THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The pongala will be offered to Attukal Bhagavathy in the capital city soon. The roadsides and courtyards of Ananthapuri are filled with devotees. The main hearth will be lit at 10.15 am. There are more devotees this time when compared to previous years. A long queue was witnessed in the temple yesterday for darshan.

Tantri Thekkedath Parameswaran Vasudevan Bhattathiri will light the lamp from the sreekovil at 10.15 am. Melshanthi V Muraleedharan Namboothiri will then light the hearth at Valiyathidappally. Deputy melsanthi will also light the lamp in the pandara hearth. Devotees should light the hearths only after hearing the Chendamela and the announcement through the microphone. Nivedyam is at 1.15 pm. More than 300 priests will line up to sprinkle holy water. Flowers will be showered from Cessna aircraft at the time of the nivedyam.

The police have made elaborate security arrangements as part of pongala. Meantime, as part of Smart City, the corporation has requested not to put stoves in places where expensive tiles are placed. Stoves should be placed keeping a distance in view of the scorching summer. The corporation has informed that green norms should be followed completely.

Traffic restrictions have been imposed in the city since last afternoon. Mayor Arya Rajendran announced that the health department will conduct special inspections at places where drinking water and food are distributed in connection with the Attukal Pongala. The mayor has asked devotees and those distributing food and drinking water to be careful and to use steel plates, glass and steel utensils instead of single-use products that cause excessive waste generation, and to strictly follow the green protocol.