Thiruvananthapuram: When The New York Times journalist came calling on the titular Maharaja of Travancore last year to report on the $22-billion-worth riches in secret vaults of Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple, the then 90-year-old Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma told him that people should be more patient and spend more time comprehending the world.
He told the American reporter that “I have a house, I live in it, but it isn’t mine”, implying that it belonged to the deity at the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple. Marthanda Varma, who preferred to be called Padmana-bhadasa, like his forbears used to have darshan at the temple every morning before 7:30, an abiding ritual, when the temple remained closed to the public.
“I want to put it as a daily communion between ruler and master. I feel gooseflesh. It is a great, elating feeling. My hair stands on end with joy, each and every time”, Padmanabhadasa told a journalist when queried about the 10 minutes he is before the lord.
Marthanda Varma was born the younger son of Maharani Sethuparvathi Bayi and Ravi Varma Koyi Thampuran on March 22, 1922. He graduated in economics, politics and history as specializations from Travancore University in 1943, but was also educated in the palace by a group of 14 tutors.
A recipient of Indian Independence award in 1947, he married Radha Devi, a gifted jewelry and furniture designer, who died in 1993. He leaves behind son Anantha Padmanabhan Thampi and daughter Parvathi Devi.
He loved photography and motoring. When his elder brother Chithira Thirunal presented him a Roliflex camera, he guarded it like a prized possession and made sure that whoever called on him was gifted with reprints of photographs taken with that camera.
He had over 5,000 negatives and would speak animatedly, like a child, over features of the picture and the camera. When Bengaluru businessman and Padmanabha devotee Purushotham Reddy recently offered to gift him Phantom Rolls Royce, he declined it politely.
Known for his simplicity, Marthanda Varma however obliged him by taking a ride in the car for 10 km. His garage at Pattom Palace proudly displays the stable of vintage cars, all sporting the traditional conch.
Patron of many clubs in the city, Marthanda Varma recently visited Levee Hall in the Fort area in full regalia, befitting a King, where he was lauded as the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of India in Freemason parlance. Known for his punctuality, organizers used to make sure that other invitees were there on the dot if Marthanda Varma was the guest.
