In a jiffy, the little members of the royal family of erstwhile Travancore, and twin sisters, Gouri and Prabha, picked the beautiful wicker basket from among the many gifts presented by the people from the vales of Agasthyarkoodam. They chose a number of brinjals next and put them inside.
Well ahead of Onam, the group comprising 83 people from 17 tribal settlements arrived at the Kowdiar Palace on Tuesday morning to present the boons of nature they harvested and handmade artifacts before the royal family members.
Inside the palace, Pooyam Thirunal Gouri Parvathy Bai and Aswathy Thirunal Gouri Lakshmi Bai gave them a wholehearted welcome. They exchanged pleasantries until Uthradom Thirunal arrived a few minutes later.
The group was all smiles over getting a jeep to the settlement at Cherumankal last month from the government for common use, which happened as a result of the intervention from the royal family. “Until receiving the vehicle, we travelled on foot to reach the ‘nearest’ town 22 kilometres away. Even children had to travel in this way to reach school. But the transport facility alone does not satisfy our needs as we have bad roads,” said Villan Kani, one of the members of the team.
From nonagenarian Mallan Kani to one-and-a-half-year old Soorya Gayathri, all sought blessings from Uthradom Thirunal. Whereas, the senior members of the team blessed him back. They happily sang songs and shared their joys and sorrows. Kids were overwhelmed with joy on receiving toffees and biscuits from the royal family members.
The group members had also paid their respects at the memorial of Karthika Thirunal Lakshmi Bai and ‘Panchavadi’ on the palace premises as a custom before getting inside. The group also visited Padmanabha Swamy Temple and the ‘Arattu kadavu’ at Shangumugham beach before returning to their places.
The visit was organised by Mundany Madan Thampuran Temple at Kottoor.
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