vadodara if their demand is accepted one of the legendary artists of the country may finally get his due the family of raja ravi varma has written to the central government and requested it to confer the prestigious bharat ratna award to the painter who created colourful depictions of the hindu gods and goddesses maharaja sayajirao gaekwad iii the ruler of the erstwhile baroda state had commissioned varma to make paintings in the 1880s ramvarma thampuran k r a descendant of varma stated in a letter to g kishan reddy union minister of culture that bharat ratna for the legendary painter was the wish of varmas family members as well as millions of artlovers in the country ramvarma general secretary of kilimanoor palace trust further wrote ravi varma was truly a flag bearer of the ancient traditions of india and his works reflect various aspects of our unique culture and heritage as the 175th birth anniversary of ravi varma is in the offing conferring bharat ratna is the best way for mother india on its 75th year of independence to acknowledge the merits and matchless contributions of one of her most prodigious sons varma in his lifetime made over 7000 paintings and is considered to be the first modern indian painter and trendsetter who redefined indian art practice in colonial times the royal gaekwad family recently rebuilt the studio in the laxmi vilas palace compound where varma once created some beautiful artworks the ravi varma press established by him printed oleographs of gods and goddesses and mythological episodes social messages and portraits of political leaders like mahatma gandhi jawaharlal nehru lokmanya tilak and sardar vallabhbhai patel these oleographs played a major role in the awakening of the larger indian consciousness towards the fight for indias freedom varma deserves the bharat ratna award said sachin kaluskar collector of original oleographs from ravi varma press