Once a queen surrounded by the trappings of royalty, octogenarian Appamma Kajjallappa now lives in penury here, with the palace she used to stay in being donated by her family to run a school and the lady having no means of income or government pension.

"I might have once been a queen, but am now a very poor person with no income. The government has to help me," says the sprightly 80-year-old. The third wife of King Venkateswara Ettappa Raja of Kollapatti in Virudhunagar district, she says the family donated the main portion of the palace for a school in her husband's name after a request by locals.