President Draupadi Murmu of India experienced a slight incident during her visit to Sabarimala. The helicopter transporting her to Kerala encountered an issue when its wheels became lodged in a depression on the newly concreted helipad at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Pramadam on Wednesday morning, according to PTI.
Television footage showed multiple police officers and fire personnel assisting in freeing the helicopter’s wheels from the small depressions formed upon landing.
A senior district police officer noted that the decision to use the stadium as the landing spot was made at the last minute, resulting in the helipad being constructed late on Tuesday.
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#WATCH | Kerala: A section of the helipad tarmac sank after a helicopter carrying President Droupdi Murmu landed at Pramadam Stadium. Police and fire department personnel on-site physically pushed the helicopter out of the sunken area. pic.twitter.com/QDmf28PqIb
— ANI (@ANI) October 22, 2025
President Murmu proceeded to Pamba by road. Her convoy arrived around 11am IST, after which she prayed at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.
She washed her feet in the Pampa river and prayed at nearby temples, including the Lord Ganapathy shrine.
Following this, the chief priest of the Ganapathy temple, Vishnu Namboothiri, prepared the sacred bundle, or ‘irumudikkettu’, for Murmu, who wore a black saree, at the ‘Kettunira Mandapam’.
