THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thousands of women offered ‘pongala’ at Karikkakom Sree Chamundi Devi Temple in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. Devotees lit the ‘pongala’ hearths soon after Puliannur Illathu Narayanan Anujan Namboothiripad, the temple ‘thantri’, lit the ‘pandara aduppu’ at 10.15 am.
The number of women participating in the festival has gone up compared to the past years, temple officials said. Pongala offerings stretched beyond 4-5km from the temple premises. At 2.15 pm, the ceremonial sword of the Devi was brought to the ‘pandarakkalam’ in a ritual procession, and the ‘pongala tharpanam’ was performed. As many as 150 priests sprinkled holy water on the hearths set up near the temple.
The festival concluded with gurusi by bringing the ceremonial sword to the Gurusikkalam after the athazha pooja. The temple will open on Monday only at 7.30 am. The seven-day festival, which began on March 26, came to a close on Sunday. The pongala festival is conducted annually on Makam day in the Malayalam month of ‘Meenam’, which is considered the birth star of the goddess.