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This is a good question and i am happy that the person who has asked this thinks about I-League, THE ONLY TRUE LEAGUE IN INDIA.For all the answers who tried to compare IPL with ISL does not hold true. Let me explain, IMG-R is a commercial arm of AIFF that means I-League was their responsibility too, so why dint they dint invest in I-League and how come out of nowhere so many investor turned out to invest in football.IPL and Pro Kabaddi League got big investment from big business houses and individuals reason being we got in house production of best players in that sport. There is no need to explain about cricket but Kabaddi, we have got the best players we have won all the worldcups. So the whole world will look to us because of the best facility best players and best remuneration.Now with football the problem is we do not have world class players, so we decided to bring some retired foreign players who are famous with Indian football fans. And investors decided we should spend our money to bring these foreign players so people will come to watch them. And it is sad and it aches me when no advertisement of ISL or even the opening ceremony included any of the Indian players. If you see its only the co-owners and marquee players highlighted everywhere. Accepted its a good marketing trick but its called INDIAN super league..Now to the question, i guess I-League is here to stay because it is governed by AFC and selection to the Indian national team is through I-League. AIFF cannot select Indian players into its national side based on two month performance. I-League is like test cricket where a player has to have endurance to play for 6-7 months, for one week in the heat of Bangalore and another in the chilly terrains of Shillong. Also forming an I-League club requires lot of investment in terms of academies,grassroot development etc and if there was any problem for I-League, AIFF wouldnt have accepted the bid of Kalyani group who just got their team in I-League through corporate entry.I also somehow feel ISL is a blessing in disguise for I-League because after December when ISL ends it will be I-League which will run throughout the year. So for all the Indian football hungry people especially like me it will be I-League to look forward to. Also Indian player will learn better skills in ISL because of working with world class coaches and player and exhibit those skills in I-League which will make I-League more competitive.Also it will be interesting to see how ISL shape itself from say a week from now. This week was a perfect time for ISL, with all the EPL teams having break for international duties but from next week EPL starts and India has a huge fan following of EPL, so all this guys with Manchester United as their display pic and consider themselves from Old Trafford will move out of ISL.I have personally spoken to Syed Rahim Nabi, captain Mumbai City FC and he says the players are extremely happy with the limelight and related stuff that ISL has created for them and this thing is good for Indian football. I totally agree to it.If anyone interested can read my interview with Freddie Ljungberg, Peter Reid and Syed Rahim Nabi dated 2nd Oct 2014... Ljungberg, Reid, Nabi speak on playing together and in the ISL

There are a few very very Underrated goalkeepers in soccer at the moment and the 5 which lead the list are-#5 Steve MandandaThe French star neglected to make the cut at Crystal Palace with frame and damage hampering his advance and his failure to settle down in South London. He came back to Marseille for a moment perpetual spell at the club.Notwithstanding his spell in South London, Mandanda has awed all through his profession, having spoken to France in four global competitions. He started his vocation at Le Havre and joined Marseille on advance in 2007-08 preceding making the move changeless and playing 300 times for the French side.Nicknamed 'Frenchie' by his siblings, Mandanda is extremely great with the ball at his feet and is exact with his distribution.His consistency in objective implied that Olympique de Marseille have not stressed over the Goalkeeping spot for a long time.Regardless of Yohann Pele having an extraordinary season as Marseille's No 1, Mandanda returned and was restored instantly. Pele had dealt with the most noteworthy number of clean sheets last season, making great of his opportunity to supplant Mandanda.This was however insufficient for the Marseille steadfast and the administration group of the French mammoths, who quickly trusted Steve Mandanda to complete a superior occupation than Pele.As a matter of fact Pele has gotten openings yet they exceptionally certainty that Mandanda had a stunner of a season for Palace bears no significance this time around for both the player and Olympique de Marseille.The club has started the season in strong form and Mandanda is recovering his trust in commonplace region, setting him up for a couple of more years at the best.#4 Stéphane RuffierRuffier started his childhood vocation at Bayonne in the fourth level of French football and marked an expert manage AS Monaco in 2005.He was at first the second decision at the club and advanced into the principal group when first-decision manager Flavio Roma was harmed. His amazing exhibitions drove him to the principal Goalkeeper space and he built up himself immovably there for a long time.His damage in the last four matches of the 2010-11 season saw him sit out and watch Monaco get consigned completing eighteenth, something that numerous ascribed to the nonappearance of Ruffier from the side.He dismissed a move to Manchester City and furthermore declined to join Saint-Etienne, and has remained faithful to the club in spite of enthusiasm from numerous different sources. Quite, Ruffier had not missed a solitary alliance coordinate for the club in the vicinity of 2011 and 2016.Ruffier's consistency is overlooked by numerous onlookers which is deplorable in view of his obvious ability. He has been pushed down the pecking request for the French national group on account of the amazing execution of Hugo Lloris who plays in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur.To exacerbate the situation of Ruffier, Lloris is the France national group chief, which means the odds of making the beginning eleven are additionally decreased. In any case, the Saint-Etienne man who is known to be a superb shot-plug with extraordinary reflexes buckles down and consistently for his club where he is undeniably the fundamental man.