A musical journey through the life of Raja Ravi Varma

A scene from the musical album on Raja Ravi Varma.

Celebrating the life and legacy of legendary artist Raja Ravi Varma, a musical tribute will be paid here on Tuesday by the Kilimanoor Palace, where he was born and worked initially, on the occasion of his 177th birth anniversary.

The first musical tribute by the family of Ravi Varma, in the form of an album, will shed light on the childhood days and twilight years of the artist in the palace.

Titled Pranamam, the musical journey through his life is penned by Maya K. Varma and composed by Rama Varma Thampuran, a descendant and general secretary of the Kilimanoor Palace Trust.

Beautiful moments

Mr. Varma will play the character of Ravi Varma in the musical album, which captures some of the beautiful moments from the life of the artist as if on a brilliant canvas. The album ends with Ravi Varma collapsing at the studio Chitrashala, which he designed and built around 1875, with the brush dropping from his hand while working on his last painting, ‘The Parsi Lady.’ Ravi Varma, who had been ill, collapsed and breathed his last on October 2, 1906 in the palace, before completing this painting.

The Kilimanoor Palace Trust had unveiled the paintings The Parsi Lady and the ‘Portrait of Thriketta Thirunal Uma Amma Thampuratti,’ which had not been displayed yet, on the occasion of Ravi Varma’s 175th birth anniversary, who was born into the aristocracy at Kilimanoor in the erstwhile Travancore on April 29, 1848.

Cultural occasion

The birth anniversary celebrated by the Kilimanoor Palace in Thiruvananthapuram every year has turned out to be a cultural occasion for all art buffs to celebrate Ravi Varma, the creator who gave faces to gods and goddesses.

Ms. Varma, Krishnakumar, Kallara Murali, and Master Akshit also donned various characters in the musical visual retreat, which is produced by V. K. Krishnakumar and directed by S. N. Sriprakash under the banner of Sooryamshu Creations. The album will be released by actor, director, and scenarist Shankar Ramakrishnan at a cultural conference to be held on Tuesday.