Tales from Travancore: Raja Ravi Varma

Showing posts with label Raja Ravi Varma. Show all posts

Sunday, 17 July 2022

TALES FROM THE CAPITAL CITY – 139

The King's Craftsmen

History of the Ivory Carvers of Thiruvananthapuram

Sharing the link to the recording of the KCHR webinar 'The King's Craftsmen' where I discuss the history of ivory carving in Travancore.

https://youtu.be/9lNGb0SvA54

Friday, 29 April 2022

TALES FROM THE CAPITAL CITY – 137

Uma Amba Tampuratti of Kilimanur

Previously unseen excerpts from C. Raja Raja Varma's Diary

Uma Amba Tampuratti, Raja Ravi Varma's mother
Image courtesy: RajaRavi Varma, Portrait of an Artist: Diary of C. Raja Raja Varma

For me, Raja Ravi Varma's birthday is an occasion to celebrate the artistic contributions of the members of the Kilimanur clan over the generations. Kilimanur family's tryst with art starts with two sisters, one of whom was Ravi Varma's maternal grandmother. Bharani Tirunal Rajaraja Varma (Ravi Varma's uncle), C. Raja Raja Varma and Mangala Bayi, the painter's siblings and descendants, kept the tradition alive.

Uma Amba Tampuratti, Raja Ravi Varma's mother (seen here in a reproduction of a posthumous portrait by the Varma brothers, painted around 1887) was also an artist. It is said that she taught art to the younger members of her family and possibly contributed to her own children's early artistic training.

In his diary, artist C. Raja Raja Varma says: "My mother was born under the star Makayiram in the month of Medam 1007 M.E. She was the youngest of my grandmother's eleven children. She had a very fair complexion. She was rather below medium height and was very delicately formed. She was endowed with musical and artistic tastes though she had no opportunity of cultivating them. She had an extremely kind and tender heart and could never see any suffering in others. I had seen her crying when she listened to tales and accounts of human suffering and misery. She was attacked with a sort of eye disease from which she suffered, but she took advantage of the illness to learn Ophthalmology or the science of treating eye diseases from the various physicians who treated her and notably from a Thirumulpad of Naikunnam. She knew also to treat ordinary ailments of children. She appears to have given certain medicines to Her Highness the late Senior Ranee, C.I. The Ranee had cherished a great regard for the lady as some of the letters from the former to the latter testify. She had such self-sacrificing heart that she treated poor women and children gratis giving them medicines and clothing. She composed in Malayalam verse a Thullal called Parvathiswayambaram and several stray verses. Parvathiswayambaram has been published by my second brother Goda Varma at his expense. She was a great devotee of Siva and Parvathi, and when the disease (consumption) laid its icy hand on her about the latter part of her life, she devoted most of her time to prayers and worship. A melancholy circumstance connected with her death was that she had not her eldest son (Raja Ravi Varma) by her side when she died in the month of Makaram 1062. When her last illness took a serious turn we all gathered around her bed, but a day or two previous to her death urgent business compelled my eldest brother Ravi Varma to go to Trevandrum. From the next day she began to sink, and she used to ask, until she became unconscious, if he had returned. When we saw that she had not many hours to live, a man was sent post haste to Trevandrum to give him information of her condition and he arrived to his deep sorrow an hour or two after her death. Her obsequial ceremonies were celebrated in a grand style by my brother Ravi Varma. When the year of mourning passed away he and myself took a pilgrimage to Benares with the urn containing her ashes which we duly consigned to the holy Ganges. So let her soul rest in peace. We regretted very much that we neither painted her portrait nor even photographed her while she lived. Her portrait was painted... From memory and yet it is a fairly accurate likeness."

The previously unseen excerpt is taken from an article by R. Kulathu Iyer, dated 1907.

Sharat Sunder Rajeev

29.04.2022

Saturday, 12 December 2020

TALES FROM THE CAPITAL CITY – 133

THE ATTOLI MADHOM NAMBOOTHIRIS OF KILIMANOOR

Attoli Sree Haritripura Kulangara Devi temple, Malayamadhom, Ponganad, Kilimanoor.

A temple overlooking an expansive sweep of paddy farmland is so typical a sight in rural Kerala. Kilimanoor, the birthplace of Raja Ravi Varma, is a place where one still finds vestiges of an untouched agrarian culture. The old mansions of local chieftains, ancient temples, sacred groves, water bodies and lush paddy fields are reminiscent of a long lost lifestyle.

Sree Haritripura Kulangara Devi temple in Ponganad is a small - rather inconspicuous structure - one among the numerous temples in the region. But, it is the story of this temple that makes it special and weaves it into the plethora of oral traditions around the legendary painter and his family.

