Pathanamthitta (Kerala), Oct 22 (PTI) President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday offered prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala, becoming the first woman head of state to do so.
She is only the second Indian President to visit the hill shrine, located deep in the forests of the district.
The late President V V Giri was the first to visit the temple in the 1970s and was carried part of the way in a traditional dolly due to the rough terrain.
President Murmu reached Pamba in a special convoy around 11 am, washed her feet in the Pampa river, and offered prayers at nearby temples, including the Lord Ganapathy shrine.
The melshanthi (chief priest) of the Ganapathy temple, Vishnu Namboothiri, filled the sacred bundle, or irumudikkettu, of Murmu —who was dressed in a black saree— at the Kettunira Mandapam.
Besides the President, her ADC Saurabh S Nair, PSO Vinay Mathur, and son-in-law Ganesh Hembram also prepared their sacred bundles, district officials said in a statement.
They later broke coconuts at a stone wall near the temple and, carrying their sacred bundles on their heads, boarded four-wheel-drive vehicles that took them to the Sannidhanam along the 4.5 km-long Swami Ayyappan Road and the traditional trekking path to the shrine.
At sannidhanam, President Murmu climbed the 18 holy steps to reach the sanctum, where she was greeted by State Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan and Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president P S Prasanth.
The temple tantri, Kandararu Mahesh Mohanaru, welcomed her with a ‘poorna kumbha’.
At the shrine, she performed darshan of Lord Ayyappa with the sacred bundle on her head. Later, she and her team placed their irumudikkettu on the steps, which were then taken by the melshanthi for pooja.
After completing her darshan, the President also offered prayers at the adjacent temples, including those of Vavaraswamy and Malikappuram.
Before leaving for lunch and rest at the guesthouse, Murmu was presented with an idol of Lord Ayyappa by TDB officials.
Devotee darshan was restricted during the President’s visit, according to the Board.
After lunch and a brief rest, the President left Pamba around 2.20 pm and travelled by road to the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium at Pramadam, from where she had arrived by helicopter earlier in the morning.
She is scheduled to return to Thiruvananthapuram by helicopter from Pramadam, officials said.
Murmu had earlier arrived at Pamba by road from the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium at Pramadam, where her helicopter landed at 8.40 am. She was received there by Minister Vasavan, Pathanamthitta MP Anto Antony, and other dignitaries.
The President’s convoy left the Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram for the airport at 7.25 am.
On Thursday, she will unveil a bust of former President K R Narayanan at the Raj Bhavan, inaugurate the Mahasamadhi Centenary celebrations of Sree Narayana Guru at 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.
She arrived in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday evening for a four-day official visit to the state and was welcomed at the international airport by Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, public representatives, and senior officials. PTI HMP TGB SSK HMP SSK ADB
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