N.K. Soumyavathi Thampuratti, a member of the erstwhile Cochin royal family from Vayaskara Illam, was presented with the traditional Uthrada Kizhi on Tuesday. The Uthrada Kizhi is a customary gesture of respect extended by the government to members of former royal families on Uthradam, the day before Onam. Assembly Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan presented the Kizhi, containing ₹1,001, to her at a ceremony held at Vayaskara Kovilakam while District Collector Chetan Kumar Meena presented her with the Onakkodi. Kottayam municipal chairman M.P. Santhosh Kumar, municipal councillor Leena Jayachandran, tehsildar Cyril Sanju George, deputy tehsildar P.G. Kavitha and village officer Jeboy Mathew were also present.

The annual tradition dates back to a pre-Independence practice, when the Maharaja of Cochin gifted the women of his family money to purchase Onakkodi — the new clothes traditionally worn during Onam. Following the merger of the Travancore and Cochin states, the practice was formalised as an endowment known as the Travancore-Cochin State Charities-Sree Rama Varma Endowment-Uthrada Payment, with the government assuming responsibility for the annual payment.

The endowment amount is allocated each year from the Thrissur district treasury and sent to the Kottayam taluk office, from where it is delivered to the eligible member of the former royal family.