Bengaluru: The eldest great granddaughter of the Maharani Sethu Lakshmi of Travancore, Rukmini Varma, is more than just a princess. An avid artist, she was one of the few whose art exhibitions were opened by a President and an English Viceroy.
Conch and the Cauvery, her exhibition held in Delhi in 1974, was opened by President V.V. Giri and her painting exhibition in London after two years was inaugurated by Lord Mountbatten.
She is also a classical dancer and has a childlike innocence which was perhaps the one quality that won over the audience apart from her talent at the outreach programme for her latest art exhibition, titled Opulence and Eternity, at Gallery G on Lavelle Road. The artist was in conversation with Manu S. Pillai, acclaimed author of The Ivory Throne: Chronicles of the House of Travancore.
Growing up in a royal household and being a princess with a brush in hand was difficult for her, but she persevered anyway. “It wasn't very nice. There were always a lot of restrictions. Painting itself was a taboo and was considered distracting. It was believed that women should be engaged in taking the lineage forward, but I drew in secret and my grandmother knew about it and was very encouraging. There was also a lot of stress on academics, but I had fallen in love with the smell of turpentine.” she said, speaking at the event. “I think it got to my head. I was about five years old,” she said with a giggle.
Varma paints from her visions. “I saw these visions from the past, and I know they weren’t dreams because I had them during the day and I was captivated,” she said. “The Hoysalas have always been an inspiration to me,” she said. Her present collection is her comeback after taking a 30-year hiatus from artistic pursuits.
