Attukal Ponkala

Attukal Bhagavathi

Every year in the Malayalam month of Kumbham (February - March) womenfolk from all over the state of Kerala will assemble in Thiruvananthapuram for a very unique ritual. They bring rice, jaggery, green gram, coconuts, earthern pots, firewood The annual 'pongala' festival at the Attukal Bhagavathy temple, popularly known as the 'Sabarimala of women', in Thiruvananthapuram, is celebrated in the Malayalam month of Kumbham (February - March). This festival is said to be the largest annual gathering of women in the world.

'Pongala' means to boil over, and it refers to the customary offering of things which pleases the goddess. Devotees from all walks of life, irrespective of their social status, religion and cast, throng the temple to offer the 'pongala'- a sweet rice, prepared in earthen pots with rice, jaggery and coconut, to the Goddess. Only women are allowed to participate in this custom.

Getting ready...

The whole city becomes one large kitchen and almost all open spaces like roads, stadiums, courtyards etc will be used for cooking pongala prasadam.

The ritual of cooking starts early in the morning and by noon, Pongala would be ready. Then the chief priest of the temple arrives with the Goddess’s sword and blesses the ladies by sprinkling holy water and showering flowers. The ladies take this blessed Pongala back to their houses. It is widely believed that the Goddess Bhagawati can make your wishes come true if you participate in this festival and the women do the rituals for health and prosperity of their families.

Attukal is said to be one of the places where Goddess Attukalamma, believed to be the incarnation of 'Kannaki', (heroine of 'Silappathikaram' by Tamil Poet Illango in the 2nd century A.D) took rest on her journey northward from Madurai to Kodungallur.

Pongala festival has found a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest attendance of women on February 23, 1997. 1.5 million women had participated in that year's Pongala. According to newspaper reports, 2.5 million women participated in the ponkala in 2009 .