Svāti Tirunāḷ Rāma Varma | |||||||||
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Maharajah of Travancore | |||||||||
Reign | 1813– 27 December 1846 | ||||||||
Coronation | 1813 | ||||||||
Predecessor | Gowri Lakshmi Bayi | ||||||||
Regent | Gowri Parvati Bayi (1815–1829) | ||||||||
Successor | Uthram Thirunal | ||||||||
Born |
Travancore |
16 April 1813||||||||
Died | 27 December 1846 Travancore |
(aged 33)||||||||
Spouse | Thiruvattar Ammachi Panapillai Amma Narayani Pillai, Thiruvattar Ammachi Panapillai Amma Neelamma Pillai, Vadasseri Ammachi Panapillai Amma Sundara Lakshmi Pillai | ||||||||
Issue | Thiruvattar Chithira Nal Ananthapadmanabhan Chempakaraman Thampi | ||||||||
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[[Dynasty|Kulasekhara]] | Venad Swaroopam | ||||||||
Father | Changanassery Lakshmipuram Palace's Raja Raja Varma Valiya Koyi Thampuran | ||||||||
Mother | Gowri Lakshmi Bayi | ||||||||
Religion | Hinduism | ||||||||
Occupation | Maharajah of Travancore, Heriditary Head of Padmanabhaswamy Temple |
Full name | |
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Sree Padmanabhadasa Sree Svāti Tirunāḷ Rāma Varma Kulashekhara Perumal | |
Regnal name | |
H. H. Sree Padmanabhadasa Vanchipala Sree Ramavarma Kulasekhara Kiritapati Manney Sultan Maharajah Raja Ramaraja Bahadur, Shamsher Jang, Maharajah of Travancore |
Svāti Tirunāḷ Rāma Varma (Malayalam: സ്വാതി തിരുനാള് രാമവർമ്മ) (16 April 1813 – 27 December 1846) was the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Travancore, British India. He is also considered as a brilliant music composer and is credited with over 400 classical compositions in both Carnatic and Hindusthani style.
A well-formulated code of laws, courts of justice, introduction of English education, construction of an observatory, installation of the first Government printing press, establishment of the first manuscripts library were amongst the many initiatives taken by Svāti Tirunāḷ, as a King, to modernise Travancore. 'Efficiency was the key word and corruption a taboo', according to the article The Monarch Musician in The Hindu.
Swāthi Tirunāḷ was born into the Chera dynasty of the Matrilineal royal family of Travancore, which is now a part of Kerala, on 16 April 1813. He was the second child of Queen Gowri Lakshmi Bayi who ruled Travancore from 1811–15, and Rajaraja Varma Koyi Thampuran of Changanasseri Palace. While in the womb itself, he was proclaimed King and was referred to as Garbha Sreemaan. He reigned under the regency of his mother from 1813–15 and then under the regency of his maternal aunt Gowri Parvati Bayi until 1829. When he was just four months old, his mother invited Colonel John Munro, representative of the East India Company, and his officials and declared in the Durbar that she was entrusting the East India Company with the care of her child and expected the Company to co-operate with him in future.
In 1829 Svāti Tirunāḷ reached majority at 16 and assumed full powers of ruler and reigned as the Maharajah of Travancore until his death in 1846. He had an elder sister, Rukmini Bai, whose children ascended the Travancore musnud consecutively. Her only daughter was the mother of Moolam Thirunal. He had a younger brother, Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma, who succeeded him in 1846 and ruled Travancore until his demise in 1860.