Ramavarmapuram - Origin of The Name

Origin of The Name

A part of the real estate holdings of the Cochin royal family was acquired by the government for setting up a broadcasting station of All India Radio in Thrissur. The place where the station was established was named as Ramavarmapuram in honour and to perpetuate the memory of Rama Varma the donor of the land. The word 'Ramavarmapuram' can be loosely translated into English as 'Rama Varma's land'. The donor was the last king of the princely state of Cochin, Rama Varma Kunjunni Thampuran (Malayalam : രാമവര്‍‌മ്മ കുഞ്ഞുണ്ണി തമ്പുരാന്‍) known popularly as Pareekshith Thampuran (Malayalam : പരീക്ഷിത്ത് തമ്പുരാന്‍). He was born on 15 August 1876 and crowned as king in July 1948. On 1 July 1949, the princely states of Travancore and Cochin were integrated to form the Travancore-Cochin state. With that merger Thampuran ceased to be the Maharaja of Cochin. He died in November 1964 at Thripunithura.

In Cochin royal family all the male members were named according to the following convention: eldest son to a mother - Rama Varma, second son - Kerala Varma and third son - Ravi Varma. Because of this convention the official names of most of the rulers of Cochin were Rama Varma. Counting since 1500 CE Pareekshith Thampuran was the eighteenth king named Rama Varma in the history of Cochin.