Raja Marthanda Varma ( 1706 - 1761 ) was born at a time when the royal power of his family was declining. In fact, the Raja was once outsted from his throne and in exile. But, a strong ruler, Marthanda Varama Maharaja not only regained his lost land but also enlarged his kingdom besides reasserting the royal power during his 29-year rule from 1729 to 1758. And, the success story of the Maharaja had close links with the small and beautiful land of Poovar, situated on the south of the Neyyar River

The story was like this: Though Marthanda Varma Maharaja was proclaimed the successor of the King, the two sons of the late King ( Ettuveetil Pillamar) with the help of Madampis tried to usurp power. The Maharaja had to flee from his land as he had life threat from the Thampis and in the process landed up in Poovar. It was Moosa marikar, a rich and aristocratic businessman in Poovar, who gave asylum to the Maharaja. The business magnet of Poovar, Moosa Marikkar, also patronaged the Maharaja for his regaining power of his lost kingdom

Among the fascinations the Raja experienced at Poovar during his shelter there was the site of red flowers, chipped out from the Kovala trees standing along the Neyyar riverbanks, floating in the river as a red carpet on water. The legned is that the stream was named as "POOVAR" as the Raja described the river as "POO-AAR" ( meaning a stream of flowers). The beauty and greenery of the picturesque and unparallel silence of Poovar captured the mind of the Maharaja