‘I’m A Vassal Of The Lord’

Sree Utthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the patriarch of the erstwhile Travancore royal family, talks of his intimate relationship with the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, whose vaults contained treasures worth over Rs 1 lakh crore. A last vault—kallara B—is yet to be opened and the Supreme Court-appointed panel will make the call on whether to do so. However, Marthanda Varma refrained from speaking about the vaults and the treasure, saying the matter was sub-judice.

Minu Ittyipe met with Marthanda Varma at the Pattom Palace, tucked away behind the sut hospital, hidden from the casual onlooker. The shankha (conch shell) emblem of the Travancore royal family embellishes the palace gates, the bevy of cars and even the grills of the palace windows. A devotional chorus swells down the corridor as Marthanda Varma, in a simple blue shirt and mundu, greets us. A 1939 Solix watch adorns his left hand. “I have 31 watches, each of a different make,” he says. “All of them, gifts.”

It is said that the Padmanabhaswamy temple is your life and breath. What is your relationship to the temple?

In the Ramayana, there is a fantastic illustration of what you have asked. At the moment of Sree Rama’s coronation as the king of Ayodhya—Rama was in the middle with Sita on one side, Lakshman and Bharath on the other and Hanuman at his feet, with his hands folded. Sita asked Rama why he was spending so much time gazing at the monkey. Rama plucked a hair from Hanuman’s back and placed it in Sita’s ear. The hair was reciting: ‘Ram, Ram’. If you examine my skin, you’d see that I get goose pimples and my hair stands on end when I hear Lord Padmanabha’s name. He completely saturates me. That is what I want.

The idea of decreeing the kingdom as a Padmanabhadasa is a unique one. The creation of such a position by Marthanda Varma in 1750 must surely have had its political advantages?

In all our dealings, we have never thought of using Him as a means for a political end. It was an act of pure surrender. In the early 16th century, King Henry the VIII of England, for various domestic reasons, wanted to remarry without the consent of the Pope. He asked his ecclesiastical counsel to come up with a solution. They suggested the King create a new church, which was called the Church of England, and fashion himself as the Defender of the Faith.

We are only attenders of the faith. In our case, after we won the wars during the formation of Travancore, we didn’t want any glory. My ancestor Marthanda Varma surrendered the state, his family and himself to Sree Padmanabha and he became a vassal to him.

We come from a very old family. It is divided into three parts. One is beyond the scope of the historic, the second puranic and the third is historically dated from 870 AD. From the first Ay family to the present generation, our family has always been humble, humane and god-oriented.

Is that the reason behind the Travancore royal family’s reputation for leading a simple lifestyle?

There are two reasons. One, our culture was not easily invaded and we were left alone. Two, we are much more religiously oriented than the kings in the north. These traditions keep us steadfast on behaviour, food habits and living habits. For instance, since 870 AD, no one in the family has imbibed drink, been given to smoking or eaten meat. Our family does not travel abroad, we prefer to stay at home. What you wear, what you eat and how you live must be suited to the surroundings. Otherwise, it would be toxic.

Is it true that people turn poetic when they enter the temple?

Yes, about 40 years ago, a maharajah who had come down from the extreme north of India sang bhajans in the temple for 15 minutes. Nobody has asked him to do that. It had moved him so.

What do you miss most about the old city of Thiruvananthapuram?

The very name Thiruvananthapuram is derived from Sree Ananthapuram, meaning blessed eternal city. The old city was built in keeping with the surroundings. We have now gone the modern route and imported architectural patterns from all over the world. The styling of the buildings is all muddled and confused and the finishes are all foreign to the land. It does not meld with the surroundings at all. I miss the old architectural patterns. It’s my home I like the most. It has remained unchanged.