Ravi Varma’s art-house in dilapidated condition

Last month, artist Raja Ravi Varma’s untitled portrait of Damayanti sold for a whopping `11.09 (approx) crore at Sotheby’s New York Sale of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art. However, the state of his art-house is quite a contrast to the price his paintings continue to fetch. The century-old building, Moodath Madam, near Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, where the artist gave life to some of his celebrated paintings, is in dire need of conservation.

Owned by Kilimanoor royals, his ancestral family, the art house has been in a dilapidated condition for long and has been reduced to a waste dumping yard now. The ramshackle building doesn’t have a roof and its remaining walls are covered with overgrown weeds and plants. According to historians, when Varma came to erstwhile Travancore at age of 14 to learn water painting, he had stayed at the Moodath Madam and had created many of his master pieces. His major works include Shakuntala, Arjuna and Subhadra, Jadayu wars with Ravana, among others. Though the archaeology department had planned to restore the over the structure years ago, the move hasn’t yet materialised due to legal hurdles. When contacted, archaeology director J Rejikumar said steps would be taken for the conservation of the heritage building soon. “I have already sought details from officials and steps will be taken soon for its conservation,” he said.

A portrait of Raja Ravi Varma (above, left) and one of his untitled paintings (right)