President Droupadi Murmu offers prayers at Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala

President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday (October 22) offered prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Kerala's Sabarimala, becoming the first woman head of state to visit the revered shrine.

She is also only the second president to visit the temple, the first being V V Giri, who visited in the 1970s and travelled to the hill shrine in a dolly.

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Murmu's irumudikkettu

The President arrived at Pamba in a special convoy around 11 am, where she washed her feet in the Pampa river and offered prayers at nearby temples, including the Lord Ganapathy shrine.

At the Kettunira Mandapam, the melshanthi (chief priest) of the Ganapathy temple, Vishnu Namboothiri, filled her sacred bundle or irumudikkettu at the 'Kettunira Mandapam'.

Dressed in a black saree, the President was accompanied by her ADC Saurabh S Nair, PSO Vinay Mathur, and son-in-law Ganesh Chandra Hombram, all of whom also received their sacred bundles, district officials said in a statement.

The group then performed the ritual of throwing coconuts at the stone wall near the temple before proceeding to the Sannidhanam in four-wheel drive vehicles along the 4.5-km-long Swami Ayyappan Road and the traditional trekking route to the Lord Ayyappa shrine.

Dharshan at Sannidhanam

At the Sannidhanam, President Murmu climbed the 18 holy steps leading to the sanctum sanctorum, where she was received by 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 irumudikkettu on her head. The President and her team placed their sacred bundles on the steps of the shrine and the temple’s melshanthi then took the sacred bundles for pooja.

After completing her prayers at adjacent temples, including Malikappuram, the President returned to the TDB guesthouse for lunch and rest.

During the President's visit, restrictions were imposed on darshan by devotees, TDB officials said.

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Four-day official visit to Kerala

President Murmu arrived at Pamba by road from the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium at Pramadam, where her helicopter landed at 8.40 am. She was received by Minister Vasavan, Pathanamthitta MP Anto Antony, and other senior officials.

Her convoy had earlier departed from Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram for the airport at 7.25 am. After the Sabarimala visit, she will return to the state capital in the evening.

Murmu arrived in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday (October 21) evening for the four-day official visit, where she was welcomed at the international airport by Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, other dignitaries, and senior state officials.

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President's public engagements

On Thursday (October 23), President Murmu will unveil a bust of former President K R 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, Pala, in Kottayam district.

The President will conclude her Kerala visit on October 24 by attending the centenary celebrations of St Teresa’s College in Ernakulam.

(With agency inputs)