President Droupadi Murmu offered prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala on Wednesday. She arrived at Pamba in a special convoy around 11 am, where she washed her feet in the Pampa river before offering prayers at the nearby temples, including the Lord Ganapathy shrine. Subsequently, the melshanthi (head priest) of the Ganapathy temple, Vishnu Namboothiri, prepared Murmu's sacred bundle, or irumudikkettu. The President was wearing a black saree.
District officials confirmed that the President's ADC Saurabh S Nair, PSO Vinay Mathur, and son-in-law Ganesh Chandra Hombram also prepared sacred bundles. Following this, they offered coconuts at a stone wall near the temple and, holding their sacred bundles on their heads, boarded special four-wheel drive vehicles.
These vehicles transported them to the Sannidhanam via the 4.5-km-long Swami Ayyappan Road and the traditional trekking route to the Lord Ayyappa shrine.
At Sannidhanam, she ascended the 18 holy steps to reach the shrine, where she was greeted by state Devaswom Minister VN Vasavan and Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president PS Prasanth. The temple Tantri, Kandararu Mahesh Mohanaru, received her with a poorna kumbha (traditional welcome).
At the shrine, she performed darshan (viewing) of Lord Ayyappa with the sacred bundle on her head. The President and her team then placed their sacred bundles on the steps of the shrine, and the melshanti took their irumudikkettu for pooja (worship). After completing her darshan at adjacent temples, including Malikappuram, the President returned to the TDB guesthouse for lunch and a rest. TDB officials confirmed that there were restrictions on darshan for general devotees during the President's visit.
President Murmu is the first woman Head of State to visit the Lord Ayyappa shrine at Sabarimala to offer prayers. She is also the second President to visit the shrine, following former President VV Giri, who visited in the 1970s and travelled to the shrine in a dolly (palanquin).
She arrived at Pamba by road from the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Pramadam, where she had landed by helicopter at 8.40 am. She was greeted at Pramadam by Vasavan, Pathanamthitta MP Anto Antony, and others. The President's convoy had departed from the Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram for the airport at 7.25 am.
After the Sabarimala darshan, she is due to return to Thiruvananthapuram in the evening. On Thursday, she will unveil a bust of former President KR Narayanan at the Raj Bhavan. Later, she will inaugurate the Mahasamadhi Centenary celebrations of Sree Narayana Guru at the Sivagiri Mutt in Varkala and attend the valedictory function of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of St Thomas College in Pala, Kottayam district.
President Murmu will conclude her Kerala visit on October 24 by attending the centenary celebrations of St Teresa's College in Ernakulam. Murmu arrived in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday evening for the four-day official visit, where she was welcomed at the international airport by Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, other public representatives, and senior officials.
Also read: President Murmu’s chopper sinks at Pramadam helipad
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