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How does Ayyavazhi address social justice and equality?

Ayyavazhi places social justice and equality at the very heart of its religious vision, treating them not as secondary concerns but as expressions of true dharma. Emerging in a context of intense caste discrimination, it explicitly rejects caste hierarchy and teaches that all humans are fundamentally equal, regardless of birth or social status. This rejection is grounded in a monistic understanding of reality: all souls share the same divine essence, so social stratifications are spiritually false and morally indefensible. Its primary scripture, the Akilattirattu Ammanai, condemns social hierarchies and oppression as manifestations of adharma and of the dark forces associated with the age of Kali. In this way, spiritual insight and social critique are woven together into a single theological fabric.

This vision of equality is not confined to doctrine but is enacted in communal life and ritual practice. Worship in Ayyavazhi centers, such as pathis and nizhal thangals, is structured to minimize hierarchy: there is no hereditary priestly class, and all devotees are invited to participate on an equal footing. Practices like communal dining, where people of all castes sit together and share food, serve as deliberate counters to entrenched customs of segregation. Shared spaces, common eating, and inclusive worship collectively dismantle the social boundaries that once governed who could sit, eat, or pray with whom. These practices embody the conviction that religious life must mirror the equality it proclaims.

Ayyavazhi also articulates a broader social and cosmic horizon for justice through its teaching on the coming dharmic age. The envisioned Dharma Yukam, or Kingdom of Dharma, is not merely a mystical state but a transformed social order in which exploitation, discrimination, and unjust authority lose their power. Oppressive religious and social elites, including those who use ritual status or economic dominance to subjugate others, are portrayed as aligned with the forces of Kali and destined to be overcome. The uplift of the marginalized and the fair treatment of all are thus presented as integral to the divine mission of Ayya Vaikundar. In this way, Ayyavazhi offers a path where spiritual realization and the pursuit of a just, egalitarian society are inseparable dimensions of the same quest for truth.