#3 Danijel SubasicA superb attendant, Subasic has been Monaco's No 1 since their battles in Ligue 2 He joined the club from Hadjuk Split in 2012 having played for the Croatian side in 77 amusements. He started his profession in Croatia where he got through the young positions of Zadar, who he served for a long time.Subasic turned into an essential individual from the Monaco side that picked up advancement and been a stone at the back enabling Monaco to have an arrogant demeanor in assault.While Monaco increased numerous applauses for their full scale assaulting style that saw the ascent of players like Kylian Mbappe and the recovery of Radamel Falcao, it was the peaceful certainty of Subasic that made a strong construct for them to work in light of.Subasic was granted the honor for Best Keeper in Ligue 1 last season however has been very tasteful for the territory side since his entry. The honor had been long time desiring the Croatian who had done in the last two seasons as Monaco completed third and second.In 2014-15, he oversaw 842 minutes continuously without yielding a solitary objective and has showed up for Monaco in 203 group recreations up until now. It is a disgrace that very few outside France perceive the splendor of the Croatian number 1.Subasic is likewise Croatia's number 1, and has kept his place in the side as an essential individual from the squad. At 33, despite everything he has in excess of a couple of years left in him and possibly Monaco's prosperity will get him more acclaim.The previous German International is the long-serving manager of Borussia Dortmund, however he has fallen behind Swiss Goalkeeper Roman Burki. Weidenfeller is past the days when he was 'Mr Dependable' for Jurgen Klopp's Dortmund. Weidenfeller joined the club from FC Kaiserslautern in 2002, and had been at the club when Jurgen Klopp joined for a couple of years.#2 Roman WeidenfellerWeidenfeller has played 5 times for Germany and was shocking to have confronted rivalry as Oliver Kahn in the underlying days of his profession as Germany No 1 and afterward Jens Lehmann who filled in as the understudy for the unbelievable Bayern star.Weidenfeller started hitting the pinnacle of his forces past 2010, when Dortmund were taking care of business, winning two Bundesliga titles, however missed out on the global stage to Manuel Neuer.Manuel Neuer was No 1 and Weidenfeller was No 2 for his nation amid their effective World Cup win. Weidenfeller oversaw just 5 tops for his nation, plainly no place sufficiently close for the ability and achievement he has had in the residential level.Weidenfeller additionally passed up a great opportunity in the late 2000s because of a few dubious occurrences including a fine for racial manhandle in 2008.The entry of Thomas Tuchel and a keep running of poor shape smashed Weidenfeller's status in the Dortmund first group yet the 37-year-old has remained on as number two for a couple of seasons, yet is keen on leaving the club soon.This man will discover suitors unless there are extraordinary conditions. Be that as it may, in truth, Weidenfeller never got his due for his ability.#1 Samir HandanovicSamir Handanovic made 111 spares and kept 15 clean sheets in 36 amusements for Inter in 2015-16. In spite of this, and being generally viewed as a standout amongst other administrators in Italy, his name once in a while ever flies out while talking about the best in business.Entomb, Slovenia and Italian fans perceive Handanovic's quality, on account of the 81 tops the Slovenian worldwide has earned, alongside a joined 410 appearances for Italian clubs-most prominently for Udinese, aside from his present club.Entomb have been censured as of late and supervisors have cleaved and changed players around them however the one zone that they have left totally untouched is the man in objective.To be a number 1 with such a significant number of changes and adjusting to suit such huge numbers of administrators is no mean accomplishment and Handanovic does his business so tranquilly that he regularly sneaks by the radar in spite of numerous conclusive intercessions amid recreations.Handanovic positively should appraised close by a portion of the best goalkeepers in Europe right now. His decided and centered nature, combined with the media's fixation on players in England and Spain drive down a profile that is maybe too little for this splendid player.Handanovic has reliably been a failing to meet expectations Inter Milan's best player throughout the previous couple of years alongside Mauro Icardi, both of whom are in charge of Inter not slipping too far down the table.Handanovic is shockingly under-appraised by most who are ignorant of his essence at the back. With Inter looking much better this season, Handanovic may have a shot for progress at the club following five years of drudged endeavors.HONORARY MENTIONSergio RomeroHe could have been just the one of the best goalkeeper in the world had certain De gea not blocked his starting XI chances in Manchester United. Except for present team of Chelsea, Spurs and Manchester City, he can easily be the first choice goalkeeper of any team in the English Premier League. He just seems to go down the street without many noticing him and when required performing well. Manchester United is lucky to have him as De gea’s backup.

Thanks Alan Kulathanil for the questionWhat were the cultural differences between the Travancore and Cochin royal families?Well, I will try to answer this question in the context of Monarchial era (pre-1949) and Democratic era (post-1949)Why 1949? Because until July 1st 1949, Kingdom of Cochin and Kingdom of Travancore legally existed with Maharajas as the official sovereign. They had a standstill agreement with Dominion of Indian Union, but not part of it legally. It was on July 1st 1949, these two Kingdoms merged together to form the United States of Travancore and Kochi and merged with Indian Union as a state. So until 1949, it was monarchial era. Travancore Monarchy continued till Nov 1st 1956 as the Maharaja of Travancore became the new Maharajapramukh of Indian State of Travancore-Cochin (The Hereditary Governor before the current system of Governorship came in), while Kochi Maharaja was pensioned off.Both Travancore and Cochin Royal families are literally similar. Both of them areMalayala