 It was decided, despite the opposition of the minor Maharajah's mother, Junior Maharani Sethu Parvathi Bayi, that Sethu Lakshmi Bayi should be Regent as she was the Senior Maharani until the minor King came of age in 1930.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.