The king who gave up his throne for love returns in a Raja Ravi Varma

A Raja Ravi Varma portrait from close to 150 years ago that’s coming up for auction today brings alive once more the story of its remarkable subject, Raja Martanda Bhairava Tondaiman of the erstwhile kingdom of Pudukkottai in central Tamil Nadu.
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Ravi Varma

work, ‘Yashoda and Krishna’, just set the record for the most expensive modern Indian painting when it was picked up for over Rs 167 crore by Cyrus Poonawalla of Serum Institute. Which is why all eyes are on what the ‘Little Prince of Courage’ — as the portrait, made when Martanda was all of 10 years old, is called — fetches when it goes under the hammer. Owned by a private collector, it has a base price of Rs 20 crore in the auction organised by Mumbai-based AstaGuru Auction House.