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Travancore Royal Family
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The Travancore Royal Family belongs to the Kulasekhara Dynasty of the Cheras and ruled over the Indian state of Travancore until 1949. The Royal family, alternatively known as the Kupaka Royal Family, Thripappur Swaroopam, Venad Swaroopam, Vanchi Swaroopam etc, has its seat today at Trivandrum in Kerala, India.
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Encyclopedia
The Travancore Royal Family belongs to the Kulasekhara Dynasty of the Cheras and ruled over the Indian state of Travancore until 1949. The Royal family, alternatively known as the Kupaka Royal Family, Thripappur Swaroopam, Venad Swaroopam, Vanchi Swaroopam etc, has its seat today at Trivandrum in Kerala, India. The last ruling Maharajah was Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma. The present head of the royal family is Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma.
History of the Dynasty
The Travancore Royal family claims descent from the Cheras of the three South Indian Mandala Kingdoms namely Chera Mandalam, Pandya Mandalam and Chola Mandalam. A branch of the Chera family was sent to the extreme north of Kerala where they settled and came to be known as the Mooshika Royal family or the later Kolathiris while another branch was deputed to go south to grapple with the Pandyan invasions. This became the Kupaka Royal family and were the original ancestors of the Travancore royal family . Later Kerala was ruled by a line of Perumals of whom Cheraman Perumal was the last and he is said to have divided Kerala among his relatives and friends and left for a pilgrimage . However the Kolathiris and Travancore were already existent, although under the suzerainty of the Perumals . From the 11th century onwards began the rise of
independant Travancore or Venad as it was known then. Ravi Varma Kulasekhara (1299-1314) invaded the territories of the Pandyas and Cholas and performed imperial coronations at Madurai and Kanchipuram and thus threw of the Pandyan hegemony in the region. However his success was short lived and after him his successors could not hold on to these acquisitions of the Pandyas and Cholas. The line of kings after Ravi Varma continued through the Marumakkathayam law of succession and family. Soon after Ravi Varma's death two princesses were adopted from the Kolathiri Royal family and installed as Ranis or Queens at Attingal. The Venad Royal family continued thus in the female line. Whenever there were no females to take forth the line, princesses were adopted from the Kolathiri family, the latest adoption being in 1994 . Travancore went briefly under the subjugation of the Vijayanagar Empire but soon regained its independence. Umayamma Rani who reigned towards the end of the 17th century was a prominent ruler. Marthanda Varma, the "maker of modern Travancore" and Dharma Raja were powerful rulers who reestablished the power of monarchy in the state and destroyed that of the nobles. By the early 19th century the kingdom became a princely state under the British. Swathi Thirunal was one of the most popular rulers of the 19th century. The regency of Sethu Lakshmi Bayi was a time which heralded many new reforms which were continued by Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma.
Padmanabha Dasas
The Travancore royal family style themselves as Padmanabha Dasas or servants of Padmanabha since 1750 when Maharajah Marthanda Varma made over the state to the deity of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple and vowed that from that that day on, the royal family would rule the state on behalf of Him . The title of Padmanabha Dasa is prefixed to the name of every Travancore King while females call themselves Padmanabha Sevinis. This important donation of the state to the temple was known as Thripadidanam. The British government accorded the Maharajah of Travancore a high 19 gun salute, whereas for all temple festivals, the highest salute of 21 guns was fired.
Adoption
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