Periyar Ramaswamy was involved in securing rights to entry into temples and access to temple roads for people of all castes in Vaikom in Kerala, which was part of the princely state of Travancore during 1924. Periyar was the President of the Madras Presidency (Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh) Congress Committee at that time led the agitation after many other leaders had been arrested. Periyar agreed and came to Vaikom in April 1924 and he was arrested but he was unrelenting and refused to leave to Vaikom and the satyagraha gained strength and Mahatma Gandhi, on an invitation from Rajaji, went to Vaikom and began talks with the Queen of Travancore where it was agreed that the police pickets would be removed and that the State police would do nothing to prevent the lower castes using the roads. Periyar refused to participate in the negotiations but he had to agree, reluctantly, to Gandhi's idea that the demand for all Hindus entering the temple be put off at least for the time being He played a role along with other great statesmen and national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, C. Rajagopalachari, and Acharya Vinoba Bhave
