 The Maharajah was also a poet having authored the "Meenaketanacharitram" and "Bhasha Sakuntalam".The first decade of the Maharajah's reign was happy and peaceful but several problems arose after the dismissal of Dewan Madhava Rao.The Maharajah's relationship with Kerala Varma Valiya Koil Thampuran, the consort of his niece, the Rani Lakshmi Bayi (who was adopted in 1857 soon after the Maharajah's sister of the same name died giving birth to Moolam Thirunal) turned sour and subsequently he was imprisoned in Haripad in 1875 where he stayed until his release in 1880 after the Maharajah's death.