The old temple was revamped in the 1970s, by the 'Attoli' Namboothiri family, its custodians. According to Attoli Govindan Namboothiri, who resides in a house adjacent to the temple, his family's association with Kilimanoor aristocracy could be traced back to the early eighteenth century. "We were originally based in Payyanur, in Kannur, but a few members of the core family had accompanied the royals of Thattari Kovilakam, in Beypore, to southern Kerala. When the royals settled in Kilimanoor, we too chose to remain here," he said.

Uma Amba Thampuratti of Kilimanoor royal house.

Attoli family shares a strong bond with the Kilimanoor royal house, and it was a 'Attoli Namboothiri,' a famed tantric, who, in the late 1840s, exorcised a 'Yakshi' from Uma Amba Thampuratti of the royal house. The Yakshi, appeased through special pujas and offerings, was given an abode in the palace. The benevolent Yakshi is said to have blessed the childless Thampuratti, who gave birth to three boys and a girl, all abundantly blessed with creative talent. Uma Amba's eldest son, Raja Ravi Varma, went on to become the most renowned painter of his times. Among Ravi Varma's younger siblings C. Raja Raja Varma and Mangala Bayi too were talented artists. Goda Varma, another son of Uma Amba was a gifted musician and scholar.

As for the Attoli family, they are still the chief priests at the Yakshi shrine and remain in Ponganad, in the precincts of their family temple - not far from the Kilimanoor palace.

Wednesday, 10 April 2019

TALES FROM THE CAPITAL CITY – 127

REMEMBERING KILIMANOOR R. MADHAVA WARRIER

Sometime back, my research on an old book on music led me to Kilimanoor palace. There, I met C.R. Kerala Varma (Sanyāsi Thampuran), a revered scholar who introduced me to the musical heritage of Kilimanoor palace and recalled the contributions of his own guru Sri. Kilimanoor R. Madhava Warrier. A few days back, as I went through my collection of old books, I was surprised to find a small book published in 1947, which never caught my attention before. This book, titled ‘Chaitrakshetram’, was a thullal composed by Kilimanoor R. Madhava Warrier! Kilimanoor R. Madhava Warrier (b.1878-d.1960) was a renowned scholar and musician and composer associated with the Kilimanoor royal family. He was the son of Lakshmikutty Warasyar and 'Marumakan Thampuran' of the Kilimanoor royal house. Today, he is mostly remembered as the composer of songs in the movie 'Bhakta Prahalada' (probably for the Malayalam remake).

R. Madhava Warrier

Madhava Warrier was fortunate to have lived in Kilimanoor palace during its golden age, i.e., during the lifetime of the legendary artist Raja Ravi Varma. The artistic tradition of the family was preserved by Raja Raja Varma, court painter to Swathi Thirunal, and his nephews Raja Ravi Varma and C. Raja Raja Varma. Mangala Bayi, the younger sister of Ravi Varma was also an artist of talent. Alongside the artistic tradition, the Kilimanoor royals claimed a rich tradition in music. Madhava Warrier's aptitude towards music was identified by his paternal family members and they arranged R. Samba Bhagavathar, the 'Mullamoodu Bhagavathar' to teach the young lad. Young Warrier found his mentors in Goda Varma (b.1854-d.1904), younger brother of Raja Ravi Varma and his cousin Chatayamnaal Ittammar Ravi Varma Coil Thampuran (d.1850-d.1936), who were both musicians and composers of repute.

After the untimely demise of artist C. Raja Raja Varma, who was an assistant and private secretary to his elder brother, young Madhava Warrier accompanied Raja Ravi Varma on his journeys. The artist who had the habit of picking models from among his family members once asked Warrier to sit as a 'model'. Little did Warrier know that he was being cast as Sree Krishna in the 'Sree Krishna as Envoy' (1906), an important painting ever done by the artist!

'Krishna as Envoy', 1906.

When Raja Ravi Varma passed away in 1906, the members of the royal house, especially the children were inconsolable. For them, the legendary artist was a lovable Valyammavan (patriarch) whose presence in the house always called for a festive mood. To ease the pain of the children, Madhava Warrier penned the following couplet:

Based on interviews with C.R. Kerala Varma, R.K. Varma, and Kilimanoor Chandran.

Sharat Sunder Rajeev

10/04/2019.

Sunday, 17 December 2017

TALES FROM THE CAPITAL CITY – 115

WHERE THE PAST IS PRESENT

'Where the past is present', a write-up on the ancient Mitranadapuram Trimurti temple in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram, The Hindu, 16-12-2017.

Saturday, 28 October 2017

TALES FROM THE CAPITAL CITY – 112

CARVING A NICHE FOR ARTS

'Carving a niche for arts', a write-up on master ivory carver Neelakantan Achari and his association with Dewan Sir T. Madhava Rao, The Hindu, 28-10-2017.