THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thousands of devotees thronged Attukal Devi Temple on Monday morning to offer prayers, as the Attukal Pongala festival has begun. The ten-day event took off on a high note, accompanied by hymns and rhythms of devotion.
The festival started with the temple ‘thantri,’ Vasudevan Parameshwaran Bhattathiri, handing over the sword of the goddess to the temple priest Arunkumar Nampoothiri after embellishing the idol with bangles (‘kappu’) as part of the traditional ritual of ‘kappukettu’, which was held at 10.30 am. ‘Chendamelam’ and ‘Panchavadyam’ added more fervour to the crescendo of prayers.
The other major ritual, ‘kudiyiruthu’ was followed by singing the stories of Kannagi through ‘thottan pattu’ led by G Madhu. From early morning itself, umpteen devotees flocked to the temple for a hassle-free ‘darshan’. Special arrangements have been made by the Temple Trust for the convenience of devotees.
Speaking to ‘City Express’, Girija Kumari Amma, vice-president, Attukal Temple Trust, said that all arrangements had been made for the comfort of the devotees. “Unlike previous years, we sought more police deployment this time considering the huge rise in the number of devotees. However, we have increased the facilities with special counters, ‘pandals’ and new parking lots,” she said.
The Pongala offering ritual, the largest congregation of women in the world, will be held on February 23, the ninth day of the festival. The festival will conclude with the ‘Guruthi tharpanam’ ritual on February 24.
Corp’s ‘Ammakkoru Steel Glass Programme’
The City Corporation is also coming up with a new initiative, ‘Ammakkoru steel glass programme’ jointly with Suchitwa Mission, district administration and Food and Safety Department. As part of which, the Corporation will collect steel utensils from residents to replace disposable items through special counters. The steel items will be handed over to the devotees for use during the ‘annadanam’ (complementary meals) and other purposes.
Counters
The counters are at: Ganapathy Temple, Thampanoor; Control Room near Attukal Temple; near Manacaud Veliyapally; near Palayam Church; Thiruvallom Parasurama Temple; Udiyannoor Devi Temple; Poojappura Mandapam; Karamana Muthuraman Temple; Elamkavil Temple, Medical College; Mahadevar Temple, Kazhakkoottam; Venpalavattom Temple; Karikkakom Devi Temple; and Palayam Hanuman Temple.
Special cell
The City Corporation has formed a special cell and its contact number is 9496434434.
Control on use of loudspeakers
District Collector Biju Prabhakar had earlier advised the organisers and devotees against the misuse of loudspeakers during the Pongala festival.
The use of loudspeakers must be controlled between 10 pm and 6 am to avoid noise pollution.
Under the Noise Pollution Regulation and Control Rules, sounds exceeding the level of 75 decibels are not allowed during this time.
The Pollution Control Board also asked the devotees not to litter or pollute water bodies like the Killi River.
