President Murmu Offers Prayers at Sabarimala Temple
Officials from the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) have stated that all arrangements for President Murmu's visit to Sabarimala are in place
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: President Droupadi Murmu offered prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala on Wednesday morning. President Murmu arrived at Pamba in a special convoy. She symbolically washed her feet in the Pampa river and offered prayers at nearby temples, including the Lord Ganapathy shrine. Chief Priest Vishnu Namboothiri prepared the sacred twin bundle, or "irumudikkettu" , for the President at the Kettunira Mandapam of the Ganapathy temple. Irumudikkettu is carried by Ayyappa devotees to the temple.
The President was dressed in a black saree for the temple visit. Along with the President, her ADC Saurabh S Nair, PSO Vinay Mathur, and son-in-law Ganesh Chandra Hombram also received their sacred bundles. After the traditional rituals, they threw coconuts at the stone wall near the temple. They carried the irumudikkettu (bundles) on their heads and departed in special Four Wheel Drive vehicles along the 4.5 km Swami Ayyappan Road.
At Sannidhanam, President Murmu climbed the 18 holy steps to the shrine. She was welcomed by Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan and Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president P S Prasanth. The temple's chief priest, Kandraru Mahesh Mohanaru, received her with a poorna kumbha.
President Murmu had darshan of Lord Ayyappa, carrying the sacred irumudikettu on her head. Along with others, she placed the irumudikkettu on the steps of the shrine for pooja performed by the Malshanthi,
The president later visited nearby temples, including Malikappuram, before returning to the TDB guest house for lunch. She is the second president to visit the famous hill shrine after former President V V Giri, who visited the temple in the 1970s.
The flow of devotees to the temple was restricted during the president's visit. Earlier, President Murmu arrived at Pamba from Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium at Pramadam, where she landed by helicopter at 8.40 am. She was greeted by Vasavan, Pathamnmthitta MP Anto Antony and others. The president's convoy left for the airport from Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram at 7.25 am.