Lakhs of devotees to offer Pongala today

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Lakhs of women will take part in the annual Pongala offering at the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple on Friday. The temple has been witnessing a huge rush of devotees ever since the start of the festival on February 23.

The pongala ritual will start with lighting of the pongala hearths at 10.15 am on Friday. Sanctification of the pongala will be held at 2.30 pm. Chooralkuthu ritual associated with kuthiyottam ritual will be held at 7.45 pm and the ceremonial procession at 11.15 pm. Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran visited the temple on Thursday morning to review the arrangements. He said the Kuthiyottam ritual will be held in more grandeur than the previous year.

Responding to the controversy over the ritual, he said: “It need not be debated now. The allegation of child abuse is to be examined in detail. This year the kuthiyottam ritual has more participants than the previous year. Also, the number of boys participating in the ritual is up from last year. The temple office-bearers have taken all efforts to make the  festival a success. Let us all work for that.”    

This year, devotees had started booking spots on the temple premises and footpaths to set up hearths much earlier. Several women are camping on the temple premises since Tuesday night.Besides, the police and Fire and Rescue Services and the officers of different government departments have been deployed in the festival area to take care of the devotees’ needs.Police have deployed 4,200 personnel in the city. Drone surveillance, women commando wing and CCTV surveillance are among the arrangements made by the police.