THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The famed Attukal Pongala festival, which is expected to witness the arrival of lakhs of women from various parts of Kerala, will have a colourful start on Monday. The highlight of the 10-day festival, the Pongala ritual, is scheduled to be held on March 3. The temple management and various government departments have made all arrangements to ensure smooth darshan for devotees.
The festival will begin with the kappuketti kudiyiruthal ritual at 5.30pm. There will be three deeparadhana riruals at 6.45pm, 9.15pm, and midnight, following which the sanctum will close at 1am.
Actor Mohanlal will inaugurate cultural programmes held as part of the festival at 8pm. The temple trust will present its Ambapuraskaram honour to the actor at the event. The Nandagovindam Bhajans group will perform at 10pm. Several cultural programmes will be held on the day at the Amba, Ambika and Ambalika auditoriums at the temple. The temple trust will organise annadanam at noon on all festival days.
The sale of earthen pots has picked up in the city with vendors lining up on major streets. The sale of pots, to be used for the pongala offering, will peak on the two days preceding the pongala day.
Earlier, a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had decided to deploy 5,855 police personnel for security and traffic arrangements during the festival. The police will use drones, 83 CCTV cameras and six watch towers for surveillance. A QR code-based parking system and 24-hour control room are among the arrangements made at the temple complex.
The KSRTC will operate 700 special services and 250 budget tourism services. There will be chain services of electric buses in the city and the railways have announced additional trains and stoppages on the major festival
days. The Kerala Water Authority will install 1,550 taps and 50 showers for the pilgrims. The Fire Force will deploy 51 vehicles at different centres in the city to respond to emergencies and the health department will offer ambulance service.