Kerala Varma Thampuran popularly known as Aikya Keralam Thampuran was the Maharaja (king) of Cochin who ruled between 1946 and 1948. He mooted the idea of a unified Kerala state in India for the Malayalam speaking population and stood for the merging of British Malabar, Cochin and Travancore. Therefore he was given the sobriquet Ikyakeralam Thampuran(King who united Kerala). He died on 1948 July (1123 Midhunam 25th according to the malayalam calendar).