THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The district collector has declared holiday in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday on account of Attukal Pongala festival. All educational institutions and government/public sector institutions will remain closed on the day.
Lakhs of women will offer pongala to Attukalamma, the deity of famed Attukal Devi temple, known as the Sabarimala of women. Attukal Temple Trust Secretary K. Sisupalan Nair said that all arrangements have been made for the annual pongala event. About 40 lakh women are expected to offer Pongala on the occasion.

The pongala will begin at 10.15 a.m. Before that there will be Punyaham (purification) ceremony at 9:45 am. The pongala fire will be lit by Thantri Thekkedathu Kuzhikkattu Parameswaran Vasudevan Bhattathirippadu from Sreekovil and handed over to head priest Vishnu Namboothiri, who will lit the fire at the hearth at Valiya thidapalli. Assistant priest will lit the hearth at Small Thidapally and from here fire will be lit at Pandaram hearth. It is the fire from this that we be spread to all other pongala hearths of devotees within 5.5km radius of the temple.

Sanctification ceremony of Pongala offerings will be at 2.15 p.m. In the evening, the deity idol will be taken in a procession on the tusker ‘Cherpulassery Ananthapadmanabhan’. 815 ‘Kuthiyottam’ kids will accompany the procession. Kuthiyottam will begin at 7:30 in the night and procession will begin from temple at 11:15 night. The organizers have asked the public to avoid plastic and strictly implement ‘green protocol’.

Trust Chairman K. Sasidharan Nair, President V. Chandrasekhara Pillai, Vice President P.K. Krishnan Nair, Join Secretary M.A. Ajith Kumar, Treasurer V. Ayyappankumar and Publicity Convenor V. Sobha were present in the press meeting.

Pongala in America and Britain

Malayali organizations in America and Britain will offer pongala to Attukalamma. The organizers in these countries have informed the temple trust about this. The temple trust will hand over ‘Mangala Certificates’ to them. Malayali organizations in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra, and Delhi will also conduct pongala.