The Travancore royal family - Revision history

Pdewan at 18:24, 13 May 2015

2015-05-13T18:24:22Z

Pdewan at 18:23, 13 May 2015

2015-05-13T18:23:38Z

Pdewan: /* Battle for the royal temple */

2015-05-13T18:17:25Z

‎Battle for the royal temple

Pdewan at 18:07, 13 May 2015

2015-05-13T18:07:17Z

Pdewan at 20:33, 11 January 2014

2014-01-11T20:33:54Z

59.177.235.131: /* The Travancore royal family */

2014-01-11T18:29:15Z

‎The Travancore royal family

Pdewan at 12:00, 11 January 2014

2014-01-11T12:00:50Z

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[[Category: India |T]]
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=The Travancore royal family=

''' Patrons Of Art And Music To The Present Day '''

''' By Dr. V.K. Gardner '''

[[File: Raja Ravi Varma.png|Raja Ravi Varma|frame|500px]]

There comes a time in the life of
nations and nascent States when
the artistic endeavours of the men
and women who administer power,
or who are born in influential
families, impact indelibly upon the
cultural contours of its artistic
history and alter the course of its
destiny in the perceptive
framework of a more
comprehensive artistic idiom.

““An artist who is credited with
bringing about a momentous turn
in the art of India, Raja Ravi Varma inexorably
influenced future generations of artists from
different streams. He was the first artist to cast
the Indian Gods and mythological characters in
natural earthy surroundings using a European
realism; a depiction adopted not only by the
Indian “calendar-art”- spawning ubiquitous
images of Gods and Goddesses, but also by
literature and later by the Indian film industryaffecting
their dress and form even today. “

[[File: royal family.png||frame|left|500px]]

Born in the princely State of Travancore as Ravi
Varma of Thampuran, of Kilimanoor palace on the
29th of April, 1848, Raja Ravi Varma secured the
royal patronage of Ayilyam Thurunal of
Travancore at an early age and began formal
training thereafter. Belonging to a distinguished
family – his father, Ezhumavail Neelakanthan
Bhattatiripad was an accomplished scholar and his
mother, Umayamba Thampuratti, was a poet and
writer whose significant scholastic contribution,
Parvati Swayamvaram, an informative treatise on
the Tullal dance form, was published
posthumously – it was almost a foregone
conclusion that Raja Ravi Varma would one day
shine on the firament of Indian Fine Arts!

Trained in water painting by Rama Swami Naidu,
and later in oil painting by Dutch portraitist
Theodor Jenson, he
achieved the acme of
artistic excellence with
surprising swiftness!
“His dazzling oil
paintings of India's
ancient glory delighted turn-of-the-century India
and his mass reproductions through oleography
reached out to the Indian populace in an
unprecedented scale” – stunning the admiring
gazes of later viewers with the voluptuousness of
the Indian female form depicted in such perfect
contoured proportion and with such a vivid burst
of colour, that the visual images remained long
after the physical (and pleasurable) assault on the
eyes was over! Of course the feminine form was
not the only focus of his artistic attention –
mythical figures, demi-gods and Gods from the
Indian pantheon also peopled his arresting works
of art, creating a vast canvas of artistic
achievement which was as appealing as it was
authentic, as arresting as it was ample in
quantification.

[[File: The royal elephants.png|The royal elephants|frame|500px]]

But I digress….Let us travel back in time to that
auspicious time when this illustrious artist was
born and the significant forces that gave rise to his
artistic “oeuvres”, culminating in works to thrill
the connoisseur of art as much as they provided
pleasure to the aspiring student of art!

Privileged enough to be born into a family of scholars, poets and
artists, even as a young boy he filled the walls of his home with a
profusion of colorful pictures of animals and vignettes from his daily
life, unconsciously displaying his skill in a medium which would later
acquire magnificence! His indisputable talent was noted by his
uncle, Raja Raja Varma, who himself was a proponent of the famous
Tanjore art form. Persevering, he gave him his first few valuable
lessons in art and continued to take a further interest in his further
training and education, harnessing the royal patronage of the then
ruling king, Ayilyam Thirunal.

[[File: royal family1.png|royal family1|frame|500px]]

Ravi Varma had been using the indigenous paints made from
leaves, flowers, tree bark and soil which his uncle Raja Raja
Varma prepared for him so diligently. Came another dilemma
and he was faced with the challenge of using his first set of oil
paints, brought from Madras after noticing a newspaper
advertisement. Excited and nervous, he handled the paints he
had waited such a long time for, with a degree of trepidation!

