Sir Winston Churchill

The second son of the legendary artist Raja Ravi Varma, Rama Varma, was born in Mavelikkara in 1879. He carried on the artistic talent of his father and worked in Oil on canvas and painted portraits. He studied at the Sir J.J. School of Arts, Mumbai and later came back to Kerala to start the Raja Ravi Varma School of Painting, which is today Kerala's one of the leading fine arts institutes, Raja Ravi Varma College of Fine Arts, Mavelikara, Alappuzha.

Varma drew sketches, portraits, mythological paintings, landscapes and also ordinary moments of life around him. The portraits of Raja Ravi Varma, Sir Winston Churchill, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, the Bishop of Travancore, family members of the Palace and other friends are also uniquely made by Rama Varma.

He was actively involved in all social, cultural and public welfare activities. Rama Varma was elected as the Chairman of the Mavelikkara Municipality in 1924. He was also the first President of the Kerala Lalitha Kala Academy in 1962.