[citation needed] At the death of the Maharajah, Gowri Lakshmi Bayi, the senior Rani of Attingal, was barely twenty years of age.

However her accession was not easy because a member from the Mavelikara branch of the royal family, a distant cousin, Prince Kerala Varma, who was the pet of the previous ruler, staked a claim on the throne which was anything but substantiated.

[citation needed] One of the earliest acts of Queen Gowri Lakshmi Bayi was to dismiss the existing Dewan or Prime Minister, Ummini Thampi.

[citation needed] The Maharani was married to a Koil Thampuran, Prince Rajaraja Varma Avargal of the Changanassery Royal Family.

[citation needed] Her eldest son was born on 16 April 1813, King Swathi Thirunal who was a musician and artist and ruled independently from 1829 to 1846.

[citation needed] The Maharani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi started losing her health after giving birth to her youngest son and died in 1815.

She was succeeded by her oldest son, King Swathi Thirunal with her sister Gowri Parvati Bayi as the Regent Maharani.