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| Sri Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maharajah of Travancore Rajpramukh of Travancore-Cochin | |||||
 Sree Chithira Thirunal in his courtly attire | |||||
| Maharaja of Travancore | |||||
| Reign | 7 March 1924 – 1 July 1949 1949 - 1991-Titular Maharaja | ||||
| Coronation | 7 August 1924 | ||||
| Predecessor | Moolam Thirunal | ||||
| Regent | Pooradam Thirunal Sethu Lakshmi Bayi (1924–31) | ||||
| Successor | Monarchy abolished; Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma (titular) | ||||
| Born | 7 November 1912 Kingdom of Travancore, British India | ||||
| Died | 20 July 1991 (aged 78) Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India | ||||
| |||||
| House | Venad Swaroopam | ||||
| Father | Ravi Varma of Kilimanoor | ||||
| Mother | Amma Maharani Moolam Thirunal Sethu Parvathi Bayi | ||||
Sree Padmanabhadasa Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma GCSI GCIE, popularly known as Sree Chithira Thirunal (7 November 1912 – 20 July 1991), was the last ruling Maharaja of the Indian princely state of Travancore, in southern India until 1949 and later the Titular Maharajah of Travancore until 1991.[1] His reign is known for several notable reforms that have indelible impact on the society and culture of Kerala.
Sree Chithira Thirunal was the eldest son of Junior Maharani of Travancore, Sethu Parvathi Bayi, and Sri Pooram Nal Ravi Varma Koyi Thampuran of the Royal House of Kilimanoor. He was privately educated, and became the Maharajah of Travancore, at the age of 11, upon the death of his maternal great uncle, the then Maharajah of Travancore Sree Moolam Thirunal, on 7 August 1924.[2] For the duration of his reign he was either under a regency or effectively controlled by his autocratic Dewan, Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer.
Upon India's independence from the British on 15 August 1947, Sree Chithira Thirunal initially chose to keep his domain an independent country. As this was unacceptable to the Government Of India, several rounds of negotiations were held between the Maharaja and the Indian representatives. Finally an agreement was reached in 1949 and Sree Chithira Thirunal agreed to merge Travancore officially as a part of the Union of India.
In 1949, Travancore was united with Cochin, and Sree Chithira Thirunal served as the first and only Rajpramukh (Governor equivalent) of the Travancore-Cochin Union from 1 July 1949 until 31 October 1956.[3] On 1 November 1956, the state of Kerala was created by uniting the Malayalam-speaking areas of the Travancore-Cochin Union with Malabar, and Sree Chithira Thirunal's office of Rajpramukh came to an end.[4]
Sree Chithira Thirunal was an Hon. Major General with the British Indian Army and the Colonel-in-Chief and the Supreme Commander of the Travancore Military and of the Travancore-Cochin State Forces, for the period 1924–56. He became an Hon. Colonel in the Indian Army since 1949, as the Travancore Military was integrated by him into the former, as the 9th (1st Travancore) and the 16th Battalion of the Madras Regiment (2nd Travancore).[5]
After the Constitutional Amendment of 1971, he was stripped of his political powers and emoluments from the privy purse by the Indira Gandhi government. At the age of 78, after suffering a stroke, he fell into a coma for nine days and died on 20 July 1991.[6] Along with the Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, many other charitable trusts were established using the funds, land and buildings provided by him.[7]
Sree Chithira Thirunal also sponsored the higher education of a young K. R. Narayanan who went on to become the 10th President of India.[8][9][10]
- ^ MAHIR, HANEEF (17 December 2013). "'His Highness' isn't unconstitutional: Kerala High Court – "Though by the 26th amendment to the Constitution, Article 363 was repealed whereby the rights and privileges of the rulers of Indian states were taken away, still the name and title of the rulers remained as such and unaffected in so far as names and titles were not contemplated as rights or privileges under the repealed Articles 291 and 362 of the Constitution."". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ Arun, Mohan. "Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma Maharaja Travancore History". etrivandrum.com.
- ^ V.P., Menon (1955). THE STORY OF THE INTEGRATION OF THE INDIAN STATES. p. 189.
- ^ "THE HIGH COURT OF TRAVANCORE-COCHIN" http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/4175/7/07_chapter%202.pdf
- ^ Special, Correspondent (1 August 2010). "Army celebrates anniversary of Colachel battle". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 21 October 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
- ^ Gauri Lakshmi Bai, Aswathy Thirunal (July 1998). Sree Padmanabha Swamy Kshetram. Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: The State Institute Of Languages. pp. 278–282, 242–243, 250–251. ISBN 978-81-7638-028-7.
- ^ Gauri Lakshmi Bai, Aswathy Thirunal (1998). Sree Padmanabhaswamy Kshetram. Thiruvananthapuram: The State Institute Of Languages, Kerala. pp. 242–243. ISBN 978-81-7638-028-7.
- ^ celebritiesinfos, .com. "President K R Narayanan". Archived from the original on 16 September 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
- ^ "The kingdom paid for the education of a poor Dalit [untouchable] boy called KR Narayanan and funded his scholarship to London School of Economics. Mr Narayanan became the first Dalit president of India in 1997." BBC News SOUTH ASIA
- ^ bbc.co, .uk. "The feisty Indian kings and their temple treasure". BBC News SOUTH ASIA. Retrieved 29 March 2016.