Aswathy Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi

Aswathy Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi (born 1945) of the former Travancore Royal Family is a noted writer from Kerala. She has ten books to her credit.

Aswathy Thirunal is the niece of the last King of Travancore, Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma.

Aswathy Thirunal was born as the third child of Maharani Karthika Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi of Travancore Royal Family and Lt. Col G. V. Raja in 4 July 1945. Her siblings are Avittom Thirunal Rama Varma (1938-1944), Pooyam Thirunal Gowri Parvati Bayi (1941) and Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma (1949). She was educated at home by Anglo-Indian tutors along with her siblings. After finishing school, she joined Women's College Thiruvananthapuram to pursue a Degree in Economics and graduated from there in 1966.

Marriage

At the age of 18 in 1963, Aswathy Thirunal married 26-year-old Vishakham Nal Sukumaran Raja Raja Varma, a member of the Paliyakkara West Palace of Thiruvalla. The couple had two sons and an adopted daughter. Raja Raja Varma died on 30 December 2005 from injuries received in a car accident.

Aswathi Thirunal has written several books on subjects such as Travancore temples and Kerala temple architecture as well as three collections of English poems, numerous articles in newspapers, and books on the culture and heritage of India — 12 books in total. Some of her important works are: The Dawn (1994), Kerala Temple Architecture: Some Notable Features (1997), Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple (1998), Thulsi Garland (1998), The Mighty Indian Experience (2002), Budhadarśanaṃ: lēkhanaṅṅaḷ (2007), Glimpses of Kerala Culture (2011), Rudrakshamala (2014) and An Amateur's Attempt at Poetry (2018). According to critics, the book Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple published in 1998, considered a comprehensive work on the ancient temple, is extremely popular and has run into several editions. The book was translated into Malayalam by K. Shankaran Nambuthiri and K. Jayakumar.