His father Rama Varma received his early education as a prince. This was basic training in vernacular Malayalam and Sanskrit language which was essential to members of the Royal Family. He began his English education at the age of nine, under Subba Row, who later became Travancore's Dewan. The prince took a particular interest in English composition, and was well known for his first work, Horrors of War and Benefits of Peace. Some of his compositions have also been published in "Athenaeum Madras" He also wrote reviews in The Statesman and Calcutta.
The prince visited Madras in 1861 and met with the governor, Sir William Denison, to whom he gave such a favorable impression that the governor remarked that "He is by far the most intelligent native I saw; and if his brother is like him, Travancore 's prospects are very favorable." The prince was soon appointed a fellow of the University of Madras, a rare honor given to natives. While he was still a prince he was also offered a seat in the Legislative Council of the Viceroy of India which he declined due to ill health. He had a particular aptitude for botany and farming.
He was an erudite scholar, and had learned Brahmins, known as Tharka Sastry, in his court and used to take advice in settling cases referred to him. There is a story about his questioning on the Mahabharata, and only two in Tharka Sastrys' group responded. One was Gopala Iyer and his uncle, K G Sesha Iyer, was made a Munsiff who later became a famous Judge according to his appeal. The other was Gopala Sastry, at whose request the Maharajah appointed the Sub-Registrar at Tiruchendur with the British resident to get the son of Gopala Sastry to.
The Maharajah became ill at the age of 48 in late July 1885 and died on August 4, 1885. His Highness married in 1859 a noblewoman of the Arumana Ammaveedu of Trivandrum to whom more than one of his ancestors had been connected by marriage, Arumana Ammachi Panapillai Amma Srimathi Lakshmi Pillai Kochamma .The Maharajah chose his own consort which caused his uncle and the then Maharajah, Uthram Thirunal, to be disappointed. The Maharajah had four children in issue from this marriage. His eldest and only son, Sri Narayanan Thampi, was born in 1865 and started the first bus services in Travancore (Trivandrum-Nagercoil route).