[[File: royal family2.png|royal family2|frame|left|500px]]

Though fully conversant with the art of painting, he was faced
with the challenge of working in a medium which was very
new and the technique equally elusive in those days! Only one
person in Travancore knew the technique of oil painting and
that happened to be Ramaswamy Naicker of Madura, who,
recognizing a potential rival in Varma, refused to teach him the knowhow!
Naicker's student, Arumugham Pillai however, would actually
sneak into Moodath Madam House at nightfall to share his knowledge
with Varma, much against his teacher's wishes. So began a cycle of
clandestine but constructive artistic instruction!

Raja Ravi Varma's sojourn to the Moodath Madam house of the
Kilimanoor Palace in Thiruvananthapuram at the tender age of 14,
thus proved to be a multi-faceted boon! Not only did the palace
painter instruct him in the art of water painting, but Ayilyam's
nurturing of his artistic perceptions also exposed him to the famous
paintings of Italian painters!

[[File: Portraits by Raja Ravi Varma.png|Portraits by Raja Ravi Varma|frame|500px]]

Thus, with the influence of the West, Raja Ravi Varma not only
acquired new materials and new techniques, completely convinced of
their power and serviceability, but through self-instruction and bold
experimentation, mastered the complicated art of mixing colours! He
painted with a passion he had not known existed
and executed works which displayed a marvellous
maturity.

“He painted both portraits and landscapes and
introduced new elements into Indian painting.
For the first time in the annals of Indian art, he
had mastered and introduced the principle of
perspective, the usage of canvas and oil colours.
He brought in a perfect blend of European
Academic realism and the true spirit of the Indian
context.”

The innumerable pictures of Gods and Goddesses
painted by Raja Ravi Varma
which adorn most of the Hindu
homes all over India, are even
today objects of mass worship!
Raja Ravi Varma's own sister,
Mangalabhai Tampuratti,
specialised herself in painting
pictures of women and children
which won universal
appreciation from connoisseurs
of art.

[[File: Landscape by Raja Ravi Varma.png|Landscape by Raja Ravi Varma|frame|left|500px]]

Music has often been known to inspire and
promote a greater artistic finesse, imbuing it with
an eloquence of expression and execution which
enhances its appeal. Ravi Varma's creativity was
further tempered by ecstatically listening to the
music of veterans, watching Kathakali
performances with rapt attention, going through
the manuscripts preserved in ancient families and
listening to the artistic interpretations of the epics.

Ravi Varma's fame as a portrait artist soared with
several important portrait commissions from the
Indian aristocracy and British officials between
1870 and 1878, and the sensitivity and immense
competence of this artist still remains
unsurpassed! However, before his roller-coaster
ride to fame and fortune began, before the plaudits
rolled in, in abundant measure, another significant
event took place.........

[[File: Royal Portraits by Raja Ravi Verma.png|Royal Portraits by Raja Ravi Verma|frame|500px]]

His marriage, in 1866, to Pooroouttati Naal
Tampuratty of Mavelikkara Kottaram Royal
family and its attendant social status brought him
into contact with the British Resident at
Trivandrum and opened up the avenues of greater
national and international exposure!

It was the Resident who
persuaded him to participate in
the Fine Art Exhibition, Madras
in 1873. His work titled "A Nair
Lady at the Toilet" showing a
pretty woman adoring her hair
with a garland of jasmine was
adjudged to be the best! Wooing
audiences, winning the
Governor's Gold Medal, feted
and felicitated by Governors and
kings, he shot to fame!

[[File: House of Travancore.png|House of Travancore|frame|500px]]

“The Painter Prince” as he was somewhat
romantically known, had begun to brighten the
horizons of artistic endeavour, both in the country
whose rich cultural heritage nurtured him, and the
world beyond, which beckoned to him to explore
world vistas!

The recognition that Ravi Varma received in
major exhibitions abroad was for his evocative
portrait-based renditions, which were meticulous
compositions of people, their demeanor and
attires. These works finely blended the elements
of the early Tanjore custom of painting Nayikas
and the graceful realism of European masters.

In the year 1873 Ravi Varma became a world
famous Indian painter after winning honors in the
prestigious international Vienna Exhibition.
Though not really qualified for the title of a Raja,
when an imperial citation happened to come
across in the name of Raja Ravi Varma, the
appellation stuck and stayed, suitably earned!
Besides portraits, and portrait-based compositions,
Varma now assiduously embarked on honing an
oeuvre for theatrical compositions based on Indian
myths and legends!