Samantha Kshyatriya community (deemed Kshyatriyaship) with Varmas as caste surnameBoth of them traces their origin to Imperial Cheras of Mahodayapuram. Kochi Dynasty believes, their lineage originated from Sister of last Chera Emperor, while Travancore (Venad/Kulashekaras as officially titled) believe their lineage originated from the son of last Chera Emperor. Both equally claims Chera Legacy and legacy of Vanchinadu/Mahodayapuram (the capital of Chera Empire) respectively.Both the dynasty are heavily matrilineal (the succession were thro’ female lineages) and hence the family headship was vested with their females, with their men, only a right to rule on their behalf.Both the families were heavily inter-connected with numerous marital relationships. In one account of Marthanda Varma’s history, Travancore Kingdom stopped annexing the Kochi Kingdom after the Battle of Purakkad, only because Marthanda Varma (the founder of current Travancore Dynasty) had his respects to his uncle- the King of Kochi.Both the royal families had many similar religious traditions and cultural lifestyleBoth the families weren’t lavish or extravagant in spending their resources and maintained a stricter code of public modesty.Now the differencesIn the current era (democratic era), the obvious difference are thatTravancore Royal Family as of 1949 with its key family members (H.H Maharaja Chithira Thirunal in the centre standing back and Senior Queen- H.H Senior Maharani- Sethu Parvathi Bai sitting in middle centre)Travancore Royal family with titular King- Sree Moolam Thirunal with the Imperial Sword of Travancore leading the Arattu festival of Sree Padmanabha along with other members of royal house carrying the state swordsTravancore Royal Family is a relatively very small family, enjoys huge public limelight, still remains as a celebrated and respected social institution with public homage, with many state honours and social status as similar to the royal era and its social conduct as an elitist family.Group Photo of Kochi Royal Family as in 1922Kochi Royal Family members as of today, attending a family meeting. They are nothing but commoners as of todayCochin Royal Family is a very huge family and completely forgotten by people of Kochi. Its fully converted into a commoner family with no social honours, status or any elitist traditions. It has no more public institution like set-up, rather just a cluster of many families using a common family name,I will explain this later, after telling the contexts in Monarachial era (royal period)Monarchial eraKochi Royal Family or officially titled as Perumpadappu Swaroopam (The sovereign house of Perumpadappu) was and still is ONE OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST ROYAL FAMILY.Today the family has more than 1200 members in the royal family (around 1500 if counting some associated clans to it), thus becoming a very larger royal house.In Monarchial days too, Kochi Royal family was a huge family institution. In those days, there were 11 matrilineal lineages (Thaivazhis), each lineage or clan have more than 10–15 families under it. This huge number of princes made the succession and kingship a complicated affair for Kingdom of Kochi.Comparing to Kochi, Travancore Royal Family (officially titled as Trippappur Venad Swaroopam or the Sovereign House of Venad- Trippappur branch) was comparatively very small and compact. It was so in past and still remains in same format today.In monarchial days, Travancore Royal family has a maximum of 2 matrilineal lineages (Thaivazhi) with less than 3 to 4 families per lineage. The succession format of Travancore was so simple and easy to understand and more important- so well defined.SuccessionIn Matrilineal society of Kerala, the sovereign is female who becomes the queen while her brother becomes the King to rule on her behalfTravancore Maharaja- HH Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma Maharaja with Senior Queen (his mother)- H.H Sethu Parvathi Bai and Junior Queen- H.H Karthika Thirunal (his sister)Travancore’s succession was very simple. The Brother and Sister become King and Queen and the queen’s children (the boy and girl) will become the next king and queen. The succession is so well defined and well planned in advance. If the queen doesn’t have children to succeed, adoptions take place from other royal families and the succession plan continuesKochi Maharaja- H.H Rajarishi Rama VarmaKochi’s succession was a quite complicated and extremely confusing process. Because it has a huge family with multiple clans, everyone has an equal right to become a King and Queen. Instead of a clear definition of next successor, Kochi has a complicated succession formula. The eldest female of all the 11 lineages/clans will become the Queen (Penvazhithampuran) and she may name any of her brothers or cousin brothers or nephews (who were qualified after a detailed astrological check) to become the King under her pleasure. The King holds the power as long as the female queen holds the pleasure or his death, whichever comes first. When a Queen dies, the next senior-most lady in the family becomes the Queen, and by convention, she will wait for the current King to die naturally to name her choice of new King.Due to this arrangement, the biggest problem in Kochi Dynasty was, it mostly had very aged Kings, as in majority cases, the eldest lady nominates mostly her brother as the King, who could be of elder age to her. Barring 3 or 4 occasions, Kochi never had young Kings. This has made a huge impact, as most of the newly coronated Kings don’t have much interest in actual governance as they were in the fag end of their lives and concentrate in their personal leisure and activities which they were into in their entire life. Thus the actual rule of Kochi was mostly left to the Prime Ministers of Kochi and Cabinet, making Kochi Kings more of a namesake position.This contrary in Travancore, as most of their Kings, were coronated at a very young age and open to many new ideas and actively participated in public governance. So most of the Travancore Kings always had their own identity and much popularity among the public, which Kochi Kings rarely had.Family size implicationsAs said before, Kochi’s Royal family size was beyond any comprehension. Even the most conservative estimates often show there were nearly 150+ individual families within the royal family.This huge size means, less income on per