The Valorous King

Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (1706-1758) was known for his might and courageous attitude.He was born to Karthika Thirunal Umadevi, queen of Attingal and Kilimanoor Koil Thampuran of Kilimanoor Palace.He showed great interest in sword fighting and in the kingdom's administrative affairs, right from the young age of 14.Marthanda Varma grew up in the Kingdom of Venad ruled by his maternal uncle Rama Varma Thampuran.He was a shrewd observer.He practiced the qualities such as honesty, loyalty and courage.He was disturbed by the maladministration followed by Ettu Veetil Pillamar, the local Nair landlords.They formed the Ettara Yogam to administer the temple for corruption, which was not accepted by the society.It was soon broken by Marthanda Varma and he formed a new and separate Yogam for the purpose of strict temple administration.After defeating the landlords, he established the kingdom of Travancore and became the first ruler of Travancore at the age of 24.He was an able ruler and a great visionary who became the founder of the Travancore dynasty in Kerala.Marthanda Varma is regarded as the architect of modern Travancore.He is still considered as one of the greatest kings who ruled Kerala.

Marthanda Varma was a valiant warrior and a great leader who had the ability to fight and protect his kingdom and subjects from external forces.He was well known for his administrative qualities.He had a strong military force with a fair amount of soldiers, weapons, horses and elephants.He is the first Indian ruler to defeat a European force in the form of the Dutch East India company led by Admiral Eustachius De Lannoy, during the Travancore-Dutch war in 1741, which is known as the Battle of Colachel.The Dutch forces were shattered by Marthanda Varma's stategic war methods under the Travancore army of the Nair Brigade led by his army chief Thanu Pillai.It was the first time in Indian history that an Asian country defeated a European military force.The Dutch never recovered from the defeat and no longer posed a large colonial threat to India.The Dutch surrendered under Marthanda Varma with all their fire arms and artillery captured by the king and left for Europe.He followed the concept of devotion towards the reclining deity of Shree Padmanabhaswamy in the form of Anandhashayana in the temple, which is regarded as the symbolic protector of Travancore.Marthanda Varma surrendered the entire kingdom of Travancore to the deity in the form of Trippadidanam.He placed all the signs of his royalty in the form of crown, the royal umbrella, the twin white Visharies (fans) and his sword which had lashed its valor in countless battlefields along with some tulsi leaves on the Ottakal Mandapam in front of Padmanabhaswamy.Marthanda Varma took the title of Padmanabha Dasa, meaning the servant of lord Padmanabha.He credited the deity for all his success in the battles.He renovated the entire temple with marble after the temple had caught fire.The temple is considered the richest temple in the world with enormous treasures dedicated to lord Padmanabha.The reclining deity of Sri Padmanabhaswamy was reconstructed with 12,008 salagramas and coated with a special herbal mixture known as Katusarkara yogam.The temple was well administered and protected under the rule of Marthanda Varma and his successors.

-Mukund T