[1] Pillai was born in Thiruvananthapuram at Pattom Kushavarkal Mulayarathala house in 1851.
He soon joined the Education Department of the erstwhile native State of Travancore as a Headmaster in a Malayalam School.
Pillai found that the Nair community was beset with many unnecessary customs and traditions that prevented the groups progress.
He campaigned for the discontinuation of the out-dated matrilineal system observed by the Nairs.
He started a monthly newspaper called Samudaya Parishkarini (Community Modifier).