The Vaikom Satyagraha, the 603-day agitation for the roads around the Vaikom Mahadeva Temple
Background
The Vaikom Satyagraha was a non-violent agitation that lasted 603 days.
It was held for the right of backward communities to travel through the public road near the Vaikom Mahadeva Temple in Kottayam district.
The satyagraha started on the 30th of March 1924 and ended on the 23rd of November 1925.
It was supported by Sree Narayana Guru, Mannathu Padmanabhan, E. V. Ramasamy Naicker, T. K. Madhavan, K. Kelappan and K. P. Kesava Menon.
After the intervention of Mahatma Gandhi a compromise was reached with Regent Sethu Lakshmi Bayi of the princely State of Travancore.
The Regent released all those arrested during the agitation and opened the north, south and west public roads leading to the temple to all castes, but refused to open the eastern road.
Access to the eastern road and entry into the temple were allowed to the backward castes in 1936, after the Temple Entry Proclamation.
In plain words
Satyagraha Non-violent insistence on truth as a method of political struggle — The Vaikom agitation was one of the earliest satyagrahas against untouchability in Kerala.
Regent A ruler who governs on behalf of a sovereign who is a minor or otherwise unable to rule — Sethu Lakshmi Bayi ruled Travancore as Regent when the settlement was reached.