Painting over two dozen large canvasses depicting
episodes from the Mahabharata and Ramayana, he
worked with an impassioned fervor, creating his
best works of art!

Thus several paintings like Nala and Damayanti,
Radha & Madhava, Arjuna and Subhadra,
Bharata, Shantanu and Ganga, Shantanu and
Matsyagandhi, Vishwamitra and Menaka, Krishria
Drishtha, Radha waiting for Krishna in Brindavan,
Shakuntala writing letter with two sakhis,
Mitrayani & Priyamvada and Urvashi, Sleeping
Beauty, Lakshmi and Saraswati, acquired
spectacular new dimensions under his skilful
brush.

[[File: The Padmanabhaswamy temple complex.png|The Padmanabhaswamy temple complex|frame|left|500px]]

Executed during his ceremonial stay at the palace
of Baroda, where he had been especially invited in
1881 by Sir R. Madhvarao, the British Regent to
the State of Baroda, to commission the ceremonial
portrait of Sayajirao III, the Gaekwad of Baroda,
he was actively assisted by his brother, C. Raja
Raja Varma, and sister Mangalabai Tampuratty, in
this artistic venture. They adorn, with pride and
perfection, the regal walls of Lakshmi Vilas
Palace and Museum in Baroda, side by side with a
significant number of family portraits of the royal
Gaekwads, also done by Raja Ravi Varma!

The various assignments from the Gaekwad of
Baroda brought Ravi Varma much renown and
fame! Princes from different native states of
India sought his services and he was invited to
Bhavnagar, Puddukkottai, Mysore, Bikaner, and
Jaipur to revive pictorial art history in their states.
Though born in Travancore, he was the first of a
new generation of Indian artists to cross regional
barriers in receiving commissions and executing
paintings on a pan Indian level.

[[File: The temple at night.png|The temple at night|frame|500px]]

And thus it was when we visited the resplendent
Palace in Mysore some 25 years ago, we were
treated to a visual feast of life-sized portraits of
the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore, Sri
Chamarajendra Wodeyar and members of his
royal family. Adorning the Jagmohan Palace Art
Gallery, they had been executed during 1885,
when the artist was invited for a royal visit, given
a mansion to live in and regaled with music,
dances and plays every night at the royal palace!
On the eve of his departure, after a richly
productive three month period, the Maharaja lined
up his retinue of royal elephants and asked Raja
Ravi Varma to choose two, which were later sent
to Kilimanoor! Such was the largesse of living
and giving in those gracious times!

With oil paints applied thickly, Ravi Varma
created “lustrous, impasted jewellery, brocaded
textures, and subtle shades of complexions.”
Though several folk and traditional art forms of
India since time immemorial “subsisted as
illustrations for religious narratives, yet, illusionist
paintings as a medium for story telling was Ravi
Varma's invention.”

There was no greater artist than
Ravi Varma either during his
lifetime or in Indian Art
History. Tributes came in from
various places and people.
Perhaps the most memorable is
by Dr. Abanindranath Tagore, a
revered name in Indian art, "it
is rare to come across
men like him, artists like
him.

==Swathi Thirunal Varma==

Privileged to belong to
the same illustrious
Royal family of
Travancore is Sri Swathi
Thirunal Varma, the
Maharaja of Travancore
from April 16, 1813 to
December 25, 1846 and a
great patron of music.

[[File: Swathi Thirunal Varma.png| Swathi Thirunal Varma|frame|500px]]

A great musician himself,
Sri Swathi Thirunal Rama
Varma encouraged both
broad systems of Indian music, Hindustani and
Carnatic music. Essentially a connoisseur of the
Carnatic music tradition, he is credited with over
400 compositions in both Carnatic and Hindustani
music. Some of his favorite compositions
include Padmanabha Pahi, Deva Deva,
Sarasijanabha and Sree Ramana Vibho.

