TALES FROM THE CAPITAL CITY – 161

Dharma Rajah and the Beginnings of Court Portraiture

This is perhaps one of the most challenging AI-enhanced images I have created from old paintings—yet also among the most satisfying, despite the skewed perspective and the constricted posture of the subject. Here we see the revered “Kizhavan Rajah” of Travancore, Karthika Tirunal Rama Varma (r.1758-1798), better known as Dharma Rajah. He is widely remembered in historical circles for his resolute resistance to the threat of invasion from Mysore and for his role in the Anglo-Mysore Wars.

What is less often acknowledged, however, is his generous patronage of the arts. The formal court art tradition of Travancore is generally understood to have taken shape in the early to mid-nineteenth century, particularly during the reigns of Swathi Tirunal Rama Varma and Uthram Tirunal Martanda Varma. Yet it would be an oversight to ignore the political circumstances of the late eighteenth century, which brought artists from the Deccan into frequent contact with the Travancore court.

This cross-cultural exchange resulted in a small but highly intriguing group of paintings—portraits of Karthika Tirunal—that offer valuable insight into the early roots of royal portraiture in Travancore. The present image is a photorealistic AI rendering based on one such eighteenth-century portrait of the Rajah, depicting him in the attire of a devotee.

It may well represent one of the earliest examples of the royal portrait genre in Travancore, often referred to as “temple-attire portraits.”

For further insights into the early history of court portraiture in Travancore, do look out for my forthcoming book, The Forgotten Atelier.

TALES FROM THE CAPITAL CITY – 141

THE RAJAGOPURAM OF PADMANABHASWAMI TEMPLE

The eastern gopuram of Padmanabhaswami temple, also known as the ‘Rajagopuram’, is undoubtedly one of the majestic edifices erected by the rulers of the erstwhile Travancore kingdom. Though the credit for constructing the gopuram is claimed by Anizham Tirunal Martanda Varma, the founder of the Travancore kingdom, the annals at Padmanabhaswami temple take us back to the sixteenth century, to the reign of Aditya Varma, when Thottathil Achari, a master craftsman, is recorded to have laid the foundation stone of the eastern gopuram in 741 M.E. (c.1566 C.E.). Subsequent chronicles shed light on the internal strife among the Venad rulers and the powerful madampis, disrupting the smooth conduct of the construction activities. 

The royal commission was destined to remain dormant until the eighteenth century when Marthanda Varma took matters into his own hands. Martanda Varma appointed Kesavan Vishnu Thrathan of Thycattu Illam as the Stapathi and went about a thorough renovation of the Padmanabhaswami temple. When Marthanda Varma passed away in 1758 C.E., only five out of the seven storeys of the gopuram had been finished; however, the work progressed through the reign of Karthika Tirunal Rama Varma. The gopuram, when finished, stood at a soaring height of about a hundred feet and had every inch of its exterior decorated with fine stucco figurines depicting episodes from the Hindu epics.

Sannidhi-Vaasal, the eastern entrance to Padmanabhaswami temple, c.1868, The Royal Collection Trust. Note the absence of the finials in this photograph.

The gopuram, though it maintained an irrefutable presence in the skyline of the capital city, was to remain incomplete for the next hundred years. The earliest photograph of the gopuram from 1868 shows it without the seven golden finials—the kalashas—atop the ridge. The task of completing the project was taken up (c.1872) by Dewan Sir. Sashiah Sastri K.C.S.I. during the reign of Maharajah Ayilyam Tirunal Rama Varma (r.1860-1880). 

Sir A. Sashiah Sastri, Dewan of Travancore.

The following details regarding the completion of the eastern tower can be gleaned from the biography of the Dewan:

“The tower of Sri Padmanabha Swami temple at Trevandrum, which had been long left incomplete, was completed. Finials plated with gold were set up over the topmost storey of the tower and the gilt spires of Sri Padmanabha became a landmark amid the green fields and verdant groves for forty miles around.”

The eastern gopuram with the finials, c.1900 (attributed to D’Cruz, the Govt. Photographer), The British Library collection.

Sharat Sunder R

July 2023.

TALES FROM THE CAPITAL CITY – LXXXVII

MEMORIES OF ANOTHER DAY

' Memories of another day' write-up on the ancient Kallampalli Ammaveedu and Eraniel Ammaveedu, The Hindu, 29-10-2016.