capita basis. The Kochi Kingdom was comparatively smaller Kingdom and had fewer resources. Due to this, the income of the Royal Family was limited and these limited sources of income when divided between families, each family gets a modest share. This means, there was no extravagance within Kochi Royal Family members historically. Most of the royal family members have a share of royal lands and most of them were dependent on farm revenue. In a way, they worked and lived much like any Nair households who too were dependent on farm revenue.Most of the princes of Kochi Family had alternate employment, partly out of their interest and partly for livelihood reasons. Majority of Kochi Princes were Ayurvedic Physicians, Scholars, Teachers and Accountants with the majority working for Kochi State Royal Civil Services. Even those who weren’t working for Civil Services were into some form indirect employment like under patronage of British Bureaucrats or Landlords etc. This means, even during Monarchial rule, there was a sense of commoner duty within the royal family, something uncommon in those days. This is the key reason, they effectively converted into Commoners after Independence as that trait worked so well.On the contrary, Travancore had much larger resources and hence the palace income was much higher than Kochi. Since the family structure was too small, the per capita income was very huge. Though they weren’t extravagant as such when compared to many other counterparts including the neighbouring Mysore Family, indeed they spent huge sums on creative and artistic talents and similar areas for their personal leisure. Huge sums were spent on many Palaces across the state and the royal family enjoyed many holiday trips etc. This is one reason today, you will see very large Palace guest houses in Travancore side, not much in the Kochi side.PalacesKochi Royal Family has a unique thing. Barring the King, no members of the royal family lived in Palaces. Its something very unique for Kochi Dynasty, again partly due to their size.Due to their extraordinary family size, it wasn’t possible for all family members to live in one Palace at all. Further their history was like that, it mandated multiple locations. And even so, they never lived together in one single place.Typical Princely Mansions as allotted to individual families of Kochi in Tripunithura and Thrissur.Kochi Royal Family members get state mansions for each family from the Palace Administration Board. These mansions are much like modern Houses, around 3–4 Bedroom houses with a smaller sitting room, a dining room, a kitchen, storeroom and servant quarters. Its not something of the usual grand palace as such which one imagines, rather modest houses with no grandeur other than teak/rosewood wooden interiors. Some luckier ones get 2 storied houses, while others mostly single floor ones. The princes live in such mansions or Malikkas as officially called.Hill Palace- Kochi, the official residence and office of H.H Maharaja of Kochi now a popular museum and botanical gardensWhen someone amongst the princes becomes the King, only he and his immediate family can move to the Grand Palace of Kochi Kingdom- the Hill Palace which incidentally is the Biggest Palace in entire Kerala and one among India. So residing at Hill Palace would be the key ambition of most of the Kochi Princes. Hill Palace, despite of being such a huge Palace, never accommodated other members of the royal family. Rather it served as Executive Office of the Kochi Kingdom with offices of Ministers, nobles and secretaries. So in a way, Hill Palace was more like White House, executive residence cum office of the King. The queen also has her own exclusive palace- the Elamana Palace (now converted into NSS College- Tripunithura).The other members of the royal family live in mansions mostly in Tripunithura, the royal capital and some in Thrissur city.Kowdiar Palace- Trivandrum, the current official residence of the Royal family of TravancoreContrary to Kochi, the Travancore Royal family lived in larger palaces. The royal protocols do not allow all members of the royal family live together in one place to avoid chances of extermination by enemies, but still they used to live in larger palaces, not mansions as Kochi Royal families used to live.Sree Padmanabhapuram Palace- the older Palace of Travancore Dynasty, now a popular state museum.The Sree Padmanabhapuram Palace in Kanyakumari was their base and which is also the largest wooden palace in the world. Later they built many magnificent places across the Travancore, including the famous Kowidar Palace, the current seat of the Royal Family in Trivandrum.Aluva Palace- the summer palace of Travancore Royals, now state guest house in Greater Kochi cityApart from these, the royal lodges like Lake Palace in Thekkady or Peermadu in Idukki as well as the Summer Palace in Aluva (today a suburb of Kochi city, then it was part of Travancore Kingdom).AdoptionsTravancore Royal Family was famous for its tradition of Royal Adoptions or Padiyettu as known locally. Many occasions, the royal family never had heirs to continue, due to which they introduced the concept of Royal Adoption by adopting princess of other royal families which in that era was seen as a social crime initially. Travancore constantly adopted princess mostly from North Kerala, particularly from Kolathiri family of Kannur, which made them famously known as Thekkan Kolathiri (the Kolathiri of South). This played a key role in the integration of Kerala culture as the gap of culture between North Kerala and South Kerala almost got harmonized and the culture across the state got synchronized. This is one key reason, one doesn’t see huge cultural differences between Trivandrum and Kannur which are at two ends of the state unlike other southern states where multiple intrastate cultures exist.Kochi Royal Family never believed in Adoptions as they never required at the first place due to its vast size and its unique succession format.MarriagesNote: There was no institution of legal marriage/husband-wife relationship among upper castes of Kerala until 1920s-30s period, rather it was mostly live-in relationships called SambandhamsKochi Royal House is very unique when comes to marriages. As the royal family was of huge size, the Lady royal members used to carry out sambandhams from multiple upper castes like Nampoothiris, Nairs, Ambalavasis etc as well as Varmas from