Madras in 1922, Natarajan accepted Guru's discipleship and became an inmate at the Aluva Advaita Ashram. Seeing the condition of the disciple who could not stay there due to various reasons, Guru himself advised Natarajan to go somewhere far away and make efforts towards Swadharma. Thus Gurukulam was started as a model school in Coonoor, Nilgiris. It was later shifted to Fern Hill in Ooty. Mahatma Gandhi had sent a Hindi teacher to Gurukulam that day. On June 13, 1926, the foundation stone of the new building was laid by Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, the Maharaja of Travancore. He also gave his maiden speech at this function. Sir CP Ramaswamy Iyer, then Dewan of Travancore, presided over the third anniversary of the school held there on the same day. The Gurukulam founder envisioned an educational program that combined the practical aspects of Western education with the values of the Gurukula system in India.
In 1928, Narayanaguru sent his disciple abroad for further studies. He returned as Dr Natarajan after Guru's samadhi. After that, Nataraja Guru made many trips to Europe and America. After returning from such a world tour, in 1951, he gave a special honour to the Narayana Gurukulam. Accordingly, the goal of the Gurukulam from then on was to make Advaita Vedanta, which was reformed by Narayana Guru, available to all without any distinction of caste, religion, gender, caste, or nationality and that is still going on. Today Narayana Gurukulam has ashrams in Ooty and Bengaluru along with 15 regional centers in Kerala. Gurukulam Centers in Singapore and the United States are also spreading wisdom. Apart from Gurukulam centres, there are study circles and study groups based on Gurukula literature under the control of Narayana Gurukulam. Narayana Gurukulam also has a publishing wing. Gurukulam, a Malayalam philosophical magazine, and Values, an English online publication. Apart from this, more than 300 books have been published in English, Malayalam and Hindi. Noteworthy are the commentaries on all the Guru's works, as well as the three commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita and the major Upanishads. Autobiographies of Nataraja Guru and Nitya Chaitanya Yati, followed by the current abbot, Muni Narayana Prasad, have also been published. Brahma Vidya Mandir is also functioning as a part of the Gurukulam to provide facilities for those interested in studying Brahmavidya.
It is the unique contribution of Narayana Gurukulam that some of the mysterious messages in the ancient scriptures, which were not known till now, were discovered. The book 'Suvisheshangal Vedanta drishtiyil' written by Muni Narayana Prasad is a book that unlocks the unexplored parts of the Gospels of the Bible with the key of Vedanta. In the same way the book 'Allahuvinte namathil' explains the hundred names of God in the Holy Qur'an.
In these times when various religions are divided among themselves, the silent work of uniting them all is going on in the Gurukulam. It is such activities that are carried out without any fuss or noise that actually make society walk on the right path. We wish the Gurukulam and President Muni Narayana Prasad to move forward with more magnetic power through such activities in the light of the centenary.