Pamba, Oct 22 (IANS) President Droupadi Murmu, on her first visit to the famed Sabarimala temple in Kerala, prayed before the deity on Wednesday after arriving by road at the foothills of the temple town in Pamba and then driving up the hill.

After reaching Pamba, she took part in the rituals associated with preparing the sacred offering bundle (irumudikettu) at the Pamba Ganapathi Temple.

A while later, she, dressed in a black saree with a gold border, carried the irumudikettu on her head.

She then got into the special Gurkha jeep, bypassing the regular procedure when pilgrims walk up the hill, which normally takes an hour.

Her convoy consisted of five other vehicles, which went up the hill on the Swami Ayyappan concrete road and reached the summit.

The President was received at the Kodimaram Chuvadu (flag post area) by the chief priest, Tantri Kantar Mahesh Mohanar, who welcomed her with a poornakumbham ritual.

Then, President Murmu climbed the sacred 18 steps carrying the irumudikettu. Midway, she stopped for a few seconds on one of the steps.

She was seen immersed in prayers, standing before the deity with one hand on the irumudikettu on her head and the other on her chest.

Then the chief priest asked her to keep the bundle offering on the steps to the sanctum sanctorum. Those who accompanied her also did the same with their offerings. The chief priest prayed inside the temple, came out and gave her the sacred ‘prasadam’. Then she applied the sacred sandalwood paste on her forehead.

The President stood before the deity, prayed for a while and then walked around the temple. After the darshan, she reached the guest house at Sannidhanam to rest. She will return to Thiruvananthapuram by evening.

President Murmu thus became the second president to have prayed at the temple, after V.V. Giri visited the temple five decades ago.

Earlier in the day, President Murmu’s travel plans got changed following inclement weather, and after taking a helicopter from the state capital city, she landed at a stadium in Pramadom, Konni.

The earlier planned destination was that the helicopter would land at Nilackal, but following the inclement weather, it landed at Pramadom.

Also, contrary to the earlier plans, Kerala Governor Rajendra V. Arlekar was not on the helicopter; instead, it was State Devasom Minister V.N. Vasavan who was accompanying President Murmu.

At Pramadom, she was received by the local MP, Anto Antony, the legislators and high-ranking officials. From Pramadom, her cavalcade moved to Pamba.

Incidentally, the temple will be closed for all other pilgrims during the President’s visit and will be opened after she departs from Sabarimala.

–IANS

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