Darsanakalanidhi Parikshith Thampuran (died 1964) was the last official ruler of the Cochin princely state. Since his father did not have any official heir to the throne, he wished for a son. As per localites he was born after several Yanjnas (a type of hindu rituals in front of a sacred fire), the Raj Purohit (royal priest) then named him Parikshit. He was also known as Ramavarman or Kunjunni Tampuran. He was born in 1876 as the son of Raman Nambutiri of Ottur House and Manku Tampuratti. On 1 July 1949,

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

and

Cochin Kochi ( , ), formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernaku ...

merged, Travancore-Cochin State came into existence, and the kingdom and the rulership came to an end. He ruled the kingdom for a period of one year and then he continued as the Valliya Thampuran of Cochin. He died in 1964 while he was in

Thrippunithura Thrippunithura or Tripunithura (Malayalam:തൃപ്പൂണിത്തുറ) is a prominent historical and residential region in the city of Kochi in Kerala, India. Located about 7 km (4 mi) from the city centre, Tripunithura wa ...

. He was married to Ittyanath Madathil Madhavi from Ittyanath family Villadom, Thrissur. Madhavi was the step daughter of his uncle

Rama Varma XVII Rama Varma XVII GCIE (c. 1861 – 23 May 1941) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Cochin from 25 March 1932 to 23 May 1941. Reign Rama Varma ascended the throne on the death of Rama Varma XVI. The Cochin Kochi ( , ), formerly known as Coc ...

and Parukutty Nethyaramma (Ittyanath Madathil Parukutty).

Coronation

Parikshith Thampuran had his coronation on the grounds of the

Durbar Hall Durbar is a Persian-derived term (from ) referring to the noble court of a king or ruler or a formal meeting where the king held all discussions regarding the state. It was used in South Asia for a ruler's court or feudal levy. A durbar may be ...

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...

in August, 1948. This was away from the convention that the coronation was to be held at the A''riyittuvazhcha Kovilakam'' in

Mattancherry Mattancherry (; Cochin Portuguese Creole: ''Cochim de Cima'' ), is a historic ward of Kochi, Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, follow ...

Work

Thampuran was a Sanskrit scholar of supreme rank. He also wrote many

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

Kāvya Kāvya (Devanagari: :wikt:काव्य#Devanagari, काव्य, IAST: ''kāvyá'') refers to the Sanskrit literary style used by Kingdoms of Ancient India, Indian court poets flourishing between c. 200 BCE and 1200 CE. This literary styl ...

, like Prahlādacharita.He was an authority on Nyaya and wrote commentaries on several literary works, besides composing original Sanskrit works of his own.

References

Rulers of Cochin 1964 deaths Year of birth missing {{india-royal-stub