THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Feb 25: The Pongala festival was held at the Attukal temple
in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. The lighting of the stove called 'Pandara Aduppu'
by the chief priest marked the beginning of pongala, signalling tens of thousands
of women sitting lined on either side of the streets all along the city with
their earthen pots on bricks and fuelwood used as stove to follow the ritual
of cooking the offering called nivedyam for the Goddess.
Attukal Pongala is a festival of religious rituals performed by women in the
Attukal temple at Thiruvananthapuram once every year.
Pongala in Malayalam refers to boiling of rice on the occasion. In the ritual,
women prepare payasam (a pudding of rice, jaggery and plantains) in pots they
bring along as an offering to appease Goddess ‘Bhagavathy’.
The cooking is done on the streets as the crowds of performing devotees will
swell and overflow onto the roads.
This is probably the largest congregation of women in the world. A festive
fervour fills the Capital city of Thiruvananthapuram on the occasion.