[[File: Tyagaraja with fellow musicians.png| Tyagaraja with fellow musicians|frame|500px]]

Evincing a deep interest in music right from his
childhood, Swathi Thirunal, whose education was
keenly supervised by his mother, herself a
musician, his father, who was a Sanskrit scholar
and his aunt Maharani Gowri Parvati Bayi, tried
to learn the languages in which he found good
music! Fluent in an impressive number of
languages including Malayalam, Marathi,
Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil,
Oriya and English, he even knew Persian! His
education in music started with the first lessons
from Karamana Subrahmania Bhagavathar and
Karamana Padmanabha Bhagavathar. Later, he
studied music from his English teacher Subbarao.
A self-taught musician to some extent, he
continued to learn music by listening to
accomplished musicians and practicing himself,
honing the finer points of
the art! Living during the
golden era of Carnatic
music, this was a period
when music and art were
thriving in many parts of
south India. The
triumvirate of Carnatic
music, Tyagaraja
(1767–1847), Syama
Sastri (1762–1827) and
Muthuswami Dikshitar
(1775–1835), lived and
enriched music greatly
through their renditions,
during this period.
Swati Tirunal's palace
was also home to many
notable musicians and artistes of the period,
including the famous Thanjavur Quartet brothers,
Tyagaraja's disciple Kannayya Bhagavathar,
Ananthapadmanabha Goswami (a Maharashtrian
singer known as Kokilakanthameru
swami),Shadkala Govinda Marar, and many
others.

Prince Rama Varma, the South Indian Classical
Musician, who is a descendent of Maharaja
Swathi Thirunal, organises the highly reputed
Swathi Sangeethotsavam, a week long music
festival featuring exclusively the compositions of
Swathi Thirunal. This unique musical event is
conducted every year from 6 to 12 January at
Kuthira Malika, Trivandrum. Featuring both
Hindustani and Carnatic classical music, it is
conducted by His Highness Sir Rama Varma
Maharaja of Travancore Trust under the helm of
Prince Rama Varma. A musical odyssey to
enchant music lovers, it is the culmination of the
rich tradition of music and culture of the
tremendous Travancore kings!

[[File: Sri Swathi Thirunals' musical legacy - a college and an annual music festival.png| Sri Swathi Thirunals' musical legacy - a college and an annual music festival|frame|left|500px]]

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 Temple lands appear to have been sold.
 Gold and silver sheets and foreign currency found in large quantities from various parts and employees, without any accounts.
-==HISTORY==
+==History==
 th century Travancore king pledges crown to the temple. Travancore royal family takes over 10-century old temple, converts it into a shrine.

@@ Line 421: / Line 421: @@
 [http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sree-padmanabhaswamy-temple-travancore-royal-family-supreme-court-order/1/358707.html ''India Today'']
 [[File: travancore royal temple case.jpg|Supreme Court’s verdict; [http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sree-padmanabhaswamy-temple-travancore-royal-family-supreme-court-order/1/358707.html ''India Today'']|frame|500px]]
-[[File: royal temple travancore history.jpg|History of the case; [http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sree-padmanabhaswamy-temple-travancore-royal-family-supreme-court-order/1/358707.html ''India Today'']|frame|500px]]
+[[File: royal temple in travancore history.jpg|History of the case; [http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sree-padmanabhaswamy-temple-travancore-royal-family-supreme-court-order/1/358707.html ''India Today'']|frame|500px]]
 ''' Supreme Court order forces the Travancore royal family to sever its 250-year-old ties with the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple '''

