Varma was born on 29 April 1848, as
M. R. Ry. Ravi Varma (),
Koil Thampuran of Kilimanoor at
Kilimanoor palace in the erstwhile
princely state of
Travancore (present-day
Kerala) into an aristocratic family that for over 200 years produced consorts for the princesses of the matrilineal Travancore royal family. The title
Raja was conferred as a personal title by the Viceroy and Governor-General of India
Lord Curzon. (1893), depicting Varma's daughter Mahaprabha with one of her sons , Senior Rani of
Attingal (or
Travancore), who adopted Varma's granddaughters in 1900 Ravi Varma was the son of Ezhumavil Neelakanthan Bhattatiripad and Uma Ambabayi Thampurratti. His mother Uma Ambabayi Thampuratty belonged to the baronial family which ruled the Kilimanoor
feudal estate within the kingdom of
Travancore. She was a poet and writer, and her work
Parvati Swayamvaram was published by Varma after her death. Ravi Varma's father was a scholar of
Sanskrit and
Ayurveda and hailed from the
Ernakulam district in Kerala. Ravi Varma had two siblings, a sister named
Mangala Bayi and a brother named
Raja Varma (born 1860). The last-named was also a painter and worked closely with Ravi Varma all his life. In 1866, at age 18, Varma was married to 12-year-old Bhageerthi Bayi (known formally as Pooruruttati Nal Bhageerathi Bayi Thampuratty) of the royal house of
Mavelikkara, another major
fief of Travancore kingdom. Notably, the house of Mavellikara was a branch of the Royal House of Travancore. Bhageerthi was the youngest of three sisters; her two elder siblings were adopted into the royal family of Travancore in 1857 to perpetuate the lineage. Designated the Senior and Junior Rani of Attingal, their descendants were vested with the succession to the throne of Travancore. Therefore, Ravi Varma's connection to the royal family became very close due to his marriage with Bhageerthi. His children would be royal by birth, since they belonged to their mother's family. The marriage, which was arranged by the parents in the proper Indian manner, was considered successful. The couple had five children, two sons, and three daughters. Their elder son, Kerala Varma (b.1876) was of an excessively spiritual temperament. He never married and eventually renounced the world, leaving home for good in 1912. The younger son, Rama Varma (born 1879), inherited his father's artistic talent and studied at the
JJ School of Arts,
Mumbai. He was married to Gowri Kunjamma, sister of
Dewan PGN Unnithan, and became the father of seven children. The three daughters of Ravi Varma and Bhageerthi Bayi were Mahaprabha Amma (who features in two of Varma's most famous paintings), Uma Amma (named after Varma's mother) and Cheria Kochamma. In 1900 CE, the Royal House of Travancore once again faced a succession crisis. Bhageerthi's two elder sisters, who had been adopted in order to carry forward the lineage, had failed to produce the desired heirs. They had six children between them, but only two of those survived, and both were boys (who also, incidentally, later died childless). According to the
matrilineal Marumakkathayam system, the succession to the throne could only progress through females, and therefore it was necessary to make an adoption. Tradition dictated that two girls belonging to branches of the Royal Family be adopted together. They would be designated the Senior and Junior Rani of Attingal, and the succession to the throne of Travancore would be vested in their progeny, in accordance with the unusual and unique
Marumakkathayam system of succession. Two of Varma's granddaughters were marked by destiny to receive this honour, the main reason being that they were the nearest matrilineal (
cognatic) kin to the incumbent Rani of Attingal. In August 1900, Mahaprabha's eldest daughter Lakshmi Bayi (aged 5 years) and Uma's eldest daughter Parvati Bayi (aged 4 years) were adopted into the Royal family of Travancore. It was
Bharani Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi, their surviving grand-aunt, who formally adopted them. She died within one year of doing this, and the two girls were then installed as the Senior and Junior Ranis of
Attingal respectively. They were married while yet in their early teens to two gentlemen from suitable aristocratic families. It was the Junior Rani,
Sethu Parvathi Bayi, who gave birth to the much-awaited heir in 1912, exactly a day after her sixteenth birthday. Incidentally, her husband was a grand-nephew of Raja Ravi Varma and belonged to
Kilimanoor. The newborn child was the future Maharaja
Chithira Thirunal, the last ruling
Maharaja of Travancore. He was followed by a brother (the future Maharaja
Marthanda Varma III) and a sister
Lakshmi Bayi, the mother of Maharaja
Rama Varma VII who is presently on the throne (since 2013). Meanwhile, the Senior Rani (
Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, daughter of Mahaprabha Amma, and Regent from 1924 to 1931) also gave birth to two daughters later in life (in 1923 and 1926). In this way, the entire present (existing) royal family of
Travancore is descended from Raja Ravi Varma. Well known among his royal descendants are the writers
Aswathi Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi and
Shreekumar Varma, the artist
Rukmini Varma and the classical musician
Aswathi Thirunal Rama Varma. Around Ravi Varma's 57th birthday he announced his decision to accept
Sanyasa, and retire from all worldly life when he turned 60. In his final years he suffered from grief for the death of Raja Raja Varma, and also from diabetes, which contributed to his death on 2 October 1906. ==Art career==