Thousands Offer Pongala To Attukal Devi

Anthi lights the hearth in the temple kitchen, his co-priest lights pandara aduppu, temporary hearth set up in the temple courtyard

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @T'Puram

FED in deep devotion in the capital city, the annual pongala festival was celebrated on Thursday. Thousands of women lined up on the streets sought blessings from the goddess of Attukal by offering their favours at the temple. The rituals began with the thantri Edathu Parameswaran Bhattathiri handing a lighted lamp to melsanthi Muraleedharan Namboothiri.

The latter lit the hearth in the temple, and his co-priest lighted pandara aduppu, a temporary hearth set up in the temple courtyard. The lighting of the pandara aduppu was done by fireworks and traditional percussion orchestra. Thousands of devotees gathered at the temple premises, and the streets too lit their hearths to cook the pongala.

At 1:15 pm, the sweet porridge was offered to the favourite goddess. At 1:15 pm, the ritual ended with priests sprinkling holy water over the pots. The pongala ritual was added to the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest gathering of women.