Today is the close of a 10-day annual festival in honor of Bhagavathi (the mother goddess of the Malayali Hindus). The Attukal Pongala is celebrated every year at the Attukal Bhagavathy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, and is the largest woman-only gathering in the world (around 1.5 million in 2006 and expected to grow this year).

Devotees offering pongala at the Attukal Bhagavathy
temple in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.
Photo: S. Gopakumar

“A sea of women on Saturday made holy offerings of freshly cooked rice, coconut and jaggery to a Hindu deity in what the Guinness Book of World Records says is the largest gathering of women on earth. Millions of women devout prayed to Attukal Devi, the reigning deity of the Bhagawathy Temple here, to fulfill their wishes. “I have been coming for consecutive years and this is due to the blessings of Amma (Mother Goddess). I have also vowed to come here and offer prayers for the years to come,” said Chippi, a Malayalam film actress.”

The world “Pongala” means “to boil over” and aptly describes the tens of thousands of cooking pots offering up boiled rice and other delicacies to the goddess. The climax of the ritual on the ninth day is the ceremonial lighting of hearths for these offerings.

“At 10.45 a.m., the temple priests lit the ceremonial hearth in front of the temple amid chanting of devotional hymns, fireworks, Panchavadyam and chendamelam. This provided a signal for thousands of devotees right across the city to light up their hearths to prepare various kinds of naivedyam, the offering to the deity. Public address systems also relayed the cue to the pilgrims. A huge pall of smoke rose over the city.”

The festival ends tonight after a statue of the goddess returns from a procession to the the Sree Dharma Sastha temple at Manacaud.

Tags: Attukal Pongala, Bhagavathi, goddess, Hinduism, India