Prince of Wales Charles and his wife Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles were given a warm welcome in Kochi on their arrival at the Nedumbassery International Airport about 1.35 p. m. by a special plane.
Minister for Excise and Ports K. Babu led the official State team that welcomed the royal couple. K. P. Dhanapalan, MP; Anwar Saddat, MLA; Chief Secretary Bharat Bhooshan and Vice-Admiral Satish Soni were among the others present at the airport to welcome the royal couple.
Prince Charles, who later visited the Kerala Folklore Museum and Theatre at Thevara described his experience there as “endless fascination”. The royal visitors were given a taste of Kathakali through the performance of Narakasuravadham by RLV Radhakrishnan and Kalamandalam Anil, who were accompanied by K.G. Vasu and Ernakulam Sharathkumar.
The Kathakali performance was followed by a show of traditional martial art form Kalaripayattu by Nettoor Kalaripyattu Sangham and a brief glimpse of Bharatnatyam by Paris Laxmi.
P. C. Vishnunath, MLA, met the British delegation to submit a proposal and seek help to revive the Kuttamperur river, 11-km branch of the Pampa-Achankovil river. The revival of the river is likely to be taken up with the help of the British High Commission.
The river has been restored to some health through the use of workers deployed under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme scheme.
