In the holy city of Qum, while giving lecture, His Eminence Imam Khomeini would sit on the floor and teach.
After a while, because the number of theology students had increased and they (the students) wanted to see him and hear his voice clearly, they insisted that he should sit on the pulpit and deliver his lecture.
I believe that he agreed with this demand after the demise of Supreme Ayatollah Boroujerdi (the most senior and respected Shiite theologian).
I remember (out of deep reverence for the late Ayatollah Boroujerdi) the Imam did not sit on the pulpit while the Supreme Ayatollah (Boroujerdi) was still alive.
I attended the Imam’s lecture on the first day he sat atop the pulpit which he devoted entirely to giving advices and recommendations.
The first words he spoke after saying ‘Bismillah’ (in the Name of Allah) were these:
“The late Mr. Naeini (a renowned Shiite scholar) – may he receive Allah’s Mercy – cried on the first day that he sat atop the pulpit to begin his lesson and remarked that it was the same pulpit on which Sheikh Ansari (an outstanding Shiite theologian) had sat on and wanted to know whether it was now his turn to sit on top of that pulpit!”
That’s how the Imam started his first session on the pulpit. He then went on to give advice to the seminary students and enlighten them on their critical mission.
Narrated by: Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, Iranian Supreme Leader
Taken from: Impressions from Imam Khomeini’s Memoirs, vol. 5, chapter 7, pp. 180 & 181