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Swami Atmanands (S. Neelakanta Iyer) was born in 1889 in Chittur, Palghat District, Kerala. As a B.A.L.T. he was in private educational service till1930 when he joined the Salt Satyagraha as one of the leaders of that movement in Kerala. He was the General Captain of the Salt Satyagraha volunteers at Payyanur. He came into close contact with Gandhiji at Madras in 1916. He was an active worker in the Congress since 1919. He was at the Vaikom Satyagraha camp as Gandhiji's personal attendant, which duty he did every time Gandhiji visited Kerala. In 1929 he acted as the local secretary of Pandit Malaviyajji when he toured Kerala. He was the first secretary of the Harijan Sevak Sangh, Cochin-Travancore area, from 1932 to 1934. Form August 1934 to May 1937 he was an honorary worker in the Madras Ramakrishna Mutt, working in the Student's Home, Mylapore, Madras. He was one of the organizers of the Cochin State Praja Mandal in 1940 and continued as its President, except for a short break, till 1950. In 1943 as the President of the Praja Mandal he attended the memorable "Quit India" Bombay A.I.C.C. session and on return was arrested and jailed at Trichur. It was while in jail that he arranged the teachings of Sankara. A devotee of Swami Ramdas since 1939 he took Sanyas from him in 1950. He was the Acharya of the Veda Sastra Pathasala, Chittur, from 1950 to 1963. He was also a member of the Jnana Ashram, Parlikad, Kerala, and the Working President, Bharat Sadhu Samaj, Kerala Branch.