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Raja Ravi Varma
राजा रवि वर्मा
The painter who gave Bhārat its gods — the first master of the modern canvas of Bhārat
Years
1848 – 1906
Known as
Ravi Varma — the painter-prince of Travancore
Birthplace
Kilimanoor, Kerala
Field
Artists & Performers
“The gods of Bhārat are real to me — I paint them as I see them.”
— The spirit of Raja Ravi Varma
The Story
Born in the princely state of Travancore in 1848, Ravi Varma showed an astonishing gift for drawing as a child, and the royal house gave him the training of European masters — oil, light, and perspective, taught against the backdrop of Kerala's temples and its rich traditional art.
He painted the royal families of Bhārat, but his heart was in the epics: his scenes of Shakuntala, Damayanti, and the battles and sorrows of the Ramayana and Mahabharata astonished Bhārat, for he painted the gods as living men and women, with skin, light, and tears. His genius won him the title of Raja from the British, and the Kaiser-e-Hind, but his greatest prize was the home of Bhārat.
In 1894 he established a lithographic press in Bombay so that his paintings could be printed cheaply — and millions of prints of Lakshmi, Saraswati, Krishna, and Ganesha flooded the country. That imagery became the visual language of devotion of Bhārat, the basis of calendar art, and the face of the gods in every shrine. He died in 1906, leaving a style that still defines how Bhārat sees its mythology.
Core Ideas
The Modern Master
The first person of Bhārat to master oil painting.
The Gods as People
He painted epics with skin and tears.
The Printing Press
His press put sacred art in every home of Bhārat.
The Calendar Art
His images became the language of devotion of Bhārat.
The Painter-Prince
Travancore's prince who painted the nation's gods.
Why it matters today
Ravi Varma's Lakshmi and Saraswati still smile from the walls of millions of homes of Bhārat, and his style shaped calendar art, cinema posters, and the very idea of the divine in modern Bhārat. He is honoured as the father of modern art of Bhārat — the painter who gave the nation its gods.