Thousands offer pongala to Attukal Devi

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH 9. Lakhs of women offered pongala to the Attukal Devi on Friday in an atmosphere of intense religious fervour, to mark the high point of the nine-day festival of the temple.

At 10-10 a.m., the much-awaited drum beats of the panchavadyam and thayambaka, chanting of hymn (``sarva mangale maangalye...'') and bursting of fire-crackers announced that the chief priest of the temple had lit the ceremonial hearth. Public address systems relayed the cue to the devotees to light up their hearths.

Braving the summer heat, women devotees of all castes and age began preparing the pongala to the "Goddess who never fails her believers". Within minutes, palls of smoke were billowing from a 5 sq. km area in the city as devotees started preparing various kinds of naivedyam - vella naivedyam, payasam, therali appam and mandaputtu. Several devotees offered the pongala in combinations of 51, 101 and 201 pots.

With the devotees ready with their offerings to the Goddess by afternoon, the stage was set for the "naivedyam" ceremony. At around 3-30 p.m., the chief priest of the temple offered the "naivedyam" from the ceremonial hearth to the Goddess which marked the high point of the day. Later, a team of priests fanned out in different directions to sprinkle holy water with "darbha" grass, thus marking the symbolic acceptance of the offerings.

Over the last couple of days, women devotees, of all ages and castes, had been streaming into the city to put up hearths with bricks at vantage points. The devotees came with firewood and other materials.

In proportion to the steady rise in the arrival of women devotees from all over the State and outside, the hearths had to be positioned more and more away from the temple.

By Friday morning, every conceivable space, including courtyards of houses, frontages of offices, shops and roads leading to the temple were thronged by women and their hearths.

The Government had declared Friday a local holiday. Traffic regulations were imposed along several routes. This year too, the rows of women stretched all the way to Pulimoodu on the thoroughfare and Karamana to the south.

Numerous public announcements about loss of purses, chains and anklets went on air as the flow of pilgrims picked up over the day.

Meanwhile, international interest into this unique festival, alluded to as the ``Sabarimala pilgrimage of women'', has been growing over the years. Several foreign tourists were seen moving around the temple with their cameras to capture the images. Groups of foreigners were also seen participating in pongala ceremony, many making it a point to dress in traditional attire.

A host of Government departments and voluntary organisations collaborated for the smooth conduct of the festival. The KSRTC operated special buses to the city from various places in the district, while the KSEB provided uninterrupted power supply to the festival venue. The Fire Force units were also deployed. The Railways increased number of coaches and rescheduled departure of some trains to cope with the rush of pilgrims.

A large posse of police was deployed to control the crowd and traffic was regulated along the thoroughfare as well as the route to the temple. In spite of their best efforts, traffic was thrown out of gear at several routes in the city.

Besides extending round-the-clock medical services, a host of voluntary agencies also served free refreshment to the devotees. At night, boys under 13 years of age performed the "kuthiyottam". The idol of the Devi was taken to the Manacaud Dharma Sastha temple, accompanied by "thalappoli" by a large number of girls aged below 11.

As per custom, people received the idol of the Goddess with traditional oil lamps and the "thattam naivedyam". It is only after the morning pooja at the Sastha shrine that the Devi returns to Attukal, and a `guruthi' is performed to mark the conclusion of the festival.

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