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:07, 13 May 2015
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	[[File: Sri Swathi Thirunals' musical legacy - a college and an annual music festival.png\| Sri Swathi Thirunals' musical legacy - a college and an annual music festival\|frame\|left\|500px]]		[[File: Sri Swathi Thirunals' musical legacy - a college and an annual music festival.png\| Sri Swathi Thirunals' musical legacy - a college and an annual music festival\|frame\|left\|500px]]
		+
		+	=Battle for the royal temple=
		+	[http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sree-padmanabhaswamy-temple-travancore-royal-family-supreme-court-order/1/358707.html ''India Today'']
		+	[[File: travancore royal temple case.jpg\|Supreme Court’s verdict; [http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sree-padmanabhaswamy-temple-travancore-royal-family-supreme-court-order/1/358707.html ''India Today'']\|frame\|500px]]
		+	[[File: royal temple travancore history.jpg\|History of the case; [http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sree-padmanabhaswamy-temple-travancore-royal-family-supreme-court-order/1/358707.html ''India Today'']\|frame\|500px]]
		+	''' Supreme Court order forces the Travancore royal family to sever its 250-year-old ties with the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple '''
		+
		+	M.G. Radhakrishnan
		+
		+	May 2, 2014
		+
		+	The scene was dramatic and emotional. Around 6 p.m. on April 27, Aditya Varma, 41, a senior member of the erstwhile royal family of Travancore, drove up in his white Honda City to the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. Bare-bodied and barefoot as per temple tradition, Varma entered the temple, bowed to the devotees and temple staff and handed over a set of keys to the temple to K.P. Indira, district additional principal judge, Thiruvananthapuram. The keys included those to the famed temple's subterranean vaults, estimated to contain ancient treasures worth Rs.1 lakh crore.
		+	Supreme Court's verdict Varma's visit was prompted by an April 24 order of the Supreme Court bench comprising Justices R.M. Lodha and A. K. Patnaik which directed a five-member committee headed by the district judge to take over the temple's administration and, symbolically, the keys. The judge received the keys and issued a receipt to Varma, who has a family run business. He hid his emotions with a smile and raised his car keys to the onlookers: "This is the only key I have now."
		+
		+	The historic moment marked the severing of a 250-year-old umbilical cord between the royal family and the 1,000-year-old Vishnu temple. In 1750, Varma's ancestor, Marthanda Varma, the founder of the Travancore kingdom, declared himself a servant of Sree Padmanabhaswamy, inextricably linking his family's fortunes with that of the presiding deity. A 2011 revelation of treasure in its vaults, secretly stored in the temple by Marthanda Varma and his successors over two centuries, has made the temple one of the country's most heavily guarded shrines. It has 250 armed policemen and a series of sensors and metal detectors for which the state government has spent Rs.35 crore in the past two years.
		+
		+	Divine justiceDivine justiceThe apex court's directive came after an explosive 575-page report, filed on April 17 by senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, pointed out irregularities in the royal family-run temple. Subramanium was appointed amicus curiae or overseer by the Supreme Court in 2012 after a three-year-long case related to temple's administration. The former solicitor general's report pointed out massive pilferage of the temple's wealth and criminal acts alleged to have occurred on the premises over the past few years. The report blamed Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the erstwhile royal family's head and the temple's trustee until his death in December 2013, as primarily responsible for most of the misdeeds at the shrine.
		+
		+	The Varma family has been kept out of a new five-member administrative committee appointed by the apex court on April 24 but this could be the first of many shocks in store. Subramanium did not rule out prosecution of the royal family if found guilty. "Everything will be decided according to the law of the land," he told INDIA TODAY.
		+
		+	The apex court also directed Vinod Rai, ex-comptroller and accountant general, to conduct an audit of the temple's accounts of the past 25 years. Rai has expressed his willingness but it isn't clear when he will commence work.
		+
		+	The amicus curiae's appointment followed a series of court cases that began with a 2007 petition filed in the Trivandrum Principal Sub Court by T.P. Sundararajan, a devotee and former IPS officer who died in 2011, saying the royal family was trying to make the temple its private property.
		+
		+	The deceased head of the royal family filed a special leave petition (SLP) against a 2011 Kerala High Court order which asked for the temple to be taken over by the state government. The sub court ruled in Sundararajan's favour, a decision that was upheld by the district and the state high court. The high court's division bench said in January 2011 that though the temple was administered by the last ruler as per the covenant signed in 1949 by the Government of India and the erstwhile royal family, its ownership was with the state government after the death of the last ruler in 1991.
		+
		+	The court issued an interim stay on this order on Varma's SLP but ordered the opening of the temple's vaults under the supervision of an expert committee and that an inventory be made. It was while this committee opened the vaults that the ancient treasures buried inside for centuries came into the public light for the first time. One of the six vaults will be opened this week, which will yield a firm figure to total worth of the temple treasures.
		+
