The Travancore Royal Family was the ruling house of the Indian princely state of Travancore. They lost their ruling rights in 1949 when Travancore merged with the Indian Union and their privileges were abolished by the Indian Union in 1971 by a constitutional amendment. The family descends from the ancient Ay/Venad rulers and the Cheras. A sister dynasty of theirs is the Kolathiris (the Mushika Dynasty and they both hold the distinction of being Samantha Kshatriya). The Travancore Royalty could also "unofficially" be considered descendants of the Pandya and Chola dynasties, due to consistent intermarriages with the Chera, Pandya, Chola and Kolathiri dynasties, over the centuries. In fact, only the Travancore and Kolathiri families are those surviving among the original royal Velir Family's lineages, and are both descendants of the Ay/Venad Family, and related to the Cheras, Pandyas and Cholas. Sree Padmanabhaswamy is the chief family deity. The Royal family is alternatively known as the Kupaka Swaroopam, Thripappur Swaroopam, Venad Swaroopam, Vanchi Swaroopam etc. It has its seat today at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, India. The last ruling Maharajah of Travancore was Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, died on 20 July 1991 after a stroke. Sree Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the younger brother of the last ruling monarch of the Kingdom of Travancore, Maharajah Chitra Thirunal Rama Varma, died at a private hospital in the early hours on 16 December 2013. He was succeeded by Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma, son of Maharani Karthika Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi and Lt. Col. G. V. Raja.