THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The culmination of the iconic annual Attukal Devi temple festival was celebrated on Thursday as a low-key affair with devotees offering pongala in strict compliance with the Covid protocol and instruction by the state government at their houses. The pongala ceremony — which is normally attended by lakhs of devotees — was limited to the ‘pandara aduppu’ (the main hearth) on the temple premises with fewer devotees attending it.
Making it a close-knit affair, city residents celebrated the festival and offered pongala on the premises of their apartments, homes, institutions and even offices but expressed the hope that they would be able to do it in a grand manner as in the past. Lakshmi Raj, an employee who was seen offering pongala in front of her workplace, expressed happiness for being able to do it even amid the pandemic. “A large number of people are sad for not being able to offer pongala in the traditional way. But I am happy that we were able to do it today,” she said.
Mini and micro clusters of devotees were seen offering pongala in many parts of the city. Festive mood prevailed at households, as all family members came together irrespective of gender and age taking part in the ceremonial pongala and other offerings. “Traditionally, pongala is offered by women. Since it is now being observed at the households, men are also able to take part,” said Gopalakrishna Pillai, a resident who was seen helping with the pongala preparations of his family members.
The restrictions on the celebrations came as a boon for police personnel as they were not assigned for special duties on the pongala day. A bunch of police personnel at Vanchiyoor police station were seen offering pongala on the station premises. “We always offer pongala at the station. Even if we all are on duty, we spare at least one person to prepare pongala. We also welcome common people to offer pongala on our premises. Normally, the Attukal temple festival is one of the busiest times of the year for the police force here. We all would be on duty but this year we are spared as all are celebrating it at home,” said Bindu A, a police personnel.
The mood was totally different on apartment premises as the entire community came together following strict the Covid protocol and took part in the ceremony by preparing traditional sweet delicacies and pongala. “We have been offering pongala for many years on the premises of our apartment complex. It’s the time of the year when friends and family come together. For youngsters, it’s a time to get together and have fun. We prepare desserts on the eve of the Attukal festival. Now it’s not like before because of the pandemic,” said Diya Ann Jose, a resident of Vrindavan Garden near Pattom.
Unlike other years, the apartment and residents’ associations in the city had come up with strict rules to ensure the Covid protocol was followed. “Our residents used to invite friends and relatives to offer pongala on the apartment premises. We decided not to do that to avoid crowding. Before the pandemic, we used to have more than 134 pongalas on our premises but this year we have only 24 hearths,” said Indu Prakash, president of the residents’ association at Vrindavan Garden.
City residents avoided going to the temple on Thursday and micro clusters were seen in some of the residential areas. “For the past seven years, we have been offering pongala here. This year too, all our close relatives came to offer pongala here. It’s a very special occasion for my family. Unlike other years, we cut down visits to the Attukal temple during the festival because of the pandemic situation,” said Rani Anil, a resident. Sreena Sreekumar, another resident, was seen offering pongala on the road right in front of her office-cum-house near Vanchiyoor. “We normally offer pongala on the Vanchiyoor court premises but this year, they did not allow it,” said Sreena, who is an advocate.