ABSTRACT
I have provided the background which led up to the establishment of the Ramakrishna Order in Calcutta and the spread of the Ramakrishna Movement far beyond the boundaries of Bengal. I now wish to describe how the Movement came to the south west coast of India, 1 and how the Movement was instrumental in bringing about some of the most far-reaching social changes in the former States of Travancore and Cochin and British Malabar. Against this background I shall trace the development of a branch of the Ramakrishna Order in Cochin State, located in a remote village some eight kilometres from the rural town of Trichur, proudly known as ‘the Cultural capital of Kerala’.
