Aikya Keralam Thampuran

Kerala Varma Thampuran (1870 – July 1948) popularly known as Aikya Keralam Thampuran or Kerala Varma VII was the Maharaja (king) of Cochin who ruled between 1946 and 1947. He mooted the idea of a unified Kerala state in India for the Malayalam speaking population and stood for the merging of British Malabar, Cochin and Travancore. Therefore, he was given the sobriquet Ikyakeralam Thampuran (King who united Kerala). He died in July 1948 (1123 Midhunam 25th according to the Malayalam calendar). He was also the brain behind the formation of Sree Kerala Varma College at Thrissur, named after him.