Sree Narayana College, Kollam is one of the earliest and the greatest centres of higher education in the whole state of Kerala. Affiliated to the University of Kerala, the College is managed by the Sree Narayana Trusts, Kollam. Bearing in letter and spirit the name of Sree Narayana Guru (1854-1928), the great saint-philosopher, social reformer and mystic poet, the college was started in 1948 by S.N.D.P. Yogam and its able and inspiring leader R. Sankar (1909-1972) with 505 students at the Intermediate level. Next year it was upgraded to a Degree college and in 1957 it attained membership in the prestigious club of Postgraduate colleges.
The college offers 17 undergraduate, 14 postgraduate and One P.G. Diploma Programmes. Eight of the Postgraduate Departments are approved research centres as well.
The institution further provides facilities (both infrastructure and faculty) for conducting contact classes of the correspondence courses under the University of Kerala and counselling of IGNOU study programmes coordinated by the IGNOU Study Centre. Since its inception in 1948, Sree Narayana College, Kollam has not only spearheaded the uplift of the socially and educationally backward sections of our society but has also created a glorious history of outstanding academic activities, thus making itself the leader of the institutions of higher education in the State.
Sree Narayana College, Kollam is one of the pioneer higher education institutions in Kerala. The college, established in 1948, upholds the ideals of Sree Narayana Guru, the patron saint of Sree Narayana Institutions. The life and teachings of Sree Narayana Guru has been instrumental in illuminating the best way to cure the social, cultural, and intellectual ills of all times. His mission has been to establish the truth that humanity is one, beyond the fragmentations of parochialism, inhuman customs, practices, and traditions that burden humanity all over the world. He exhorted man: “The act one performs for one’s own pleasure should also be of pleasure to others.” The great seer who preached “Oneness of Humanity” propagated the ideal, “One Caste, One Religion, and One God for the Human Kind”. He called upon the unprivileged and downtrodden to “Strengthen through Organization” and to “Emancipate through Education.” The emancipation he envisaged was the absolute freedom from the fetters of ignorance and wrong customs that bind humanity down. In the endeavor to fulfill the exhortations of Guru, Sree Narayana College accepts into its fold all sections of society, irrespective of caste and creed, to impart egalitarian attitude and ethical high-mindedness to the privileged, and to empower the weak to come on a par with the privileged, with self respect. The vision of Sree Narayana College is embodied in the noble ideals of Sree Narayana Guru.
Our founder, Sri. R. Sankar, the former Chief Minister of Kerala, eminent scholar, philanthropist, administrator and educationist, took up the sublime mission of the uplift of the marginalized sections of the society without malice to anyone. His inspiration has in turn helped us to disseminate knowledge by providing quality and need-based education to all. This college has striven to enlighten the subaltern on their inner strength to subdue odds and to illuminate the privileged about the oneness of humanity. This balanced vision has enabled the weaker sections of society to redeem themselves from the narrow confines of caste segregation.
