Thousands of women in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram offered ‘Attukal Pongala’ to the Attukal Bhagavathy, the goddess of Attukal, at the temple. Not just on the temple premises, the women devotees offered Pongala across the city. Devotees from foreign countries had also come to Thiruvananthapuram to be a part of this festival.
There were Covid-induced restrictions for the last two years and women were offering Pongala in their homes.
Braving the scorching heat, women offered Pongala with great devotion and makeshift brick hearths were put up for miles from the temple.
The rituals began at 10.30 am on Tuesday when the “Pandara Aduppu" at the Attukal bhagavathy temple was lit. Soon, the thousands of makeshift stoves were lit by the devotees. The offering is basically a sweet pudding with rice, jaggery, coconut, ghee and banana. At 2.30 pm, the sanctification took place and then women started returning to their homes.
All security arrangements were put in place by police, the fire department and the health department along with several volunteer organisations to ensure the Pongala ritual goes well without any untoward incident. In view of the humid weather, the health department asked devotes to keep hydrating themselves by drinking water.
After the conclusion of the Pongala, the sanitation workers of the local corporation cleaned the city.
Read all the Latest India News here