The Walls of a Palace, Canvas of a Royal Maestro

Waheeda Bi khan

The Walls of a Palace, Canvas of a Royal Maestro

The story of Indian art is a saga of splendid colours, legends, myths, fusions, forms, and iconography, encompassing Indian history on its exquisite and eternal canvas. The maestros who wielded their brushes to create palettes of culture, hues of ethnicity, and archives of forgotten stories are the souls that have enriched our heritage, worthy of honour on par with any art form in the world. One such maestro was Maha Raja Rajya Shri Ravi Varma, hailing from the royal lineage of Kerala. The Palace, where he was born in Kilimanoor, a few kilometres from Trivandrum, served as the nurturing ground that fostered his brush with modern art.

Kilimanoor Palace Complex; Source: archaeology.kerala.gov.in

The story of Indian art unfolds as a captivating narrative of vibrant colours, timeless legends, mythical tales, harmonious fusions, diverse forms, and rich iconography. It encapsulates the essence of Indian history on an exquisite and everlasting canvas. The maestros, who skillfully wielded their brushes, gave life to cultural palettes, ethnicity-infused hues, and forgotten narratives, thereby enriching our heritage to a level deserving of equal honour as any art form worldwide. One such luminary was Maha Raja Rajya Shri Ravi Varma, hailing from the esteemed royal lineage of Kerala. The Palace of Kilimanoor, where he was born a few kilometres from Trivandrum, served as the fertile ground that nurtured his artistic journey into the realm of modern art.

Within the confines of a traditional Nalukettu-styled palace, nestled in the fief lands of Kilimanoor, a boy named Ravi Varma Koil Thampuran was born. Little did anyone know that this boy would grow up to create pioneering masterpieces, earning a place among the world's most illustrious paintings and maestros. If his paintings are renowned for their groundbreaking fusion of European and Indian styles and forms, his lineage reflects a similar fusion, as it was influenced by the matrilineal system of inheritance practised by the Travancore royalty. The present-day Travancore royal family proudly traces their ancestry back to this maestro, who captured the hearts of the masses by bridging the gap between the rich art form and the common people of his time.

Ravi Varma's artistic inclinations were inherited from his Kshatriya clan, which boasted not only fearless warriors who sacrificed their lives protecting the Travancore royals but also artists and esteemed scholars. Even his mother, Uma Ambabayi Thampurratti, belonged to a family that governed the feudal estate of Kilimanoor. She was not only an artist but also a writer whose work, Parvati Swayamvaram, was published by her son following her passing. The scholarly influences seemed to come from his father, an Ayurveda and Sanskrit scholar from Ernakulam. Ravi Varma's younger sibling, Raja Varma, also accompanied him throughout his life as a manager and secretary, sharing his passion for outdoor painting.

The Kilimanoor palace complex, where this illustrious painter-artist spent his formative years, spanned approximately fifteen acres of land. It comprised various buildings, including some ancient structures, alongside the present-day structure that captivates visitors. The complex, built in 1753, also featured sacred groves, wells, and three ponds.

When Ravi was born within this complex almost a century later, and named Ravi by the elders, little did they imagine that the child would dazzle the world like the sun, presenting aesthetic marvels that transcended global art. His artistic expressions manifested through various mediums, such as woven textiles, calendars, matchbox labels, postcards, and even advertisements, capturing the imagination of budding artists and the general public alike.

The brilliance of his artistic radiance was so remarkable that Lord Curzon personally bestowed upon him the title of Raja, and Ravi Varma was invited as Raja Ravi Varma to exhibit ten of his paintings at the World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 1893. This exhibition also featured Swami Vivekananda's thunderous speech, further elevating the significance of Ravi Varma's presence.

The walls of the residential palace bore witness to the early sketches of a five-year-old Ravi, who playfully adorned them with charcoal. This artistic inclination both amused and hinted at the child prodigy's talents, capturing the attention of his indulgent family members. It turned out that Bharani Thirunal Raja Raji Varma Koil Thampuran, who shared the same artistic passion, was also interested in drawing. He was the nephew of Rohini Thirunal Amma Thampuran, the first recorded artist from the Koil Thampuran clan, born almost a century prior to Ravi Varma. Bharani Thirunal Raja nurtured his own artistic pursuits, incorporating influences from the Tanjore school over the years, all while fulfilling his administrative duties. Recognising Ravi's similar interests, the experienced aristocrat introduced the world of colours to the young boy. The caring uncle made sure to include drawing and picture-making in Ravi's curriculum, even though he considered these artistic endeavours more as hobbies rather than a potential profession.

