Born on April 29, 1848, Raja Ravi Varma was closely related to the Royal House of Travancore.
He had made the waves with his painting when he was only 13 years old.
T Madhav Rao, who was first served as a Travancore Board and later as a board (Prime Minister) from Baroda State, invited Raja Ravi Varma to make Maharaja portraits Ijirao Gaekwad III.
Varma, who created a colorful depiction of the gods and Dewi Hindus, first came to the State of Baroda who was once in 1881-82 and spent four months here.
Mejirao received a studio built for him near Motibugu where Varma lived and worked in the 1880s.
Impressed with the work of Varma, Maharaja in 1888 invited legend to Ooty where he assigned 14 paintings that described mythological epic – Ramayana and Mahabharata – for decorating the new Durbar Hall at the new Laxmi Vilas Palace.
“Mejirao has given Rs 50,000 to King Ravi Varma to start a print press in Mumbai in 1893.
The first Ollews printed on this press is a painting of Varma ‘from Shakuntala’.
Also, the original paintings of Menka and Wiswamitra made by Varma still adorn the walls Fatehsinhrao Museum in the city, “said Sachin Kaluskar, Art Connoisseur who has a rich collection of oleograph varma.
Varma made some paintings in this studio near the Tanah Motibaug but there was no official record of his artwork made during living in the State of Baroda.