Raja Ravi Varma: Interesting facts from the celebrated artist’s life

Regarded as one of Indiarsquos most revered painters Raja Ravi Varmarsquos work is known to be a combination of European art and Indian aesthetics Having started painting in Travancore he went on to travel across India and even made a brief stop in MumbaiBorn in the Kilimanoor Palace which was a part of the former princely state of Travancore in Kerala the artist was patronised by Ayilyam Thirunal who was to become the next Maharaja of Travancore during his time From there Varma went on to get further training and become one of the most celebrated painters in IndiaHere is a selection of things to know about the painter on his 173rd birth anniversaryThe royal connectionAt 18 Raja Ravi Varma was married to 12yearold Bhageerathi Bayi from the royal house of Mavelikkara which was a branch of the Royal House of Travancore Bhageerathirsquos elder sisters who were adopted by the royal family to carry on the lineage couldnrsquot produce female heirs to carry on the matrilineal system of succession So Bhageerathi and Raja Ravi Varmarsquos eldest two of three daughters ndash Mahaprabha Amma and Uma Amma were given the privilegeIt was through this system that Mahaprabharsquos eldest daughter Lakshmi Bayi and Umarsquos eldest daughter Parvati Bayi who were 5 and 4 years respectively at the time were adopted by the royal family Being the first among the two to bear a child in 1912 a day after she turned 16 Parvati gave birth to Chithira Thirunal who was the last ruling Maharaja of Travancore Rama Varma VII the current titular Maharaja of Travancore is the son of Chithira Thirunalrsquos sister Lakshmi Bayi This also means that the current royal family of Travancore has descended from Raja Ravi VarmaFrom Travancore to MumbaiKnown for making lithographs of his paintings to make it more accessible to the people beyond his canvases Raja Ravi Varma opened a lithographic printing press in Mumbairsquos Ghatkopar neighbourhood in 1894 However he shifted it to Malavli near Lonavala five years later The press printed his paintings of scenes from the Mahabharata Ramayana and the Puranas depicting Hindu gods and goddesses The press which was really popular at the time was managed by his brother Raja VarmaHowever it fell into losses and was sold to the pressrsquos German technician Fritz Schleicher who ran it successfully and expanded the scope of work beyond Raja Ravi Varmarsquos prints to include advertisements The factory burned down in a fire in 1972 Varmarsquos link to the city extended to the next generation His younger son Rama Varma studied at the JJ School of Arts in FortThe art and the artistWhile Raja Ravi Varma is said to have been patronised by Ayilyam Thirunal it is believed that his first teacher was his uncle Raja Raja Varma who saw his potential early on He later went on to study painting in Madurai before receiving formal training from two other known teachers Varma was schooled by Ramaswamy Naidu and Dutch portrait artist Theodore Jenson in water painting and oil painting respectively According to several reports Varma is believed to have painted over 7000 paintings before he died in 1906 at the age of 58 and is said to be the first Indian to use oil paintsIn the land of cinemaDirector J Sasikumar from Kerala made a film about the artist in 1990 called lsquoRaja Ravi Varmarsquo He is not the only director from Kerala to have made a film on the painter In 2010 director Lenin Rajendran made lsquoMakaramanjursquo The Mist of Capricorn a romantic drama film about a certain moment in the painterrsquos life The role of Raja Ravi Varma was played by Indian actor and cinematographer Santosh Sivan In Bollywood director Ketan Mehta made lsquoRang Rasiyarsquo an erotic drama film on the painter in two languages ndash Hindi and English It was called lsquoColours of Passionrsquo in English Indian actor Randeep Hooda played the lead roleAccolades to Mercury and backWith the kind of influence Raja Ravi Varma had on Indian art it is only fitting that he was honoured in more ways than one Two years before he passed away Varma received the KaisariHind gold medal from Viceroy Lord Curzon in 1904 for his contribution to the field of art The Kerala government also awards the Raja Ravi Varma Puraskaram to people who display excellence in the field of art and culture While many institutions are named after him on Earth in 2013 a crater on the planet Mercury was also named after him by the International Astronomical Union to honour his work