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The rulers of Travancore Kingdom A trip down the annals of History

July 16, 2021 at 9:07 pm by Editorial
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Anupama Nair

www.mediaeyenews.com

In the last part I spoke about one of the greatest and richest kingdoms of the world – Travancore and the great kings of the dynasty. Today as promised I am going to talk about His Royal Highness Chithira  Tirunal Bala Rama Varma, Padmanabha Swami Temple and the recent controversy and how thankfully the Royal Family won and many more facts about the kingdom. I was so excited when I saw His Royal Highness Chithira Tirunal Bala Rama Varma, who was the last ruler of the great kingdom in the Trivandrum airport. I still remember seeing him and could not believe it was the Maharaja as he was wearing a suit. In my mind I expected to see him with his royal robes and a crown. My heart swells with pride when I think about the great kingdom and my city Trivandrum. 

Sree Chithira Thirunal, was the last ruling Maharaja of the kingdom of  Travancore, until 1949 and later the Titular Maharaja of Travancore till his death in 1991. He was born on Deepavali day in 1912. His mother was distantly related, by birth, to the Royal House of Travancore. In 1900, following the absence of heirs in the Travancore Royal Family, she was adopted by her maternal great-aunt. When the king Moolam Thirunal Ramavarma, died on August 7, 1924, he succeeded the throne of Travancore under the regency of his maternal aunt, Sethu Lakshmi Bai. He took the name 'Sree Chithira Thirunal,' as he was born under the Chithira nakshatram or star.

In 1930, he got full ruling powers on his attaining majority. His reign was epoch-making in many ways. He lived his divine life as a ‘Padmanabha Dasa’ and contributed to every walk of life in his kingdom like education, healthcare, music, spirituality as well as democracy. Under his reign Travancore became a typical modern state at time and soon became a model for other kingdoms. The proclamation of 1936 opening the temples of Travancore to every Hindu was revolutionary and hailed by all. He soon abolished the capital punishment in Travancore, and it became a remarkable first step in the entire Asia. The universal adult franchise was introduced in 1940.The mid-day meal scheme in the form of the ‘Vanchi Poor Fund’ in Travancore was introduced to encourage poor children to attend school. The State Transport System inaugurated in 1937 had been an eye-opener to all as a public utility service was earning a big net income for the state. He even started air service between Bombay and Trivandrum in 1935. The ‘Pallivasal Scheme’ (1933-40) was the first attempt in India to harness the waterfalls to man’s service by generation of electricity.

The University of Travancore was founded in 1937  by the Maharaja. Sri Chithira Thirunal became the first Chancellor and Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer was the Vice Chancellor of the Travancore University. The Padmanabhapuram Palace was renovated and the Trivandrum Art Gallery was expanded. He started an Aerodrome, Radio Station, Public Service Commission, Medical and Engineering Colleges in the kingdom.

When India became independent in 1947 and after some hesitation, Sri Chithira Thirunal agreed to accede Travancore to the new Dominion of India. He became the Rajapramukh of the Travancore-Cochin union from July 1, 1949 to October 31, 1956. On November 1, 1956, the Travancore-Cochin union was merged with the Malabar district of Madras state to form the state of Kerala and Sri Chithira Thirunal's office of Rajpramukh came to an end. On December 28, 1971, Sri Chithira Thirunal lost his Privy Purse and other privileges when the Government of India derecognized the rulers of the erstwhile princely states.

Sri Chithira Thirunal, the last ruler of Travancore passed at the Kowdiar Palace on July 19, 1991 at the age of 78. He was succeeded as head of the royal house of Travancore by his brother, Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma. It was a sad day to all of us. His Royal Highness Marthanda Varma breathed his last in 2013, and the present Maharaja is His Royal Highness Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma.

Now I am going to tell you about the famous Sri Padmanabha Swamy Temple. The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Vishnu in the “Anantha Shayana” (sleeping on the serpent Ananda) posture. The temple is built in an intricate fusion of the Chera style and the Dravidian style of architecture, featuring high walls, and a 16th-century gopura.

The temple and its assets belong to Lord Padmanabhaswamy, and were for a long time controlled by a trust, headed by the Travancore Royal Family. In 2011, the High Court, after many public petitions, ruled that the Travancore Royal Family must give up the custodial rights to the temple as their last ruler, Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, died in 1991.

In June 2011, the Honorable Supreme Court directed the authorities from the Archaeology Department and the fire services to open the secret chambers of the temple for inspection of the items kept inside. The temple has six vaults  or ‘nilavaras’, labelled as A to F, for bookkeeping purpose by the Court. In April 2014, two more vaults were discovered, called G and H. Approximately 9,000 kilos and diamonds were discovered in the vaults, which were valued at nearly $20 billion  or Rs 1.4 lakh crore. This revelation made the Padmanabhaswamy Temple as the wealthiest place of worship in the world and the kingdom of Travancore the richest kingdom in the world. 

Thankfully in July 2020, the Honorable Supreme Court upheld that the Travancore royal family must take control of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple. The Supreme Court ruling in the Travancore royal family’s favor has made them the rightful owners of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple and the heavy gold reserves that sit in its vault. This is a victory of Truth and the city of Trivandrum and its people and our beloved deity Sri Padmanabha. I shudder to imagine what would have happened if a politician had laid his hand on the holy temple.

The contribution of the Royal family to Trivandrum is undisputed. You just need to see Trivandrum to know who has done the most – Royalty or the State Government. If everything was done by the Maharaja in 200 years, what did the State Government do from 1956? May be someday not far away we would see the old days of the Maharaja come back. I for sure am waiting for that day.

 

 

 

 

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There are 48 comments

  9. Raj kumar Rathore |

    Great empire managed efficiently. Please publish such articles. Referred to this site by my friend Aryan, but I ve liked it so much. Keep up the good work.

    Reply
  18. Anand Iyer |

    Great rulers of Travancore. I have seen Kowdiar Palace and Padmabhapuram Palace. originally from Trivandrum and proud of my city because of such kings.

    Reply
  19. Anand Iyer |

    Great rulers of Travancore. I have seen Kowdiar Palace and Padmabhapuram Palace. originally from Trivandrum and proud of my city because of such kings.

    Reply
  20. Anand Iyer |

    Great rulers of Travancore. I have seen Kowdiar Palace and Padmabhapuram Palace. originally from Trivandrum and proud of my city because of such kings.

    Reply
  31. Latha Nair |

    Proud of my hometown. Lived for 22yrs before moving to Christchurch. Miss Trivandrum. Thank you Anupama for the great article.

    Reply

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