Pooradam Thirunal Sethu Lakshmi Bayi CI (5 November 1895– 22 February 1985) was the monarch, though designated as the Regent due to British policy, of the Kingdom of Travancore in southern India between 1924 and 1931.

She, along with her younger cousin, Moolam Thirunal Sethu Parvathi Bayi, were adopted into the Travancore royal family and were the granddaughters of the celebrated painter, Raja Ravi Varma.

She was an absolute monarch in her own right as per matrilineal law (unlike regents in the rest of India whose powers were curtailed by tradition and in practice by a regency council) and ruled as the sovereign.

Sethu Lakshmi Bayi's regency continued the progressive administration of Travancore dynasty and brought forth reforms like abolition of Devadasi system as well as the prohibition of animal sacrifice.

[3][4] Sethu Lakshmi Bayi was born on 19 November 1895 to Ayilyam Nal Mahaprabha of the Utsavamadhom Palace in Mavelikara and Kerala Varma.

Her mother belonged to a branch of the Kolathunad royal family that had settled in Travancore towards the end of the 18th century and was one of daughters of the artist Raja Ravi Varma.

[5] In the prevalent matrilineal system of inheritance known as Marumakkathayam, the presence of females to continue the line and dynasty was crucial.

The Senior Maharani decided to adopt the daughters of her nieces, Mahaprabha and Kochukunji of Mavelikara, into the Travancore royal family.

In 1906, when she was still ten years old, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi was married to Sri Rama Varma, a grandnephew of her guardian who belonged to the royal house of Haripad.

Meanwhile, the Junior Queen gave birth to her eldest son Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, the last ruling Maharajah of Travancore.

[citation needed] In 1924, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi received news that King Moolam Thirunal was critical due to sepsis.

However, it should be also noted that unlike the regents of any other kingdom, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi was entitled to many other perks which included absolute power which had been due to any other ruler of a princely state in India .

This was on account of matrilineal tradition of the Travancore family where women had the equal power as well as right to rule, in absence of any male heir .

[citation needed] During the time of her regency, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi lived at the Satelmond Palace in Poojapura.

Thus accordingly in November 1931, after 7 years, the regency of Sethu Lakshmi Bayi came to an end and the Heir Apparent Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma became the King of Travancore.

Mahatma Gandhi about Sethu Lakshmi Bayi in his Young India (26 March 1925) magazine : My visit to Her Highness was an agreeable surprise for me.

The Press Regulation Act of 1926[13] passed by the Regent Sethu Lakshmi Bayi is considered as a draconian law by the historians.

The public protesters, headed by E. V. Krishna Pillai and T. K. Madhavan at Travancore Political Conference in Trivandrum, alleged that the new Press Act was solely formulated to protect the consort of Regent Maharani, Rama Varma Valiya Koyi Thampuran, from public criticism against his illegal interference in the administration of Travancore.

in defence of the Newspaper Regulation Act that the measure was taken to protect ordinary citizens from mud slinging campaigns and scandals indulged in by small newspapers "which come into temporary existence with the special object of vilification and when the object is carried out these news sheets disappear" (United India and Indian States", Delhi, 31 July 1926).

This Regulation was hailed by K. Gopalan Nair, a lawyer and member of the Sree Moolam Popular Assembly, as a measure long overdue.

[citation needed] Many historians and researchers have criticized Sethu Lakshmi Bayi for not conducting temple entry for dalits in 1924.

When Mahatma Gandhi came to Travancore for the Vaikom Satyagraha, he met the then Regent Sethu Lakshmi Bayi and asked her whether it was not atrocious that when dogs and cattle can walk the roads around temples but some men cannot due to their castes.

Gandhiji appreciated this fact, for in his words "..the opening of the roads is not the final but the first step in the ladder of reform..... We may not force the pace" ("Young India", 2 April 1925).

Maharani Setu Lakshmi Bayi (spelled 'Sethu') is the central figure of The Ivory Throne: Chronicles of the House of Travancore, the debut work of Indian writer Manu S. Pillai.

The book also chronicles the journey of her children as they departed from Kerala and breaking away from lifestyles of the Travancore royal family (which she herself later did when she moved to Bangalore), their adaptation to the era of the Indian independence movement and the subsequent dismantling of the monarchy during the formation of the Dominion of India.