		+	The amicus curiae directed that the royal family be allowed only to offer prayers or suggestions to the new committee. The report said huge amounts of cash, foreign currency, gold, silver and ornaments appear to have been pilfered from the temple. The report was finalised after Subramanium's two-year-long study culminating in a 35 days' continuous stay in Thiruvananthapuram from early March to early April. He flew into the city in a private jet, stayed at a five star hotel-all at his own expense-foregoing a month's practice in Delhi.
		+
		+	An ardent devotee, Subramanium was shocked to see the temple's shabby maintenance and even offered Rs.1 crore to clean up the temple pond after his order was ignored by the state government. He also called for investigation into the shocking criminal deeds alleged to have occurred at the temple, such as a case of sexual assault against a woman employee in 2009, throwing of acid against an employee who opposed misdeeds in 2007 and the discovery of a body in the temple tank last year. "These incidents need thorough investigation," says Subramanium. "Given what has been happening in the temple, the family is not entitled to be part of it anymore," he adds.
		+
		+	Though the royal family questioned the amicus curiae's report in the apex court, it has kept mum in public. "Lord Padmanabha is everything for us. Nobody in our family would dare to take a penny of His wealth," says Gouri Parvathi Bai, the family's eldest woman. Her younger sister Gouri Lakshmi Bai, who has written a book on the temple, says, "The Lord knows everything. He will clear our name."
		+
		+	Their only brother, Rama Varma, is the new head of the family after their uncle Marthanda Varma passed away in December. Rama Varma is the managing director of Aspinwall & Co, the family-run public limited company based in Mangalore and involved in shipping, logistics, plantations as well as tourism with annual revenue of Rs.100 crore. The family also owns extensive land and properties in Bangalore and Chennai besides palaces in Thiruvananthapuram.
		+
		+	Subramanium's report has divided members of the Supreme Court-appointed panel that prepared the inventory of assets in the chambers of the temple. While C.V. Ananda Bose, a retired IAS official and former head of the panel, endorsed the report, C.S. Rajan, another member and former high court judge, said no pilferage occurred after 2007 as the vaults were entrusted to two court-appointed officials.
		+
		+	The amicus curiae's report has left Kerala shell-shocked. Most people continue to hold the erstwhile royal family in high regard and are not convinced about its alleged culpability. "The royal family has protected the temple for long. It is unfair to accuse them without evidence," says V. Muraleedharan, BJP state president. BJP and Hindu groups have opposed a bigger government role in temple administration. Fearing Hindu ire, even the Congress-led United Democratic Front has toed a soft line. "We will go by whatever the Supreme Court says. But we will not allow the royal family to be humiliated," says Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
		+
		+	CPI(M) Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan, 91, the sole surviving participant of a 1946 anti-royalty peasant uprising, however attacks the Congress for going soft on "an intolerant and exploitative royal family". "The family did not want Travancore to join India until the masses forced them to change. The CM referring to them as 'royal family' is against the Constitution," he says. Subramanium too attacked the state government in his report: "It is incredible that in a free republican country, the state and its officials recognise such an exceptional royal presence." With royalty now banished from the temple precincts, the court reigns supreme.
		+
		+	Subramanium's 575-page report to the Supreme Court has charged the royal family with serious misdemeanour in running temple affairs and has opened the door to further investigation
		+	Large quantities of gold, jewellery, and other treasures are suspected to have been siphoned off from the temple's vaults.
		+	Gold dust was mixed with sand and smuggled out of the temple.
		+	No proper revenue accounts maintained for 30 years.
		+	No daily opening and recording of hundi revenue (One month's revenue: Rs.1.30 crore).
		+	Charges like murder, sexual harassment and throwing of acid at a staff member are alleged to have occurred on temple premises.
		+	Erstwhile royal family treated temple's wealth as private property.
		+	Temple lands appear to have been sold.
		+	Gold and silver sheets and foreign currency found in large quantities from various parts and employees, without any accounts.
		+	==HISTORY==
		+
		+	18th century Travancore king pledges crown to the temple. Travancore royal family takes over 10-century old temple, converts it into a shrine.
		+
		+	1950 Accession agreement between the Government and Travancore state vests the temple with the Travancore royal family's trust.
		+
		+	''' Case '''
		+
		+	2007 December 7 Thiruvananthapuram court says royal family has no right over temple, upholds ex-IPS T.P. Sundararajan's petition that its treasures were being pilfered.
		+
		+	2011 January 11 Kerala High Court directs the state government to take over the temple.
		+
		+	May 2 Supreme Court (SC) issues interim stay on high court order, upon special leave petition by Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma, temple trustee and royal family head.
		+
		+	June Temple's underground vaults opened as per SC order. Unofficial estimate of treasure put at Rs.1 lakh crore.
		+
		+	2012 August Supreme Court appoints Gopal Subramanium an amicus curiae in the case.
		+
		+	2014 April 17 Report by amicus curiae points at irregularities in temple administration.
		+
		+	April 24 SC orders administration to be handed over to a 5-member committee headed by the district judge.
		+
		+	April 27 Erstwhile royal family hands over vault keys to the district judge.

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	[[File: Raja Ravi Varma.png\|Raja Ravi Varma\|frame\|500px]]		[[File: Raja Ravi Varma.png\|Raja Ravi Varma\|frame\|500px]]
		+
		+	'' India Harmony '' Volume - 2 : Issue - 1, 2013

	There comes a time in the life of		There comes a time in the life of