THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The bricks, abandoned by devotees after the Pongala festival at the Attukal Temple, is turning out to be a blessing for the homeless in the city. The bricks which were gathered from the pongala held in the previous year were distributed to 13 beneficiaries under the LIFE scheme. So far, eight houses have been completed. The initiative by the city corporation was started last year aimed at collecting and reusing the bricks left over by devotees, to construct houses for the poor. 

The devotees abandon lakhs of bricks after Pongala every year across the city. "Last year the corporation collected around 1.5 lakh bricks after the festival. As it was not feasible to collect the leftover bricks from the entire region due to lack of employees, the officials focused on East Fort to Kowdiar region," said Mayor VK Prasanth. 

Earlier, the bricks abandoned by the devotees were either taken away by locals or by brick vendors who would then resell the bricks to the customers at double the price. Each new brick costs around D10 in the local market. The mayor said the project had not only helped the poor to realise their life-long dream of building their own house but also kept the city clean after the festival. 

Even though the corporation conducted massive cleaning drives after the Pongala season in the previous years, most of the cleanliness focused on removing other waste rather than bricks. However, last year, the staff was assigned to collect the bricks," said Prasanth. 

According to a health officer, several beneficiaries from 100 wards in the corporation were distributed the procured bricks. Women from various parts of the state and outside prepare pongala in earthen or metal pots as an offering to Attukal Devi, the presiding deity of the Attukal Temple, in a brick stove. 

The ritual is performed with the participants lining up on either side of the roads in the city.

Brick to home
 The devotees abandon lakhs of bricks after Attukal Pongala across the city every year
 Out of 13 beneficiaries who were distributed the bricks last year, eight of them have completed their house construction
  Usually bricks would be either taken away by locals or by brick vendors who would then resell them