Sakthan Thampuran

About Sakthan Thampuran:

• Sakthan Thampuran, also known as Raja Rama Varma Kunjipillai or Rama Varma IX and ruled over the Cochin kingdom from 1790 to 1805.
• He was born in 1751 to Ambika Thampuran and Chendose Aniyan Namboodiri of the Cochin royal family, but was raised by an aunt who called him Sakthan, meaning ‘powerful’.
• Strategist and ruler
  • As an 18-year-old he advised his king to maintain friendly relations with both the Dutch and the English, who were vying for a larger share of trade in the region.
  • Sakthan is said to have orchestrated Mysore’s attempt to invade the Travancore kingdom, which had established relations with the English East India Company.
  • This would result in the Powney treaty which freed the Cochin kingdom from its allegiance to Mysore, and helped formalise its relations with the British.
  • He ended the institution of the Yogiatirippads — the erstwhile spiritual heads of key temples of that time.
• He started the Thrissur Pooram in 1797 as an alternative to the Arattupuzha Pooram, then the largest temple festival in the state.

Q1: What is Thrissur Pooram?

Thrissur Pooram is celebrated in Kerala during the Malayalam month of Medom (April-May).It is considered to be the Mother of all Poorams, a cultural highlight that towers above all other festivals.It is celebrated in the grand assembly of Gods and Goddesses in and around Thrissur.

Source: Who was Sakthan Thampuran, whose fallen statue in Thrissur Suresh Gopi wants to reconstruct