The Kingdom of Travancore, also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor or later as Travancore State, was an Indian kingdom that lasted from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At its zenith, the kingdom covered most of the south of modern-day Kerala and the southernmost part of modern-day Tamil Nadu with the Thachudaya Kaimal's enclave of Irinjalakuda Koodalmanikyam temple in the neighbouring Kingdom of Cochin. However Tangasseri area of Kollam city and Anchuthengu near Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram were parts of British India.
Malayalam, the lingua franca of the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puduchery, is one of the six classical languages of India. Malayalam literature comprises those literary texts written in Malayalam, a South-Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala. The first travelogue in any Indian language is the Malayalam Varthamanappusthakam, written by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar in 1785. Malayalam literature has been presented with 6 Jnanapith awards, the second-most for any Dravidian language and the third-highest for any Indian language.
Sri Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma III was the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Travancore. He is also was a music composer and is credited with over 400 classical compositions in both Carnatic and Hindustani style.
The CMS College, established in 1815, is one of the earliest Western-style college in India. This college is located at Kottayam, in the Kottayam district of Kerala. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in arts, commerce, and sciences. It also offers different vocational degree courses. It is affiliated to the Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala. It has been given Autonomous status by the University Grants Commission, India. CMS College, Kottayam and Presidency College Calcutta, established in the same year, are the two earliest western-style colleges of India.
Kerala Varma Valiya Koil Thampuran ; 19 February 1845 – 22 September 1914) also spelt Kerala Varma Valiya Koilthampuran and known as Kerala Varma, was a Malayalam - language poet and translator who had an equal facility in writing in English and Sanskrit from the Indian state of Kerala. He was a prince of Parappanad, and consort to the Senior Rani of Attingal and Maharani of Travancore, Bharani Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi, intended to father future sovereigns of Travancore, although the couple was childless, necessitating the adoption of Lakshmi Bayi's grand-nieces. Kerala Varma is also known as the Kalidasa of Kerala, and was both brother-in-law and cousin to painter Raja Ravi Varma, also a prince of Parappanad, though from the Kilimanoor branch, whom he presented with his first oil paints. A third Parappanad prince, his grammarian nephew A. R. Raja Raja Varma, is known as the Panini of Kerala.
Thiruvananthapuram District is the southernmost district in the Indian state of Kerala. The district was created in 1949, with its headquarters in the city of Thiruvananthapuram, which is also Kerala's administrative centre. The present district was created in 1956 by separating the four southernmost Taluks of the erstwhile district to form Kanyakumari district. The city of Thiruvananthapuram is also known as the Information technology capital of the State, since it is home to the first and largest IT park in India, Technopark, established in 1990. The district is home to more than 9% of total population of the state.
Iravivarman Thampi, better known as Irayimman Thampi, was an Indian Carnatic musician, music composer and poet from the Kingdom of Travancore. He was a vocalist in the court of Swathi Thirunal. His compositions include the lullaby Omanathinkal Kidavo, one of the most popular lullabies in Malayalam.
Aboun Mor Ivanios "P. T." Geevarghese Panikkervettil, OIC was the first metropolitan archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and Major Archdiocese of Trivandrum. He was the founder of Bethany Ashram for monks in Order of Imitation Christ (OIC) and Bethany Madam order of nuns. He was the first M.A. degree holder in the Kerala or Malankara Church. He also served as the principal of the Kottayam M.D Seminary High School and as a professor at Serampore College. He is a candidate for sainthood in the Catholic Church, having been declared a Servant of God by Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Thottungal in 2007 and Venerable by Pope Francis in 2024.
The history of Thiruvananthapuram dates back to the 18th century AD. In 1795, the city became the capital of the princely state of Travancore. Several historic landmarks of the city, including the Kowdiar Palace, University of Kerala, and Napier Museum were built during that period. After independence, Thiruvananthapuram was made the capital of the state of Kerala.
