ಮಹಾತ್ಮರ ಗುರು (Mahatmara Guru)
by ಡಾ. ಮುಗಳವಳ್ಳಿ ಕೇಶವ ಧರಣಿ (Dr. Mugalavalli Keshava Dharani)
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This biography recounts the life and pioneering social reforms of Kudmul Ranga Rao (1859–1928) in coastal Karnataka. A Brahmin lawyer in Mangalore, he abandoned his career to fight untouchability, founding the Depressed Classes Mission (D.C.M.) in 1897, building schools and hostels for Dalits, and introducing free midday meals. When Mahatma Gandhi visited his institution in 1920 and saw its educated, self-reliant Dalit children, he declared Kudmul Ranga Rao his own 'Guru' in the struggle against untouchability.
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Kudmul Ranga Rao was born on 29 June 1859 in the village of Kudmul (Kasaragod) and grew up witnessing the cruelties of caste. After building a successful legal practice in Mangalore, he was deeply disturbed by the treatment of untouchables. A turning point came when a low-caste client was made to stand outside in torrential rain lest he 'pollute' the high-caste lawyers, a humiliation that led Ranga Rao to abandon his career, pledge his wealth, and found the Depressed Classes Mission (D.C.M.) in 1897.
Education as liberation
Believing education was the only tool to end social slavery, he built schools for Dalit children (mockingly called 'Panchama Schools'). When high-caste teachers boycotted them, he taught the classes himself; to raise attendance he introduced a free midday meal scheme and gave families small cash incentives. His reforms extended to vocational centres at Shedigudda, clean housing colonies near Courtgudda, Dalit women's rights and inter-caste marriage. Despite excommunication and threats, he stood firm: 'Let the dust of my educated Dalit children's feet fall on my head; that is the only crown I desire.'
Gandhi's tribute
In February 1920, Mahatma Gandhi visited Ranga Rao's Mangalore institution. Overwhelmed by its clean, self-reliant and educated Dalit children, Gandhi declared: 'I have been fighting untouchability across India, but Kudmul Ranga Rao has implemented my dream here. He is, in reality, my master and my Guru.' Ranga Rao died in 1928, asking in his will that his body be handled by Dalit sweepers so as to merge with the soil of the children he loved.