smaller royal families. Nampoothiri Sambandham was much commoner as Kochi Maharaja was also the de facto head of Nampoothiri community across the state of Kerala (in his capacity as Koviladhikari- the Supreme head of Kerala Temples and in his capacity as Overlord of Avancheri Thampurakkal- the Head of Nampoothiris of Kerala). Due to the position of Kochi Raja, Nampoothiris always had an extra interest to be in relationship with the royal household as its a position of power and social status (though many within the family eventually became part of Royal Kitchen as Chefs of Maharaja which itself was an honor then). Nairs, as well as Ambalavasi men also married heavily with the Royal family, thus Kochi Royal House was a potpourri of multiple communities (the royal family even had a Christian Branch too). The princes of Kochi Royal house mostly enter sambandam with Nair women mostly.This means Kochi Kings, in general, were more flexible with upper castes customs and traditions and often accommodated many of Nairs and Nampoothiris in key government positions.This tradition still continues strongly in Kochi Royal house where members do marry Nairs, Nampoothiris and Ambalavasis commonly, not strictly within Varma community alone.Kings can legally marry a Nair Lady and unlike Nair customs of that era, he can keep his wife along with him and allow her to stay with him at Hill Palace. This legal wife was called Nethyar Amma (Britishers used to refer such ladies as CONSORT QUEEN to differentiate from actual QUEEN) who had rank of a junior princess or first lady in waiting at Queen’s court. She can live with the King during his lifetime at the Palace along with her kids but has to leave home once the King dies or terminates the relationship. However, in such cases, she and her kids enjoy a State Pension apart from the rights of the lands which the King had bestowed upon her and her kids (remember in Matrilineal customs, male have no rights over his kids, only the female has absolute rights). The children of King will remain as commoners and holds no royal titles and only the caste title of their mother along with the mother’s family name.On the contrary, Travancore was much stricter when comes to Sambandhams. Their ladies rarely preferred anyone else other than Varmas and Nampoothiris (that too only very highly reputed families and of higher social status). Royal Sambandhams were mostly reserved to vassal dynasties of Travancore and sometimes from Kochi or Kolathiri Kingdoms, rarely with Nairs or any other community in past.The King and male princes do enter sambandham with Nair ladies, but they are never allowed to visit even the Palace and never given any royal status other than a title for the main concubine/mistress of the King (Panampally Amma). Panampally Ammas and her family will remain as Nobles, but not members of the royal court, unlike Kochi. The son of the Kings will be nobles and have right to enter Palace and meet their father at will. They shall be referred legally as Thampi and Thangachis, but will not be seen as members of the royal family.Sovereignty and ProtocolsBy convention, the sovereignty of both houses was reserved to eldest female of the house.But there is a difference to Travancore by tradition. Travancore’s sovereignty has been transferred to Lord Sree Padmanabhaswamy of Trivandrum in the year 1750, thus both men and ladies of the royal house effectively became the servant of Sree Padmanabha (Sree Padmanabhadasa for men and Sree Padmanabhasevini for women)They pledge their allegiance to the Sree Padmanabha, hence ever since that, though by all royal protocols, the queen of Travancore superseded the King of Travancore. In Travancore order, there were always two queens, the Senior and Junior Queens. The elder Queen was always referred to as Attingal Mootha Thampuran and Junior Queen as Attingal Elya Thampuran as Queens of Travancore also were the independent Queen of Attingal fiedom, a small suburb of Trivandrum city. Generally, it could be mother of the King as Senior Queen and Sister of the King as Junior Queen who will rise as Senior Queen when the mother dies. In such cases, when she becomes the Senior Queen, her eldest daughter and the successor becomes the Junior Queen. The queens and ladies were referred to as Thampurattis.Queen Karthika Thirunal of Travancore- the Last QueenQueens of Travancore were much powerful. They always had freedom to move around, enter into as many as Sambandham relationships (Live-In Relationships) with men they live, attend court meetings directly and summon officials directly. Generally, Queens of Travancore always dominate the Kings as they make advises directly and even has the power to over-rule the King (though not common in history).Queens of Travancore were very fashionable and always highlighted their dressing sense as something key.Manku Thampuran- Penvazhithampuran or Kochi Queen, sister of Maharaja- Kerala VarmaOn the contrary, Kochi always had one single Queen- the Penvazhithampuran. No other lady can hold that title and she was the absolute sovereign, under whose name and behalf, the King rules. In the Kochi Kingdom, even Lady members of the royal family were referred to as Thampurans, not Thampurattis (the feminine version of Thampuran) and the Queen was referred to as Valiya-Amma Thampuran. Though the Queen of Kochi nominates the King and he rules on his behalf, the royal family has extreme conservative protocols over its ladies. Royal ladies cannot walk freely in public and if so, the roads were cleared and commoners weren’t allowed to look at them. The Queen of Kochi can’t visit Hill Palace (the logic was when she commands, the King has to be at her residence) nor she has any powers to summon any officials. She can’t legally advise government and she has no role in day-to-day governance. Royal ladies are not allowed to meet officials in person and if required by any chance, the officials must not see the ladies in person.Another factor is Kochi Royals, particularly ladies have several protocol restrictions. They were barred to wear jewels in public and not allowed to exhibit any jewellery. Initially, there were protocols against photographing royal women, but later it was allowed. But since 1900s, there was a protocol rule that ladies must be fully clothed while being photographed as it was not common for ladies of that era to cover their breasts…Ladies of Kochi Royal House in 1950, noted for their