At the age of thirteen, Ravi Varma visited the royal court of Travancore, already renowned for its artistic fame under Swathi Thirunal and its patronage of fine arts and scholarly activities, which continued during the reign of Ayilyam Thirunal. Witnessing the teenager's passionate gaze towards art, the king offered him the opportunity to reside at the royal residence and learn from the palace painters. Ravi could experiment with oil paintings, copy existing artwork, and explore various art forms to his heart's content. However, it seemed that no one took the boy's artistic aspirations seriously until Arumughom Pillai, an apprentice of the court artist Ramaswamy Naidoo, took compassion on the young enthusiast and began secretly teaching him at night.

Despite the lack of formal training, Ravi Varma had already absorbed the wonders of European art displayed on the royal walls, alongside the traditional Travancore art adorning the walls of the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple. His stay at the royal court honed his artistic sensibilities, incorporating the intricacies of oil painting and new techniques imparted by Arumughom Pillai. He also imbibed the three-dimensional qualities of Italian masterpieces, along with their masterful play of light and shade. Ravi's relentless pursuit of knowledge even led him to learn oil painting techniques from the initially reluctant Danish portraitist Theodore Jenson.

As one enters the traditional arched gateway of Kilimanoor Palace, the studio of Ravi Varma greets visitors. This was the place where Ravi Varma spent most of his time, passionately immersed in his art and life. The palace now exhibits a collection of his remarkable paintings, captivating both art connoisseurs and the general public with their fusion of styles. At the age of eighteen, Ravi Varma married Pooruruttati Nal Bhageerathi Bayi Thampuratty, who was twelve years old and hailed from another renowned royal fief of Travancore. Her two elder sisters were adopted into the royal family, ensuring the continuation of the matrilineal system. Unfortunately, Ravi Varma's eccentric life, consumed by his colours and canvases, left his wife bereft of the companionship she deserved.

After the death of his brother, Ravi even announced his intention to adopt the ascetic life of a ‘sanyasi’ when he turned sixty. His final days were spent reminiscing about his brother and coping with his deteriorating health, worsened by severe diabetes.

The marriage with Bhageerathi resulted in Ravi’s progeny of five sons and three daughters, all born into royalty.

Among the daughters, the eldest was Mahaprabha Amma, who is featured in two of Varma's famous paintings and is the mother of daughters who became consorts to the Travancore royalty. During a succession crisis that arose, necessitating the search for royal adoptive daughters to carry on the lineage, Ravi Varma's sister-in-law, an elderly matriarch, identified the daughters of Mahaprabha Amma as the closest kin to the Queen of Attingal. Thus, Ravi's legacy continues not only through his pioneering artistic interpretations but also through his granddaughters, who became mothers of the next generation of the Travancore dynasty.

As Geeta Kapur, the critic and historian, rightly states:

“Ravi Varma is the indisputable father figure of modern Indian art. Naive and ambitious at the same time, he opens up the debate for his later compatriots in the specific matter of defining individual genius through professional acumen, of testing modes of cultural adaptation with idiosyncratic effect, of attempting pictorial narration with its historic scope.”

Raja Ravi Varma's transformation of Indian art was catalysed by the German printer Fritz Schleicher, who introduced affordable reproductions of his paintings through the Ravi Varma Fine Arts Lithographic Press. These reproductions adorned the homes of common people, winning the hearts of the general public. The contemporary royal family, still residing in the Kilimanoor complex, remains immersed not only in Ravi Varma's bloodline but also in the illustrious colours he endowed upon them, perpetually admired, revered, and captured in his timeless paintings.

Ravi Varma's title, Koil Thampuran, narrates the tale of a family that, for two centuries, nurtured the prince consorts for the royal queens and princesses of Travancore, thus upholding the Marumakkathayam system.

The presence of a peepal tree with an inscription authenticates the establishment of the fiefdom, commemorating the bravery and services of the Koil Thampuran clan, descendants of the Bejpore clan of Koyi Thampurans.

In 1740, the king of Deshinganadu joined forces with the Dutch to attack Venad, the seat of the Travancore dynasty. Amidst the royal army's struggle to repel the sudden assault, a small force from Kilimanoor surrounded the enemy and emerged victorious. In gratitude, the king of Venad granted a fiefdom spanning 17 miles to honour the martyrs and the loyalty of the Kilimanoor chiefs. It was within this fiefdom that the palace complex was constructed, with Ravi Varma allegedly funding the construction of new buildings within the main walls through the proceeds from his successful paintings.