Thiruvananthapuram: The famous ‘Attukal Pongala’ festival will be held today at the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple, one of the largest religious congregations at any place.
Kerala amid the growing fear of coronavirus, is about to witness the mass gathering of women devotees to prepare ‘pongala’ (sweet offering) as part of the annual festival.
On Sunday, state Health Minister K K Shailaja had confirmed five new cases of COVID-19 in Pathanamthitta. The Health Ministry has said in its bulletin that 732 persons in Kerala are under observation for Covid-19. Out of the 732 persons 648 people are at home and the rest are under observation in hospitals.
Attukal Pongala is a 10-day festival celebrated at the Attukal Temple, Thiruvananthapuram, where lakh of women devotees flock to take part in the holy ritual. They prepare a divine food of rice in earthen pots and offer it to the Goddess of the Temple.
The pongala preparation starts with the ritual called ‘Aduppuvettu’. This is the lighting of the pongala hearth (called Pandarayaduppu) placed inside the temple by the chief priest. The temple is also known as women’s Sabarimala.
