Lakhs of devotees partake in Attukal Pongala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:A festive mood prevailed in the capital on Friday as lakhs of women poured in to partake in the Attukal Pongala.The rituals began at the Attukal Devi temple when tantri Thekkedathu Parameswaran Vasudevan Bhattathiripad handed over the lighted lamp to melsanthi Vamanan Namboodiri at the sanctum sanctorum at 10.15 am.

The melsanthi then lit the hearth at the thidapalli, the temple kitchen, and handed over the lamp to his co-priest P V Kesavan Namboodiri.To the accompaniment of drum beats and devotees’ loud chants, the latter lit the pandara aduppu, a special hearth set up in front of the temple, marking the start of the ritual.
Within minutes, lakhs of devotees in different parts of the city lit their hearths to cook the pongala, the favourite sweet porridge of the goddess.

The line of devotees extended up to a 10-km radius of the temple except on the side of the Killi river. As per tradition, pongala offering is banned on the other side of the river.The nivedyam ritual, sanctification of the offering, was held at 2.45 pm. Priests deployed by the temple sanctified devotees’ offerings on the temple premises and nearby areas by pouring holy water. At other places, priests of local temples performed the ritual.

Various organisations, auto and taxi workers offered food, drinking water and medical assistance to the devotees. Southern Railway conducted special services and offered additional stoppages for daily trains for the sake of devotees. KSRTC too ran hundreds of special services.Chooralkuthu as part of the Kuthiyottam ritual associated with the festival was held at 7.45 pm. More than 900 boys participated in the ritual this year. After the chooralkuthu, the boys dressed up as soldiers of the goddess marched in a ceremonial procession to the nearby Sastha temple.

Attukal Pongala, recognised by the Guinness World Records as the largest congregation of women on earth, had more participants than the previous year, according to temple office-bearers.The 10-day Pongala festival will conclude on Saturday.