Thiruvananthapuram: Several women devotees gathered here to participate in the sacred ritual of 'Pongala' on Sunday. The ritual is considered to be one of the largest religious gatherings of women in the world.
During the ritual, makeshift brick stoves were lined up on the roads for several kilometres in the city and women were seen preparing offerings to honour the presiding deity of the famous Attukal Bhagavathy temple. The rituals began with the chief priest lighting the main hearth (Pandara Aduppu) near the shrine at around 10.40 am.
Women prepared 'Pongala', which is a mixture of rice, jaggery, and scraped coconut, in fresh earthen pots by lining up on either side of the roads around the shrine. The ritual featured in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2009 as the largest single-day religious gathering of women wherein 2.5 million participated.
Women have been arriving here since Thursday to select good spots for setting up their brick hearths to prepare 'Pongala'. The 'Pongala' ritual marks the finale of a 10-day ritual at the shrine.
Preparing 'Pongala' is considered an auspicious all-women ritual undertaken during the annual festival of the Attukal temple. It is also known as the 'Women's Sabarimala'.
According to local legends, the festival commemorates the hospitality accorded by women in the locality to Kannagi, the divine incarnation of the protagonist of the Tamil epic 'Silappadhikaram' while she was on her way to avenge the injustice meted out to her husband Kovalan, after destroying Madurai city.
This year's 'Pongala' has hit the headlines for another reason. The churches have rescheduled their worship timings on Sunday to accommodate the huge rush of devotees expected to turn up on the day to celebrate the festival. Also, some churches will open their grounds and some of their buildings for women celebrating the 'Pongala'.
The Kerala government's Suchitwa Mission has issued a set of green protocols in order to ensure that the festival is celebrated in a safe and clean manner.
Read more