modest commoner fashionLadies of the Kochi Royal House as in 1920sUnlike popular perception, Kochi Royal ladies were too modest in their clothing. They never wore anything pompous or lavish etc.In short, the position of Kochi Royal ladies were slightly lower than their male folk, though theoretical they have higher protocol level and powers. But in practical purposes, they were more of figureheadsEducationBoth Kochi and Travancore princes/princess were not allowed to go to a public college/school for studies. They were tutored privately.Travancore was much famous for it. They often hired the best English and Indian tutors to train their princes/princess. Ever since the reign of Queen Gowri Lakshmi Bai, the focus of education was fully focused on western-style education with best English tutors being placed in Palace to tutor the princes and princess. Travancore stressed a lot on western education, thus princes were not just trained in English, but also in languages French, Spanish etc, in European literature works, in English concepts of Botony, zoology, History, Mathematics etc.Due to this reason, most of the Travancorean Princes and princess were polyglot, they were fashioned in western sensibilities of modern values etc. At the same time, Travancore ensured the princes were grounded in native customs, traditions etc and ensured they learn Carnatic Music, Kathakali, Indian mythology, Malayalam poetry and literature. Many Travancore Kings and Queens were highly educated, some were in modern research. For example, Vishakam Thirunal Maharaja was a qualified Botanist, while his Uncle and former Maharaja- Ayilam Thirunal was heavily qualified in Structural Engineering. The most celebrated ruler- Swathi Thirunal could speak 16 languages and was so keen in astronomy, zoological sciences etc while being a famous musician and composer.On the contrary, Kochi Royal family weren’t many supporters to western education. They were orthodox in many ways and never appreciated Western Education as a matter of progress. Kochi’s royal education was heavily focused on Vedic studies, with Sanskrit being the key language which princes and princess studied.But home-tutoring wasn’t possible with its large number, so a Palace school itself was started for all the royal children to go and study. The Tripunithura’s famous Palace Sanskrit School still remains with its royal legacy. They learnt more of Indian poetry, epics, dramas, works etc and focused heavily on Ayurveda, Mimamsa, Vedic maths, astrology, Vasthushastra, Dharmashastras etc.Lady students of Palace School - Pic was of a farewell function of their teacherKochi Princes were experts in many native sciences, particularly Ayurveda which happens to be their most favourite area of study. Kochi Kings always focused on institutionalizing Ayurveda as a key branch of medicine and this played a key role when Kochi King along with Zamorin of Calicut set up Kerala’s first modern Ayurvedic society- Kerala Ayurveda Samajam in 1902. Apart from Ayurveda, they were keen in many other native sciences like Gulika Shastra, Astrology and Vedas. Kochi Kingdom’s Shastrasadasu or the Great Hall of native sciences was often one of the biggest venues for traditional scholars to discuss on these topics.The Shastrasadasu or Vedic science council attended by famous scholars of Koch held under the auspices of Kochi MaharajaModern sciences were given prominence by the state governments mostly, not the royal house of Kochi.This stark difference between Kochi and Travancore Royal houses, also highlights why Travancore is often hailed as modern and progressive, not much for Kochi Kingdom.OrthodoxyTravancore Royal house was modern but conservative, whileKochi Royal house was Orthodox, but liberal.This irony always seen in their royal family cultures. Travancore Royal House always promoted western ideas, modern studies and introduced such to Kerala in a big way. For example, India’s first Zoo was started in Trivandrum way back in 1859 within 10 years after commissioning of London Zoo, the world’s first professional zoo, modelled on it. The reason was to the public to study on zoological topics, something unheard in that era. Same way, India’s first Allopathic Public Free Hospital was also started in Travancore, so that every commoner able to treat themself with modern medicine. So as Travancore was the first place in the world to declare FREE UNIVERSAL EDUCATION for all its citizens way back in 1819.So in many ways, they were pioneers. But they were so conservative when came to royal structure and power. Despite of teaching the public what democracy is in England, they refused to implement democracy in Travancore or even allow responsible govt as they were so conservative about their political structure.This is opposite in Kochi. Kochi Royal house is so orthodox, so traditionalist and never opened to modernity. There used to be a saying, Kochi Princes won’t even try wearing a shirt and pants as late as the 1880s when everyone used to. But they were so open to liberal to allow others to do so. For example, Kochi never placed any huge restrictions on press etc, whereas Travancore used. Travancore once banned Kerala’s largest Newspaper- Malayala Manorama which used to function from Kottayam (in Travancore) and the media house fled to Kochi Kingdom where it started its new Press- Irjnalakuda. Despite of publishing news against Kochi King, Manorama wasn’t banned or censured in the Kochi Kingdom, thanks to the liberal attitude of Kochi Kings and govt.Kochi’s liberal attitudes helped many business to flourish as rarely government of Kochi intervened into their business, while Travancore’s conservative and autocratic attitudes never allowed free business regime.The govt of Kochi was very orthodox when comes to religious topics, but Travancore was very modern over there. It was Travancore who abolished the casteism concept, allowed dalit entry into temples legally for the first time in Indian History till then, while the act was seen a crime by Kochi Kingdom who maintained that Temples should be exclusive to brahminical communities, not others.SportsIt would be bit surprising to know, but a hard fact, Kochi Royal Family was so obsessed with the game of Cricket. Infact it was the only Royal Family in India to declare Cricket as its official game, way back in 1870s and Kochi Princes were mad with the game. Cricket was introduced in India in 18th century (1799) by Lord