Lakshadweep administrator offers prayers at Sabarimala

Sabarimala (Kerala), Jan 17 (PTI) Lakshadweep administrator Praful Patel on Saturday visited the Sabarimala temple and offered prayers, officials said.

Patel reached Nilakkal by helicopter from Kochi in the morning and later proceeded to the Pamba Ganapathy Temple, where he performed the customary rituals before trekking up the hill on foot.

He was accompanied by Lakshadweep Collector Girishankar, Daman Collector Saurabh Mishra and the administrator's friend Harshad Kumar Patel, a Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) statement said.

The administrator was received at the Sannidhanam (temple complex) under the leadership of Sabarimala Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Arun S Nair.

He climbed the sacred 18 steps and offered prayers to Lord Ayyappa and the subsidiary deities, and also visited the adjacent Malikappuram temple, it said.

After resting at the government guest house at Sannidhanam and having lunch, Patel descended the hill, officials said, adding that this was his first visit to the Sabarimala shrine.

He had visited the Guruvayur temple about one-and-a-half years ago, the TDB statement added. PTI LGK KH