Sri
Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma (April 16, 1813
- December 25, 1846) was a South Indian king
of the state of Travancore, in India. His
reign lasted from 1829 to 1846. He was born
a king, and was in power even before birth.
Therefore, he is called Garbha Sreeman.
Besides
being an able ruler, he was a patron of music
and a musician by himself. He encouraged both
broad systems of Indian music, Hindustani
and Carnatic music, though he was essentially
a connoisseur of the carnatic music tradition.
 Maharaja
Swathi Thirunal has written and composed songs
in different languages and ragas. Some of
his favorite compositions are Padmanabha Pahi,
Deva Deva and Sarasijanabha. His compositions
are sung during the Dusshera season, at Kuthiramalika
in the Fort at Trivandrum near Padmanabha
Swamy Temple. He was one of the figures noted
as Kalineesan in Akilattirattu Ammanai the
holy script of Ayyavazhi.
The
king was fluent in Indian languages like Marathi,
Telugu, Bengali, Tamil and Oriya to name a
few. He even has composed ragas in several
ragas.
He
can be compared to Alexander the Great in
some ways. Both died in their early thirties
but they are alive even today due to the tremendous
influence they had on the generations to come,
Alexander in the art of warfare and Swathi
Thirunal in the art of composing music, poetry
and singing. It is said that he encouraged
artists of various genres to come to his palace
and even if he found the artist not entertaining
in his court he would reward him richly.
He has been called 'King among poets and poet
among kings.'
His
College
 Way
back in 1834 whenHis Highness Sri Swathi Thirunal
Rama Varma, the then Maharaja of Travancore
started a school out of a desire to provide
quality education of the Western type to the
children of the State.
In
1866 , the school was raised to the status
of a College affiliated to the Madras University.
It was named H.H The Maharaja's College. Mr
John Ross was the first principal.
By
1870, a spacious two-storied building was
constructed forming the central block, which
has lasted to this day.
In 1924, the Arts and Science Departments
were bifurcated into separate Colleges for
the respective disciplines. However, to bring
back the bonhomie, the two colleges were subsequently
amalgamated in 1942 and the new Institution
christened University College, the name by
which we know it today.
It
has since grown from strength to strength
with the addition of new courses from time
to time. It is considered an honor and privilege
to be a student or staff of the College.
External
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