What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
ThatPainter is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn More
Raja Ravi Varma was not the only artist in his family. His younger brother, C. Raja Raja Varma, collaborated with him and is credited by the Government Museum Chennai with an independent oil painting, Mother preparing vegetables (1900). Their sister, Mangalabai Thampuratty, is also documented as an oil painter and adviser, though the sources cited here do not identify a specific work by her.
Art-making in the Kilimanoor family
Raja Ravi Varma’s reputation can make the family’s wider artistic life easy to overlook. Kerala’s Sree Chithra Art Gallery names C. Raja Raja Varma and Mangalabai Thampuratty among the Kilimanoor family artists represented alongside Ravi Varma and other associated artists. The gallery opened on 25 September 1935, according to the Kerala Department of Museums and Zoos.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesThe siblings’ records are not equally detailed. C. Raja Raja Varma has a named, dated painting attributed to him by a museum. Mangalabai is identified as an oil painter and adviser, and is listed among artists represented in the gallery, but no specific painting by her is named in the sources cited here. That difference in documentation is a reason to describe their evidence separately, not to rank their ability or importance.
C. Raja Raja Varma: collaborator and painter in his own right
A named work in the Chennai museum
The Government Museum Chennai identifies C. Raja Raja Varma as Raja Ravi Varma’s younger brother and collaborator. Its National Art Gallery page attributes the oil painting Mother preparing vegetables to him, dates it to 1900, and lists its dimensions as 93.5 × 69 cm. This museum attribution is a concrete example of his work as an individual painter, as well as evidence of a broader collaborative role. See the museum’s Ravi Varma Paintings — National Art Gallery.
His role in the shared studio
A family-history biography describes C. Raja Raja Varma as contributing backgrounds, landscapes, architectural perspectives and foliage to pictures made in the shared studio, while Raja Ravi Varma painted the figures. This account helps explain how collaboration could involve distinct contributions, but it is secondary contextual reporting—not a museum catalogue attribution of those elements on a particular canvas. The biography is available at Raja Ravi Varma’s family-history biography.
Mangalabai Thampuratty: an artist with a thinner surviving record
Mangalabai Thampuratty is described in the family-history biography as an oil painter who advised on the work. The official Kerala gallery collections page includes her among artists represented with the Kilimanoor family; the Department of Museums and Zoos renders her name as Mangala Bai Thampurati. These records support identifying her as an artist and adviser, but do not establish a particular surviving painting, subject, style, exhibition history or critical reception. The gallery’s collections page lists her alongside C. Raja Raja Varma and other associated artists.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Names and records to keep distinct
The official gallery collections page uses Mangalabai Thampuratty; the Kerala Department of Museums and Zoos uses Mangala Bai Thampurati. These are name variants for the sister discussed here. C. Raja Raja Varma may appear in shortened form as Raja Varma, so using his full name on first mention helps distinguish him from his more famous brother, Raja Ravi Varma.
The available evidence provides a firmer individual-object record for C. Raja Raja Varma than for Mangalabai. It establishes a shared artistic milieu and identifies both siblings as artists, while leaving Mangalabai’s specific works undocumented in these cited records.
Quick Recap
Rank #4
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
