Padmanabhan Palpu (2 November 1863 – 25 January 1950) was a physician from the Kingdom of Travancore who served as a chief medical officer of Mysore State.

Sajil Sreedhar wrote a novel titled Athmasourabham based on the life of Dr.Palppu which was published in Yoganadam magazine owned by SNDP Yogam.

[8][9] Like his older brother, he seems to have been able to use his family's association with Christian missionaries to avoid the usual rule in the kingdom that Ezhavas were forbidden from school attendance.

[5] His financial situation was dire by the end of the first year, when he received an honour certificate, but he was able to complete the course with the aid of donations from various high-placed people.

Back in India and having been awarded his Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery in 1889, he found that his caste status prevented him from obtaining employment in the Travancore Health Service, which meant that he had to relocate to Mysore to get work.

[1] Becoming aware of the importance of education as a method of socio-economic advancement and also as means to improve health and hygiene,[1] Palpu was the third signatory to the "Malayali Memorial", a petition organised and submitted to the Maharaja of Travancore on January 1, 1891, that primarily sought to address the concerns of those members of the Nair community, who were in government jobs but felt that the best of those jobs were dominated by non-Malayali Brahmins.

Whilst the Memorial had no success, according to Robin Jeffrey it did indicate to Palpu a method by which he could continue to campaign for the improved position of Ezhavas in society.

This letter was presented to the Maharajah of Travancore and demanded their right to admission in schools run by the colonial government and access to employment in public service.

[4] This use of petitions as a vehicle to achieve a coalescence of communal consciousness and cause change was one of the first examples of such in the kingdom, where the ritually superior Brahmin groups held the majority of posts available in the administration of the state.