Madras gave a reception fit for a Queen in 1961

Not many know that the Queen Elizabeth II arrived in Madras decades before the much spoken about 1997 visit to the sets of actor Kamal Hassan’s film Marudhanayagam, when the city had got its new name Chennai. Thousands of people dotted the city’s roads along the 30-km route from the Madras airport in Meenambakkam to the heart of the city to give a spectacular welcome to the Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh when they set foot here. Flavour of the city Be it a long “sightseeing” drive through the city to get a glimpse of Marina, Adyar, Fort St. George and War Memorial or experiencing magic of Nadhaswaram maestro Karakurichi Arunachalam, performances by dancer-actor Vyjayanthi Mala, Padmini and Ragini and numerous folk dances, Queen Elizabeth II truly experienced different facets and flavour of the city. Mr. Cho Ramaswamy, Amrish Puri and Rajinikanth.” On Friday, actor Kamal Hassan reminisced of the Queen’s visit to the sets of Marudhanayagam and said, it was perhaps the only film shoot she attended.