Kanakku Chembakaraman Kesava Pillai (1868–1914) was an Indian composer of Carnatic music and a poet of Malayalam literature. He was the Poet Laureate of Travancore and was known for Kesaveeyam, a mahakavya in Malayalam, two attakathas and several bhajans and kirtans. He also translated the Sanskrit text, Narayaniyam, into Malayalam under the title, Bhashanarayaniyam.
Sri Padmanabha DasaSir Sri Visakham Thirunal Rama Varma VFRAS, also known as Rama Varma the Learned, was the Maharaja of Travancore from 1880 to 1885 AD, succeeding his elder brother Ayilyam Thirunal on the musnud, or throne. He was a noted scholar of Sanskrit and literary composer in Malayalam, who reversed his brother's policy, liberally patronizing poet Kerala Varma, while hostile to painter Raja Ravi Varma.
Aswathi Thirunal Rama Varma, known colloquially as Prince Rama Varma, is an Indian classical musician and a member of the erstwhile Royal Family of Travancore. He is a Carnatic vocalist as well as an exponent of the Saraswati Veena. He is also recognized as a music teacher, musicologist, writer and orator. He has performed at concerts and conducted music workshops all over India and in several other countries including United States, UK, Netherlands, France, UAE, Malaysia and Singapore. YouTube videos of his concerts, classes and lecture-demonstrations are popular among music lovers, music students and professional musicians alike, and have exceeded 20 million views as of July 2022.
B. Sasikumar was an Indian Carnatic music violinist, musician, teacher, composer and writer from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
South Kerala Diocese is a diocese of the Church of South India which consists of CSI churches in Trivandrum and Kollam districts of Kerala. It is one of the biggest dioceses in the Church of South India. In April 2015, a part of the diocese was removed to form a new diocese, the Kollam-Kottarakkara Diocese. In Kerala, there were, until April 2015, three other CSI Dioceses viz: North Kerala Diocese, Madhya Kerala Diocese, East Kerala Diocese. In 2010, the diocese had 352 ordained pastors, 49 retired pastors and more than 200 church workers. There are 70 districts and 623 churches in this diocese.
Malankara Church of God Thrikkannamangal is a church in Kottarakkara, Kerala, India, originally known as Malankara Poorna Suvisesha Sabha.
Thycaud Ayyavu Swamikal was a spiritualist and a social reformer, the first to break customs related to caste in Kerala when caste restrictions and untouchability were at its extreme.
Dr. L. A. Ravi Varma, was a historian, ophthalmologist and philosopher of the 20th century in Kerala, India. He was a critical figure who enriched the Ayurvedic literature contributing to its renaissance. In January 1940, he was appointed as Director of the joint Oriental Manuscripts Libraries of the Government of Kerala and the Kerala University. He was conferred the Honorary Title of Vaidyashastra Nipunan and Gaveshana Thillakan by Chithira Thirunal Maharaja, the King of Travancore, Kerala, India.
Saint Thomas Anglicans are the Saint Thomas Christian members of the Church of South India (CSI); the self-governing South Indian province of the Anglican Communion. They are among the several different ecclesiastical communities that splintered out of the once undivided Saint Thomas Christians; an ancient Christian community whose origins goes back to the first century missionary activities of Saint Thomas the Apostle, in the present-day South Indian state of Kerala. The Apostle, as legend has it, arrived in Malankara in AD 52.
Christianity in Kanyakumari district is its second largest religion. The Catholic Church has about 500,000 followers, while the Protestant groups have about 400,000 members.
The Latin Catholics of Malabar Coast, also known as Malabar Latin Catholics or Latin Christians of Kerala are a multi-ethnic religious group in Kerala adhering to the Roman Rite liturgical practices of the Latin Church, on the Malabar Coast, the southwestern coast of India. Ecclesiastically, they constitute the ecclesiastical provinces of Verapoly and Trivandrum. They are predominantly Malayali people and speak the Malayalam language, though a subgroup of Luso-Indians speaks the Cochin Portuguese Creole. They trace their origins to the evangelization of Malabar Coast by the Dominican, Franciscan, Jesuit and Carmelite missionaries, mainly French and Portuguese.
'Moses Walsalam Sastriar', by Saroja Thompson.
