He was born in
Srinagar (now in
Uttarakhand) to Mangat Ram and Rami Devi and worked for the
Garhwal Kingdom from 1777 until its annexation first by the
Gorkhas in 1803 followed by the
British Raj in 1815. painted by Ram in the style of the Garhwal School, c. 1800 It is said that two miniature painters of the
Mughal imperial court at Delhi, Sham Das and his son Har Das (or Kehar Das e.g. his painting
Mastani is in the Mughal idiom, while his later paintings, e.g.
Vasakasajja Nayika, are in the Garhwal style, and can be called
Garhwali Paintings in true sense. Some of his paintings are signed. He starts with Shyam Shah and goes on to describe Dularam Shah, Mahipati Shah, Pritam Shah, Medini Shah, Lalit Shah, and Jayakrit Shah. He also wrote
Ganika Natak or
Garh Gita Sangram in 1800. Mola Ram himself played a part in politics, helping Jayakrit Shah obtain help from Raja Jagat Prakash of
Sirmur to quell a rebellion at the battle of Karparoli. Mola Ram wrote
Garhrajvanshkavya,
Ran Bahadur Chandrika,
Shamsher-e-Jang Chandrika,
Bakhtawar Yash Chandrika and others. When Kaji
Bakhtawar Singh Basnyat reached
Srinagar on 1867
V.S. (i.e. 1810 A.D.), Mola Ram described the Gorkhali administration since 1861
V.S. (i.e. 1804 A.D.). In appreciation of Mola Ram's works, Kaji Bakhtawar gave 61 gold
sovereigns, a horse, a robe, some weapons and restored his
jagir villages and daily allowances. Mola Ram dedicated
Bakhtawar Yash Chandrika in praises of Kaji
Bakhtawar Singh Basnyat. He also wrote about the past, present, and future of the Gorkhali administration in Kumaon and Garhwal, which had predicted the possible collapse of Gorkhali rule as mentioned in his another work
Garhrajvanshkavya. Mola Ram died in
Srinagar in 1833. == Legacy ==