THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic threat, lakhs of devotees will take part in the holy pongala - the annual ritual of the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple - from their homes on Saturday. Every year around 20 to 25 lakh devotees take part in the pongala festival.
However, this time the temple authorities have decided to scale down the festival rituals by confining the pongala ritual to temple premises and asking the devotees to offer the ritual at their homes to avoid crowding. This is the first time in history the Attukal Pongala is being held as a mere ritual.
The pongala will be offered only on the main traditional hearth on temple premises. The chief priest will light up the hearth at 10.50 am while the devotees will offer pongala at their homes. At 3.40 pm the priest would sprinkle the holy water in the pongala offering.
Temple trust president Anil Kumar said there will be announcements within the five kilometre radius of the temple to sensitise the public on Covid-19 protocols. He said the police have also launched announcements to ensure that nobody offers pongala at public places.
Holiday in T’Puram
On account of Attukal Pongala festival the district collector Navjot Singh Khosa has declared holiday in Thiruvananthapuram for all educational institutions, public/government sector institutions on Saturday.
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