Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma

Notable

Indian Hindu monarch, the last ruling Maharaja of the Princely State of Travancore, in southern India. Chithira Thirunal Maharaja is famous for his Temple Entry Proclamation. After British India became independent as two dominions in 1947, and after some initial hesitation, Sree Chithira Thirunal agreed to accede his state to the new Dominion of India. On November 1, 1956, the state of Kerala was created by uniting the Malayalam-speaking areas of the Travancore-Cochin Union with those of neighbouring Madras State, and Sree Chithira Thirunal's office of Rajpramukh came to an end. On December 28, 1971, Sree Chitira Thirunal lost his privy purse and other privileges when the Indian government derecognized the rulers of the erstwhile princely states. Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma died at the Kowdiar Palace, Trivandrum on July 19, 1991, aged seventy-eight. He had ruled Travancore for 67 years and at his death, was one of the few surviving rulers of a first-class princely state in the old Indian Empire. He was also the last surviving Knight Grand Commander of both the Order of the Star of India and of the Order of the Indian Empire. He was succeeded as head of the royal house of Travancore by his brother, Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma. Link to Wikipedia biography