A group of students of the College of Architecture in the city were at the Pongala not for spiritual reasons but as part of academics.
Alka Renu, an eighth semester student of the college, said a group of 37 students of the college had fanned out across the city to study the Pongala festival as part of their course component on urban design.
“We have to take a city study and study every bit of it, be it roads, building, people, activities everything. So, we are focussing on all aspects of Attukal.”
The students think Attukal has the potential for expansion. However, the ecology of Attukal is deteriorating.
“The fields there are under CRZ zone. But the civic body has been dumping waste there and treating it as landfill. Now, they are trying to build on it. If that happens, a situation similar to that at East Fort will be seen here.
Before and after
The festival came at the end of the study, and the difference between Attukal when the festival happens and the rest of the year is striking in terms of people, their activities, and even interactions. “During Pongala, it feels like a different place. People are more open. But once the festival is over, people are back to their old selves.”
They are also studying the inflow and outflow of people during Pongala across the city.
Some others are mapping the density- where most people gather and so on.
“We are waiting to reach our conclusion. We have to submit it by Saturday,” says Renu, camera in hand.
