Lakhs of women offer pongala to Attukal Amma as Thiruvananthapuram turns into sea of devotees

The capital city of Kerala turned into a vast congregation as lakhs of women devotees on Tuesday assembled at the premises and along the roads leading to the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple to offer Pongala to Attukal Amma, marking one of the largest gatherings of women for a religious ritual in the world.

The women from different parts of the state and neighboring Tamil Nadu offered Pongala to diety Attukal Amma, turning the city into a sacrificial altar (Yaga Bhoomi).

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Cooking rice-jaggery mix in fresh earthen pots and offering it to the presiding goddess of the shrine is the main part of the ritual, which is recognized as the world’s largest annual gathering of women for a religious activity.

The rituals began at around 9.45 in the morning when the chief priest Aneesh Namboothiri, in the presence of Thantri Parameswaran Bhattathiripad, lit the main hearth (Pandara Adappu) near the shrine, signaling the start of the annual ritual. Soon after, women lit their own hearths and prepared the customary Pongala, a sweet pudding made of rice, jaggery, grated coconut, ghee, and banana in earthen pots.

At 2.10 pm, priests sprinkled sanctified water on the offerings arranged along city roads. By 2.25 pm, the ritual concluded with the ceremonial sanctification of the hearths, marking the end of this year’s Pongala. More than 350 priests designated by the temple carried out the sprinkling of sacred water. As in previous years, a floral shower from an aircraft accompanied the Pongala nivedyam.

Actors Chippy , Annie and Singer Rajalakshmi , who have been regular participants for the pongala for years, continued their tradition this time as well. Governor Rajendra Arlekar described Attukal Pongala as the real Kerala story .

Education Minister V Sivankutty, Civil Supplies Minister GR Anil and Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan were present on the Occasion . BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, K Muraleedharan and Mayor V V Rajesh also attended the event.

Opposition leader VD Satheesan’s daughter Unnimaya offered Pongala in front of the official residence of the Leader of the Opposition.

Former MLA Shobhana George offered Pongala praying for the health of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

AICC general secretary Deepa Das Munshi also offered Pongala. She lit her hearth at the residence of KPCC general secretary Manacaud Suresh. KPCC general secretary Deepti Mary Varghese was also present.

Though it was purely a local festival in the past, over the last few decades ‘pongala’ has become a major religious event with devotees occupying highways and by lanes in about 10-km radius around the temple to make the offering.

According to legend, Attukal Bhagavathy is believed to be the incarnation of Kannagi , the famous heroine of Chilappathikaaram, written by Tamil poet Ilanko Adikal,The legend goes that after destroying Madurai city to avenge the injustice to her husband Kovilan, Kannaki left the city and reached Thiruvananthapuram via Kanyakumari and on the way to Kodungalloor took a sojourn at Attukal. Kannaki is supposed to be the incarnation of Parvathy, the consort of ParamaSiva. The all powerful and benign Attukal Bhagavathy reigns eternally supreme at Attukal and nurses devotees, it is believed.