K. Kelappan was born in a small village of Calicut District in Kerala on August 24, 1889. In the days of his college life at Calicut and Madras he acquired an abiding interest in social service and higher values of life. He began his career as a teacher at Changanachery and was the founder President of Nair Service Society. Thereafter, he joined studies in Law at Bombay. When Mahatma Gandhi gave his call for boycott of the British, Kelappan gave up his studies and decided to dedicate his life in the service of his Motherland He lead an eventful life fighting the evils present in our society on the one hand and fighting the British on the other. He blossomed forth as an ideal Satyagrahi. He was an energetic revolutionary, social reformer and crusader for justice to the downtrodden. During Malabar rebellion he faced a group of rebels who came to loot the Ponnani Treasury and pursuaded them to retreat by appealing to their good sense. He gave the lead to the Payyannur and Calicut salt satyagraha and was chosen as the first satyagrahi from Kerala in the individual satyagraha movement launched by Gandhiji. He played a dominant role in the famous Vaikom Satyagraha and was the hero of Guruvayoor Satyagraha in 1932. It was at Gandhiji’s request that he ended his fast at Guruvayoor. He went to jail several times during the freedom struggle. He worked hard for eradication of untouchability and worked for upliftment of Harijans. He set up many Harijan hostels and schools in Kerala. He was in the forefront of Swadeshi Movement and did his best to build up a base for Khadi and Village industries.
After the independence of the country he gave up party politics and joined Sarvodaya Movement. He was the President of almost all major Gandhian organisations like Kerala Sarvodaya Sangh, Kerala Gandhi Samarak Nidhi, Kerala Sarvodaya Mandal and Gandhi Peace Foundation, Calicut. Apart from above he was an educationist as well as an accomplished and forceful journalist. He helped in starting “Mathrubhoomi” and was its editor for a number of years. He worked for unification of Kerala into a new linguistic State. He never aspired for power or position. His whole life was a saga of selfless service to the nation. Since the people of Kerala came to understand Gandhiji and his programmes essentially through Kelappan, he was popularly known as Kerala Gandhi. His life of service ended on October 7, 1971.
Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India