The aim of the founder was to make available the literatures of high value which were then enshrined in palm leaves by the handwriting process, to the ordinary man, at moderate prices and thereby spread the light of knowledge to every nook and corner of the country. With that view in mind Shri Subbiah Tennattu Reddiar (S.T.Reddiar) made ceaseless efforts to collect such works of high literary value which were written in Sanskrit and then engaged the literary luminaries to translate them into simple Malayalam so that those treasures of knowledge could be made available to the ordinary man through the process of printing. This he could accomplish during his life time itself and through the culturally oriented institution of ‘Vidyabhivardhini the great epics of Ramayanam, Bagavathamm, Bhaaratham and the collected Tullal and Kathakali stories, evening prayer poems, rare books on Astrology, indigenous Indian medicine of Ayurveda etc.
Even before the well known publishers in foreign countries could think of publishing books at such moderate rates in huge quantities, Subbiah Tennattu Reddiar succeeded in making this dream fulfilled. The efforts of this institution made it possible for the common man to get acquainted with the great works of the past. The literary luminaries of those decades like Shri A.R..Raja Raja Varma, Kerala Varma Valiyakoil Thampuram, Subramaniam Potti, K.C.Kesava Pillai, I.C.Chacko etc. were actively associated with Vidhyabhivardhini Press.
During those days Subbiah Tenattu Reddiar received many rewards from the then Young Highness Sri Moolam Thirunal Maharaja for his meritorious services for the moral and educational promotional work through his publications.
Sri.SubbiahTennattu Reddiar established S.T.Reddiar Sons in the year 1886. The aim of the founder was to make available the literatures of high value such as Ramayana, Mahabharatham, Astrology, Ayurveda etc., which were then enshrined in palm leaves by hand writing process to the ordinary man at moderate prices and thereby spreading the light of knowledge to every nook and corner of Kerala State.
Late Sri.M.Rajendran who was a doyen in the printing industry in India was instrumental in bringing S.T.Reddiar & Sons (EKM) into a modern printing unit and state of the art printing company.
Shri M.Rajendran who was a doyen of the printing industry in South India headed Ernakulam branch office. During his lifetime he made the institution S.T.Reddiar & Sons to a national level reputation. His vision, enthusiasm, determination and untiring efforts made the institution in to a full fledged and modern commercial printing press in South India with all infra structure facilities established under one roof. The firm has changed with the times to always adopt the latest technology to be a front runner in the commercial printing field. By his sheer efforts STR entered into the export market also.
He was also a philanthropist and a good orator. He was the International Director for membership development of Y’s Men International, Geneva for 5 years continuously which was a world record in the history of Y’smen International. He was the founder president of Kerala Master Printers Association and Kerala Corrugated Box Manufacturers Association.