Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Queen of Bhutan savours State's lush green landscape

Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The capital city of God's Own Country — Kerala — has just added another name to the list of those who admire its lush greenery: the Queen of Bhutan, Ashi Dorji Wangomo Wangechuk.

On the second day of her three-day visit on Thursday, the Queen, along with her daughter Ashi Sonam Dechen Wangechuk, visited the Attukal Bhagavathy temple known for its annual `Pongala' festival. She was received with `poorna kumbham' by the temple authorities. The Queen and the Princess made offerings at the temple and received special `prasadam' from the priests.

Later, interacting with mediapersons, the Queen expressed her admiration for the lush greenery of Kerala and its capital city.

The royal entourage later left for the Kuthiramalika. The Queen spent over an hour at the palace taking in its history and architecture. Then it was time for some antiques shopping.

In the evening, the Queen called on the royal family of erstwhile Travancore at the Kowdiar Palace; this is reportedly for the first time that a member of the royal family from Bhutan is visiting the palace.

She was received by the head of the family, Uthradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma, his sister Karthika Tirunal Lakshmi Bai and other members. The Queen who arrived just after 5.30 p.m. spend more than an hour chatting with them.

Here too, the Queen reportedly spoke about how she loved the natural beauty of the places she visited. Though the Queen was scheduled to go to Kanyakumari this afternoon, the visit was later cancelled.

Shortly after she landed at the international airport here on Wednesday afternoon, the Queen had visited the Veli tourist village and took a boat ride on Veli Lake. According to State protocol officials, the Queen had an Ayurvedic massage at her hotel.

The Queen will leave for Chennai by flight on Friday afternoon and will go back to Bhutan via Kolkata.

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