Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma
As a ruler, Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma III worked to modernize the kingdom of Travancore. He introduced a formal code of laws and established courts of justice. He also promoted English education, built an observatory, set up the first government printing press, and founded the first library for manuscripts. Born into the Venad dynasty on 16 April 1813, he was the second child of Queen Gowri Lakshmi Bayi and Raja Raja Varma Koil Thampuran. While still in the womb, he was proclaimed king, earning the title Garbha Sreemaan. He was named Swathi Thirunal because he was born under the Svati star. He reigned under his mother’s regency until 1815, then under his aunt Gowri Parvati Bayi until 1829. When he was four months old, his mother entrusted his care to the East India Company in the presence of Colonel John Munro. He began learning Malayalam and Sanskrit at age six, English at seven, and later studied Kannada, Tamil, Hindustani, Telugu, Marathi, and Persian. At thirteen, he impressed a visiting British officer by discussing geometry and noting that terms like hexagon and heptagon derived from Sanskrit. He assumed full ruling powers at sixteen in 1829. He married Thiruvattar Ammachi Narayani Pillai Thankachi, a singer and veena player, and later married Neelamma Pillai Ammachi and Sundara Lakshmi. He had three children. He is also known as Kalineesam in the Ayyavazhi tradition.
- field
- Monarchy, Music, Composition
- nationality
- Travancore (now part of Kerala, India)
Lore & Background
While still in the womb, he was proclaimed King, earning the title Garbha Sreemaan. At four months old, his mother entrusted the East India Company with his care in a Durbar before Colonel John Munro. He began learning Malayalam and Sanskrit at age six, English at seven, and later studied Kannada, Tamil, Hindustani, Telugu, Marathi, Sanskrit, English, and Persian. At thirteen, he impressed a visiting British officer by discussing geometry and its Sanskrit origins. He married Thiruvattar Ammachi Panapillai Amma Srimathi Ayikutty Narayani Pillai Thankachi, a Carnatic singer and veena player. He had three children, including a son, Thiruvattar Chithira Nal Ananthapadmanabhan Chempakaraman Thampi. The famous poet-composer Irayimman Thampi wrote the lullaby Omanathinkal Kidavo about Swathi Thirunal at his birth, and later created the padam Prananaathan Enikku Nalkiya to reconcile a quarrel between the King and his first wife.
Reader's Guide
He shifted the government secretariat to Thiruvananthapuram, curbed corruption, and established English schools, courts, and hospitals. His interest in astronomy led to the founding of the Trivandrum Observatory, which benefited from the expertise of his cousin Raja Rohani Thirunal and Englishmen Colonel Fraser and John Caldecott. However, his reign occurred amid extreme caste discrimination against lower classes, and he was criticized by the social reformer Ayya Vaikundar, who called him Kalineesan (the demon of Kali Yuga) according to Ayyavazhi followers. The article notes that a story about a dancer named Sugandhavalli has been disproved as fiction by researcher R.P. Raja.
Did You Know?
- Swathi Thirunal was proclaimed king while still in the womb, earning the title Garbha Sreemaan.
- The famous Malayalam lullaby Omanathinkal Kidavo was written about him by Irayimman Thampi at his birth.
- He was called Kalineesan (the demon of Kali Yuga) by followers of Ayyavazhi.
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