Summer skies and trees heavy with fruit paint a picturesque backdrop to the red-tiled sprawling palace with brilliant white walls at Kilimanoor, about 33 km from Thiruvananthapuram. Built in the native architectural style of Kerala, quietude envelopes the palace with wide verandahs, courtyards and long corridors.
It was in this rambling palace that eminent artist Raja Ravi Varma was born on April 29, 1848, to Ezhumavil Neelakanthan Bhattatiripad and Uma Ambabayi Thampuratti. As a child, the little prince liked to draw and doodle on the walls with charcoal. Till he was taken to Thiruvananthapuram at the age of 14 by his uncle Raja Raja Varma, to present him before the then monarch of Travancore, Maharaja Ayilyam Thirunal, he stayed in the palace and had his education under the watchful eyes of his uncle who also taught him the basics of painting.
