PadmanabhanPalpu was born on 2 November 1863 in Petta, Trivandrum, India.
His family were wealthy and educated members of the Ezhava caste.
He furthered his medical training at London and Cambridge.
Returning to India, he found that his low caste status prevented him from obtaining employment in the Travancore Health Service, which meant that he had to relocate to Mysore to get work..
Palpu was the third signatory to the Malayali Memorial, a petition organised in 1891.
He again made demands in 1895, when he petitioned the Diwan of Travancore.
In 1896, he organised a petition that attracted the signatures of 13,176 Ezhavas.