Wellesley (the general who defeated Napoleon) at Thalassery Fort which was a game played between British army officials. Kochi Princes who came to visit the fort, happened to see it and enjoyed the game. It was from there, they started playing this and became obsessed.Cochin Princes Club- the royal cricket team as that of 1930 when went to Madras for participating CRF TrophyCochin Palace Oval, the oldest cricket turf in Kerala that shaped many cricketing talents from the stateSurviving princes of old Princes Club who still see Cricket as their passion even in their old ageCricket was often called Royal Game in Kochi, as only Princes were allowed to play and most of the commoners never understood what they were doing at the ground. The Palace Oval in Tripunithura was the first professional Cricket turf of Kerala where the princes used to play and the royal family started World’s first limited over tournament- the Pooja Cup (as it was played during Navaratri holidays time) in 1951. Many Kochi Princes became part of various professional clubs. As it was a princely game, cricket was heavily ignored by public then and even after independence, the govt never gave any importance until it became more democratic game since the 1980s.Trivandrum Golf Club, India’s 3rd oldest golf course which many Kings of Travancore patronizedUnlike Kochi, the royal family of Travancore never had any royal game as such. However historically since the 1890s, many Travancore princes were fond of Badminton and Tennis. They regularly used to play in the place, but never made into a professional concept as Kochi Family took with Cricket. Travancore Kings also played Golf, something introduced by Britishers, which lead to the start of Trivandrum Golf Club in 1850, India’s third oldest golf course (started as Maharaja’s Hunting and Play Lodge). The kings weren’t keen to play golf, but primarily started a Golf course to match their social status as equal to British level, after visiting Calcutta’s Royal Golf club. Not many Kings were golf players, but King Ayilam Thirunal was a regular golfer who expanded the club to today’s level. So as last king- Chithira Thirunal.GV Raja- the first Prince of Travancore, also known as Father of Kerala Sports was an adherent player of Badminton. He was first Malayalee Vice President of BCCI.But Chithira Thirunal Maharaja’s brother-in-law (consort of the Queen)- the First Prince GV Raja was celebrated across the state as Father of Kerala’s sports sector. GV Raja was an adherent lover of Cricket, so he started Kerala Cricket Association (now part of BCCI ) who was also the Vice- President of BCCI India, so as a professional tennis player that he invited then the Wimbledon champion- Bill Tilden to Trivandrum for a professional friendly match and started the famous Trivandrum Tennis club in 1938. He was also an athlete in his younger days.It was after GV Raja came to Kowidar after his marriage with Queen Karthika Thirunal, the royal family became active in sports. GV Raja used to make Queen Karthika Thirunal play Badminton regularly and made it compulsory for his children, due to which a professional Badminton court came up inside the Palace complex. His grandson- Prince Aditya Varma is a famous Badminton player and was part of state team earlier. Now the royal family started a world-class Badminton court for the public which is popular in TrivandrumSri Padmanabha Royal Indoor CourtsFoodBoth the royal families were hardcore vegetarians.Travancore House historically was flamboyant when comes to culinary topics. Travancore royal family members were historically known to be foodies and loved to enjoy their food. This is one key reason why Trivandrum historically had a very huge Sadya spread as the palace luncheons were known for its sumptuous sadyas . Travancore Kings even wanted to enjoy the famous Ambalapuzha Pal Payasam (the famous Milk Kheer of the temple), so they used to wait till late afternoons for their lunch to get the Payasam delivered straight to Trivandrum. It used to be said, Travancore Kings personally enjoyed a 15 dish Sadya (it was huge in those days), only to be completed by a choice of 4 desserts (the only one in Kerala to have so in that era)Compared to Travancore, Kochi Kings and family mostly had frugal meals. Kochi Kings were into Ayurveda mostly and hence they used to stress the importance of Sativik/Ayurvedic food. Kochi royal meals were mostly bland, not heavily spiced and rarely used any imported vegetables like tomatoes or Potatoes. The most famous Kochi royal dish was Kuruku Kalan, a heavily stirred dried Yam curry in yoghurt which was very tough to make. Kochi rulers were fans of dairy products, so most of the royal dishes in Kochi Kitchens were of diary-based. The food style of Kochi royal family were mostly similar to Nampoothiri houses, due to the Nampoothiri influence over them.By tradition and convention, Kochi Kings used to take only one Payasam afternoon, brought from the state temple- Sree Poornathresya. The famous Pathiruazhi Payasam was initially offered to the lord, only to be consumed by members of Royal family in those days.DressingBoth the royal families had similar dressing style which was common to that eraKochi Royal household ladies like elsewhere never covered their blossoms. They only wore a cotton mundu alone while inside and an upper shawl to cover their body until start of 1900s.The typical fashion of Kochi Royal ladies in 1930s with newly introduced rouka blouses and sarees. The royal ladies never wore jewellery in publicPrinces of Kochi House, who normally wear jubbas or shirts with MunduMost after 1900s, Royal ladies started wearing Rouka and sarees (both foreign imports), hence it was heavily seen with contempt in public citing as foreign fashion influence. Elderly ladies used to wear Mundu and Shawl in today's Mundu Neriyathu fashion by around 1920s and Kochi’s famous Neythar Amma- Parukutty was instrumental in promoting that fashion. She being a Neythar Amma, had no restrictions to travel unlike Queen and welded the power of the state in absence of her husband- the King. But compared to the standards of other queens across the country, the dressing style of Kochi ladies were very modest. They preferred ordinary rouka with floral pattern and cotton/silk Neriyathu mostly.Parukutty Neythar Amma, the Consort Queen of Kochi who popularized the wear of Mundu and Neriyathu among royal circlesParukutty Nethyar Amma who