Queen Elizabeth’s Bengaluru connection

Elizabeth II, late Queen of the United Kingdom during her reign of 70 years and 214 days visited the then Bangalore, capital city of Mysuru state with her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh in 1961. The visit coincided with the 150th anniversary of the formation of the Bible Society of India and Ceylon as Bangalore happened to be the headquarters.

Warm welcome at the airport: Jayachamrajendra Wadiyar, hitherto the Maharaja of Mysuru princely state and later taking over as the Governor of the independent Indian state welcomed the royal couple at the airport on behalf of the state government. The Maharaja presented the queen with a bouquet while the Mayor representing the city garlanded the Prince.

Hindi translation presented: To commemorate the occasion of the 150th anniversary celebrations of setting up of the Bible Society of India and Ceylon, the queen was presented with a copy of Hindi translation of the Bible. It was then pronounced that Hindi was one of the 125 languages in which the Bible was read in India.

A favorite holiday place: Bangalore located 3,000 feet above the sea level was not just praised by the Britishers’ for its enjoyable climate as a hill town but over a period of time the bustling city had transformed itself into a favorite holiday place as well. As has been the case ever since the city came into being to all those coming to Bangalore making Lal Bagh a must visit, it was no exception to the royal couple either.

Queen plants a sapling: The royal couple went around the city in a motorcade to visit the Lal Bagh, dubbed as the finest botanical gardens in the entire country even in those times. By planting a sapling Her Majesty commemorated the visit. She then goes around the picturesque place to experience the beauty first hand.

Woman presents a Mango: While on a round to various stalls to showcase the paradise of fruits and to her surprise a woman presents her with a Mango fruit, which she politely accepts. The visit to the Horticulture show befitting her visit at Lal Bagh turned out the visit to Mysore one of the pleasant memories according to the Queen.

Public reception at Vidhana Soudha: The royal couple was also accorded a public reception at the Banquet Hall of the stone marvel Vidhana Soudha. Earlier, during the day the royals had their photos snapped, standing before the Vidhana Soudha, reminisces N Jagannath Prakash, veteran journalist and former bureaucrat. He is also reminded of his legendary journalist father G Narayanswamy also in possession of one such photograph. A Kannada film on the Queen’s visit: The King and Queen also made it a point to visit another favorite hill station, Nandi Hills on the outskirts of the city during their short journey.

Interesting it may look; later a Kannada film by the title ‘Kurabara Lakkanu Elizabeth Raniu’ was released during the early seventies wherein a village lad comes to Bangalore in order to have a glimpse of the Queen.

-Manohar Yadavatti