IN PICS | Thousands of women offer 'pongala' to Attukal Bhagavathy in Thiruvananthapuram

Braving the scorching sun, thousands of women devotees offered ‘Pongala’ to Attukal Bhagavathy in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

Pongala festival which witnesses the convergence of thousands of women devotees from within Kerala and outside involves the preparation of offerings on red brick hearts lining on both sides of the roads in Thiruvananthapuram city. (Photo | B P Deepu, EPS)

The women prepare Pongala payasam - a mix of rice, jaggery, scraped coconut, powdered cardamom, fried cashew nuts and raisins.

The temple’s chief priest, Goshala Vishnu Vasudevan Namboodiri, lit the hearth at the sanctum sanctorum at 10:30 am. The deputy priest then brought the fire from the Attukal temple and lit the pongala pot kept outside the temple. A total of 300 priests appointed by the temple then lit the hearth of the devotees across the capital city.

On Saturday, Thiruvananthapuram was taken over by devotees and all the roads and byroads leading to the Attukal Bhagavati Temple which was lined up with makeshift hearths ready to be lit for offering ‘pongala’.

The police department imposed traffic restrictions in the capital till 8 pm on Sunday

As many as 3,000 sanitation workers and 750 volunteers were mobilised to ensure sanitation.

Attukal pongala holds the Guinness World Record for the largest congregation of women. The ritual came to a formal conclusion with the chief priest offering the ‘Nivedyam’ to the deity of the temple at 2:30pm