IRINJAALAKKUDAYIL THEEPETTA ELAYA THAMPURAN

Recently, as part of ARPO project, author Manu Pillai interviewed Prasanna Varma in a video titled "Communist Princes in Largest Royal Family in India". They discussed at length on Socialist and Communist princes during latter half of 20th century in the family. They were 3rd generation socialist princes of Cochin. But, they did not discuss much about where it all started, the first generation or the first socialist prince.

Anyone interested in history of Kerala or railways will definitely know about Father of Modern Cochin, Rajarshi Rama Varma, Maharaja of Cochin, or the Abdicated Highness of Cochin. But, this is about his younger brother, Veera Kerala Varma, the Elaya Raja who died at IRINJAALAKKUDA in the year 1900.

Elaya Thampuran who passed awat at IRINJAALAKKUDA

Veera Kerala Varma Kochunni Thampuran was born as the third child (second son) to Kunjikkavu Thampuran (1832-1901), the Valiyamma Thampuran (Matriarch of Kizhakke Valiya Thampuran Kovilakom Thavazhi of Cochin Royal Family), who demised in 1076 and Koodalattupurathu Mana Bhaskaran (Anujan) Bhattathirppad. 

Kunjikkavu Thampuran

Koodalattupurathu Mana Bhaskaran (Anujan) Bhattathirppad. 

There was only an gap of two years in age between Abdicated Highness and Kochunni Thampuran, so they grew up together, they also got educated together. Both of them started with Sanskrit and later in English.

Abdicated Highness of Cochin, Rajarshi Rama Varma

A lot is said about English knowledge of Abdicated Highness of Cochin, but it is said his younger brother was much better than his elder brother in knowledge of English and Sanskrit.

At one time, the brothers—who had lived in great harmony—later developed deep hostility towards each other. The cause of this conflict was the younger brother’s radical and socialistic views and many of his ideas were sometimes highly progressive for that time. This caused deep concern for their mother and this led him to settle down at IRINJAALAKKUDA, away from the family.

College Education of Princes

Among the male members of the royal family, it was this Elaya Thampuran who first sowed the seeds of reformist thinking among young princes. At a time when there were no facilities in Cochin—or even in Kerala—for collegiate higher education, he encouraged his nephews to go to Madras, pursue their studies, and obtain degrees.

Due to the insistence of Elaya Thampuran, the first to obtain a degree was Kerala Varma Thampuran, the grandson of Elayathampuran’s mother's sister. He later became Maharaja Kerala Varma and organized the “Aikya Kerala Conference” in Thrissur and later came to be known as Maharaja Ikyakeralam Thampuran.

The second to obtain a degree was Elaya Thampuran's own younger brother, Ravi Varma Kunjunni Thampuran. Since they were the first from the royal family to pass a B.A., they came to be known as “B.A. Kerala Varma Thampuran” and “B.A. Kunjunni Thampuran".

Second Generation Socialists in the family

Elaya Thampuran Kerala Varma had lot of young followers in the family. Two of them, who later went on to become Maharajas themselves were part of the group.

Midukkan Thampuran (Maharaja from 1941 to 1943) and Ikyakeralam Thampuran (Maharaja from 1946 to 1948) were the two people attending the Elayathampuran when he fell ill at IRINJAALAKKUDA in 1899 and was present during the time of death in early 1900.

Another person who was close to IRINJAALAKKUDAYIL Theeppatta Elaya Thampuran was called Valiyettan Thampuran (Senior), who was uncle of Pareekshith Thampuran, the last Maharaja of Cochin.

There were many other young princes who were followers of this Elaya Thampuran.

Sanskrit and English Knowledge

One of the greatest Sanskrit scholars of 20th century, Kodungallur Bhattan Godavarma Thampuran's first teacher in Nyayashastra was this Elaya Thampuran, which clearly makes one to imagine the depth and breadth of his knowledge in Sanskrit.

Literary scholar T. K. Krishna Menon, deeply respected Elaya Thampuran. Elaya Thampuran encouraged him to translate Raja Sir T. Madhava Rao’s book "The Hints of Training Native Children" into Malayalam and even wrote the introduction for it.

He also asked Krishna Menon to prepare a short version of Walter Scott's novel “The Bride of Lammermoor.” Elaya Thampuran helped publish Krishna Menon’s English novel “Chandrahas” by giving his own money and writing a nice introduction for it.

Krishna Menon remembered these acts with gratitude. He also said it was very unfortunate that Elaya Thampuran died early and never got to rule. According to him, Elaya Thampuran was not only a great scholar but also a kind and patriotic person.

First Newspaper Articles by a member of Cochin Royal Family

Elaya Thampuran Veera Kerala Varma was the first person from the family to publish newspaper articles. The situation that him to be the editor is as follows:

Cheruvathur Namboothiri was a confidant of Mithuna Masathil Theepetta Valiya Thampuran, who was a lifelong celibate. The Maharaja had attack of rheumatism after 40 and Cheruvathur Namboothiri took care of him and entertained him. Because of this, he gained great influence over the Maharaja and officials.

Cheruvathur Namboothiri used this influence for his own benefit and started accepting bribes in return for securing government jobs and getting various other matters accomplished. Since it was understood that trying to restrain Cheruvathur Namboothiri would be futile, the Diwan Thottakkattu Kochu Govinda Menon, other officials, and most members of the royal family chose to ignore his activities.

Cheruvathur Namboothiri showed great public displeasure towards Maharaja's younger brother Chinga Masathil Theepetta Valiya Thampuran, Abdicated Highness and his younger brother Veera Kerala Varma, even though they were not able to understand the reason for the displeasure. What people said was that the cause of this attitude was because they did not respect Cheruvathur Namboothiri as others did. Chinga Masathil Theepetta Valiya Thampuran and Abdicated Highness neither cared about the hostility nor tried to win Namboothiri's favor.

However, Veera Kerala Varma was not willing to remain silent while witnessing these corrupt practices. He kept trying in various ways to trouble Cheruvathur Namboothiri. One of the methods he adopted was to publish articles in newspapers exposing some of his vile schemes.

The corrupt actions of Cheruvathur Namboothiri became the subject of the earliest newspaper articles written by a member of the Cochin Royal family. Considering the circumstances of that time, they were essentially “political articles.” They were written in English.

Brothers Separate

However, Elaya Thampuran’s ideas and actions were enough to create constant opposition from his conservative elder brother and the women of the royal household, including his own mother.

The Abdicated Highness wrote about his younger brother in his notes:

“For the past two years, my younger brother has been trying to introduce revolutionary changes in social and religious matters. These attempts have been strongly criticized throughout Tripunithura. Even my mother has been mentally distressed because of them. She believes that his English education is the reason for this change in his attitude.

Although my younger brother is very intelligent and a solid scholar in Sanskrit, he is impulsive in forming opinions and acting on them. He is also very stubborn. I have advised him many times and pointed out his mistakes, but he has never been willing to agree with me. Instead, he has tried to make me accept his views. When that failed, he quarreled with me. Since then, he has been trying to trouble me in many ways.”

To escape from these conservative family members, Elaya Thampuran chose to live permanently in distant Irinjalakuda. It was there that he eventually passed away. Even on his deathbed, Elaya Thampuran did not want to meet his elder brother.

Spouse

Elaya Thampuran married Pattathil Nanikkuttyamma and has son known famously as Dr. Keralan.