[3][4][5] Rama Varma is the youngest son of Maharani Karthika Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi of Travancore and her husband, Prince Consort Lt. Col. G. V. Raja, and was born on 12 June 1949 in Thiru-Kochi.

[6] After finishing his higher education and working in England, Rama Varma returned to India in 1972 and, at his uncles' advise, joined the spice trading company Aspinwall Ltd in Mangalore.

After Rama Varma assumed the Titular Maharajah's position (due to his maternal uncle's death), they moved to Kowdiar, Thiruvananthapuram.

He was appointed after a function called Thirumudikalasam, as the head of the Travancore Royal Family on 3 January 2014, was held at Kalasamandapam near the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple.

After rituals and traditional procedures, Tharananalloor Parameswaran Namboodiripad, the temple Tantri (high priest), poured 'punyajalam' (holy water) over Rama Varma, making him the new head of the royal family.