Varma was born on 29 April 1848 in Attingal, Travancore, (now Tamil Nadu) Varma painted portraits that featured royalty, women, gods and goddesses, themes that appealed to the elite and later attracted the masses His famous oleographs of mythological scenes from epic Indian mythology especially the Ramayana and Mahabharata His works portray sari clad Indian women in graceful spiritual manner which became an important motif for the time He skilfully bought together Indian traditions along with European academics in art He was influenced from his many travels around the Gujarat State Varma is one of our master painters, a national treasure as well as an influence to many artists over the yearsVarma lived and passed away on 5th October in 1906