was the consort Queen, became Gandhian after meeting Mahatma Gandhi when the latter visited Hill Palace. Ever since that, she wore only Khadi clothes typical to Gandhian fashion and instructed all in the Hill Palace to wear Khadi Mundu. Initially, there was a heavy opposition, but eventually, every prince and princess started wearing Khadi Mundu, which became part of their official dress, the only Royal family to do so until then. To differentiate them from commoners, they never wore Gandhian caps, but their trademark Silk Caps. The males of the family never wore shirts, rather just a Mundu alone. Wearing a shirt was seen as western fashion in those days, but later started wearing Jubba which was part of Nationalist fervour within the royal family. They wore suits only for functions where British officials were presented.Kochi King Parikshit Thampuran in his typical Gandhian attire with Sardar Patel on left and VP Menon on rightThe last King- Parikshit Thampuran too was a Gandhian and never wore any silk clothes, rather always preferred modest Gandhian style Khadi Mundu and a Jubba. Even today, the majority of Kochi Royal family members were always noted for their modest dressing.Kochi King- Middukkan Thampuran in his classic attire which was an ordinary suit and a silk capAs royal robes, Kochi Kings worn silk and linen suits with a silk Chinese caps. Kochi Kings never wore crowns, rather kept the crown on their lap, a unique tradition followed since 15th century. They always wear a Silk Cap and in the court- a turban with no jewels attached.On the contrary, Travancore Royals were bit more flamboyant, though not similar to their counterparts in Mysore or Hyderabad. They always wore Silk clothes in public with turbans for men while ladies preferred traditional silk/cotton Mundu. Travancore royal ladies were too focused on their hair-dressing and invested a lot of time in huge decorative hair buns. Unlike Kochi, there was no restriction for ladies from wearing jewellery in Public, but still they kept some modest sense.Travancore Junior Queen- Bharani Thirunal as in the painting noted for her heavy jewelleryRegent Queen Sethu Lakshmi Bai of Travancore who popularly introduced Blouses with her consort Prince in western-style suitsTravancore King and Queen all in modern attires. Chithira Thirunal Maharaja in North Indian style robes was common thenSince the era of Regent Queen Sethu Lakshmi Bai, blouses became mandatory for royal ladies. Sethu Lakshmi Bai used to wear full sleeve bloused with Mulakkacha in traditional style. By this time, most of the males members started wearing western suits in public appearances. Travancore Kings used to travel extensively across India, so they used to adore typical North Indian style Maharaja robes like Jodhapuri suits, Rajasthani styled headgear etc which became part of Travancore Royal fashion. By 1930s, sleeveless blouses and light fancy sarees became popular in the royal court and Travancore Queens started wearing it which was called as the Bombay Fashion. By 1950s, they started wearing only normal public clothes as commonly wore by upper-middle class. The current Queen and Crown Princess prefer just ordinary Mundu Neriyathu just like any of their age.Post 1949, both Kochi and Travancore became part of India and by 1970s, both became commoner family.But essentially there was a difference. Kochi Royal House since late 1930s was preparing itself for becoming part of India as most of its family members slowly tuned its political attitudes towards Indian freedom movement.Kochi was the first princely state in India to formally accept the call of joining with Indian Dominion, the first princely state to host Indian Tricolor even before its formal accession into India and the only princely state to celebrate the independence event of August 15th 1947.The King was a Gandhian and he was prepared to become a commoner. Infact it was recorded in VP Menon’s autobiography that when Sardar Patel asked what Kochi King wanted in return to join India, he demanded just a copy of Panchangam (almanac) which really surprised Sardar Patel.This attitude fastly converted Kochi Royal house into a commoner family. Prior to independence, Kochi Kingdom passed a law- Valiyamma Kovilakom Trust Act that consolidated Palace Holdings under Palace Administration Board and vested its authority with the state. Due to the operationalization of this law, Palace Administration Board of Kochi has a legal cover and partially under state cover with an IAS bureaucrat heading the Board and state has to pay certain funds for maintaining palace properties which cannot be sold outrightly at the individual level. Thats the only relic remaining that highlights the stately position of Kochi Royal House.On the contrary, the Travancore Royal Family protected most of its interests via a Covenant signed between them and the Indian Union. This helped them to maintain a lot of Crown Properties and save them from Land reforms legislation of Kerala state.Kochi Kings historically withdraw from the governance of the state directly for a pretty long time even when they ruled. Due to which, there was little popularity of the royal family among public historically and post-independence, they were forgotten.Travancore royal family members (Queen and crown princess) along with state ministers and other dignitaries for a public function to honor fisherfolk who participated in rescue operations during Kerala floodsThen the Gujarat CM Narendra Modi with then the Maharaja- Uthradom Thirunal..On the contrary, Travancore Kings always maintained the image and popularity, thus had extraordinary popularity in Travancore, particularly Trivandrum. Even the state officially respects them and accords many honorary positions.This is partially derived due to the state respect to Sree Padmanabhaswamy who still enjoys a 21 Gun Salute from Kerala State which automatically extends partially to his representative- the titular King too. One can find many royals often invited in many state functions as official guests and even enjoys a protocol position that of state guests. Travancore family gets a police protection cover with a Security officer from State services to the titular King and a team of police officials for security cover at Kowidar. Whenever key state guests visit, many do visit Travancore Royal house as part of their itinerary. These factors helped the Travancore family to enjoy a stately position.