Birth: 31-08-1882
Death: 19-04-1969
Native Place: India
Place of Vision: India
Savarirayan Yesudasan was a missionary and the founder of the Christu-kula Ashram (Family of Christ Ashram) at Thirupattur district, North Arcot, South India. During the early nineteenth century, indigenous forms of Christianity took roots. The rethinking of Christianity from an Indian perspective was reiterated by a group of students from the Madras Medical College, one among whom was Savarirayan Yesudasan. He believed that Christianity must understand the spiritual ethos to adopt methods of work and forms of worship in line with local tradition.
After finishing his FRCS in Edinburgh, Scotland, Yesudasan along with his friend Forrester Paton established the Christu-kula Ashram in South India in 1921. The ashram was affiliated to the National Missionary Society and became one of the first Protestant ashrams to promote indigenous form of Christian worship. Fondly referred to as the ‘Periyannan’ (‘the elder brother’), he dedicated his life for the welfare of rural people by identifying himself with them, dressing like them and adopting their way of living.
Savarirayan embraced a simple life and gave away all his money for the development of the ashram and schools. He also offered free medical service to the people in and around the Thirupattur district. He worked hard for the upliftment of the downtrodden and travelled to many places for sharing the gospel and the love of Christ. He was also a hymn writer who had written many hymns for the glory of God.
