Kesavadev, born Kesava Pillai, on July 21, 1904 at Kedamangalam, a small hamlet near North Paravur, then British Raj, to Appu Pillai-Karthyayani Amma couple. He had formal education only up to High School levels when he had to abandon it due to financial constraints and take up part time jobs such as a collection agent, tuition teacher and cloth merchant. It was during this time, he was influenced by the thoughts of Sahodaran Ayyappan and participated in the "Mishra Bhojanam", a grand feast organized by Ayyappan where around 200 people including people of the lower castes sat together to eat. Subsequently, he joined Arya Samaj and adopted the name Kesavadev to get rid of his last name "Pillai" which denoted his caste. He later aligned himself with the Indian National Congress and with the Communist Party of India. He was involved with several publications, starting with Swadeshabhimani as an interim editor when A. K. Pillai, the then editor traveled to the UK. "Malayala Rajyam", "Bhaje Bharatham", "Prathidinam" and "Thozhilali" were some of the other publications he was involved with; the last one when he was an active communist. He also wrote propaganda literature for the communist movement and served as the president of the "Sahitya Pravarthaka Sahakarana Sangham" (Sahitya Pravarthaka Cooperative Society) and Kerala Sahitya Akademi.