In a moment steeped in tradition and transformation, President Droupadi Murmu became the first woman head of state to offer prayers at the revered Sabarimala temple on October 22, 2025.

Her visit, part of a four-day official tour of Kerala, comes years after the Supreme Court’s landmark 2018 ruling that lifted the ban on women of menstruating age entering the shrine.

Dressed in the customary black saree, President Murmu followed the pilgrimage rituals with reverence: washing her feet in the Pampa river, participating in the Kettunira ceremony, and carrying the sacred Irumudi bundle on her head as she ascended the 18 holy steps to the sanctum sanctorum.

Welcomed by temple priests and state officials, Murmu’s darshan of Lord Ayyappa was both personal and political—a quiet assertion of fai

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