- Sri Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma (April 16, 1813 – December 27, 1846) was the Maharaja of the state of Travancore in India.
- He reigned under the regency of his mother Maharani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi from 1813 till 1815 and then under the regency of his aunt Maharani Gowri Parvati Bayi till 1829.
- In 1829 he turned major and assumed full powers of ruler and reigned as Maharaja of Travancore until his death in 1846.
- Besides being an able ruler, he was a patron of music and was a musician himself.
- He encouraged both broad systems of Indian music, Hindustani and Carnatic music, though he was essentially a connoisseur of the Carnatic music tradition.
- He is credited with composing over 400 compositions in Carnatic and Hindustani music.
- Some of his favorite compositions were Padmanabha Pahi, Deva Deva, Sarasijanabha and Sree Ramana Vibho.
- Swathi Thirunal was fluent in a number of languages including Malayalam, Sanskrit, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada,Hindustani, Bengali, Tamil, Oriya and English.
- The Astronomical Observatory in Thiruvananthapuram, the Government Press, Trivandrum Public Library (now State Central Library) and the Oriental Manuscript Library were started by Swathi Thirunal.
- The Maharajah was also an honorary member of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1843.
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