A hundred-year-old woman from Wayanad in Kerala made her maiden visit to the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple on Monday.
Parukuttyamma of Moonnanakuzhi in Wayanad made her maiden pilgrimage to the hill shrine along with her grandson and his children. Despite the heavy rush of pilgrims, the temple authorities made special arrangements for the centenarian to climb the 18 holy steps leading to the temple without any crowding and also arranged a special darshan for her. She was also honoured by draping a shawl.
Parukuttyamma, born in 1923, said that though she wished to visit the temple during her childhood, that did not happen. Hence, she decided to visit the temple after the age of 100.
She said that apart from praying for the well-being of all those who helped her have darshan at the hill shrine at this old age, she also prayed to the lord to stop the Israel-Palestine conflict as her grandson's wife is working in Israel.
Parukuttyamma started the pilgrimage from her house on December 2. On the way, the family visited some other temples as well. She used the dolly service to climb the trekking path from Pamba to Sannidhanam.
The Sabarimala temple, which opened for a two-month-long pilgrimage in November, is now witnessing a heavy rush of pilgrims.
Published 05 December 2023, 18:14 IST