India, May 31 -- An intimate portrait recalls Travancore's last Maharani through family memories, rituals, grief, discipline, and enduring affection.

Karthika Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi was the only surviving sister of Shri Chiththira Thirunal Rama Varma, last monarch of the erstwhile Travancore kingdom. She was petite and beautiful and had a full crown of hair, she insisted she keep till her dying day. As the king's sister, as well as being the only girl in this branch of a matrilineal family, naturally she was made much of, right from her earliest years.

She was blessed with an intensly soft skin which she pampered using the reddest of oils, she gently used to wash off with, using payar podi (beans powder). Soap never touched her skin, exc...