President Droupadi Murmu becomes the first woman Head of State to visit Sabarimala
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 arrived in Pamba in a special convoy around 11 am, washed her feet in the Pampa River, and offered prayers at nearby temples, including the Lord Ganapati 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 PS 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 Kerala government-controlled Travancore Devaswam Board (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 returned 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.
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