Lakhs of devotees are streaming into Thiruvanantha-puram for the annual Attukal Pongala festival on Friday, which will see the world’s largest congregation of women.
Lines of open hearths to cook the ritualistic offering for the deity have been set up along a 7-8 km radius around the Attukal temple, extending into the suburbs.
Earthenwares mart
The devotees come from many parts of Kerala and neighbouring Tamil Nadu; some even fly in from abroad.
In the heart of the city and around, roadsides have been taken over by vendors of pots, pans, other earthenwares and utensils for devotees to cook the offering.
Most of these vendors are ‘Pongala regulars’ from Nagercoil and other places in Tamil Nadu who seasonally descend on Thiruvananthapuram.
Some enterprising local shops are selling ready-made Pongala packs containing practically everything that a devotee needs through the Pongala day.
Faith boils over
Sales of earthen pots and utensils start from a couple of days in advance and peak on Pongala eve, Kathiresan, an itinerant vendor from Nagercoil says.
“Some of us will clean out our inventory by the end of the day, but others struggle to sell even half the stock,” he says, pointing to earthen vessels stacked up in heaps along the main road.
Depending on the size of the inventory and the proximity to the temple, sales range from a few thousands to tens of thousands of rupees, he says.
Freshly woven ‘Kerala saris’ too have a ready market, and their sales peak as do those of rice, ghee, jaggery and condiments, which are boiled together to make the special offering.
‘Pongala’ literally means to boil over; devotees seek to appease the deity and pray for blessings for themselves, their family and the community at large.
Security stepped up
City Police Commissioner P Prakash said that more than 4,000 officers would be deployed in the city and suburbs to ensure law and order and regulate traffic. The police have also requisitioned a fleet of ambulances and marked out emergency routes to rush injured or sick people to hospitals.
A swarm of fire engines is on standby to attend to cases of fire outbreaks, if any, from the brick hearths.
The police have warned devotees against setting up their hearths in the vicinity of fuel depots or warehouses laden with inflammable material.
A quick-reaction team of women police commandos has been deployed in the temple zone. As in the past years, the police would be on call to deal with cases of missing children.