Thousands perform 'pongala' ritual in temple

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 3 (UNI) The annual 'Pongala' ritual, one of the world's biggest devotional congregations of women at the famous Attukal Devi Temple, the ''sabarimala of women,'' here observed with religious fervour and gaiety.

Irrespective of caste, class and even religious barriers, lakhs of women from across the state and neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka reached in the capital city to perform the annual Attukal Pongala ritual and seek the blessings of the presiding Goddess of the shrine.

The pongala festival, performed in the ninth day of the ten-day annual festival of the devi temple, has found a place in the Guinness Books of Records as a religious event that attracts largest number of women on a single day.

According to temple authorities about 25 lakh women had turned up this year's pongala and found make-shift hearths about 10-km radius of the temple.

Since yesterday morning devotees started pouring in to the city for finding a convenient place for making make-shift hearths, turning the city into a virtual sea of women.

The ritual began at 1045 hrs, when the 'holy hearth' near the temple was lighted by the chief priest. Within seconds, the fire exchanged hands and thousands of hearths were lit making the rice-filled pots bubble and boil over. The cooked rice was later sprinkled with holy water by sub-priests.

A large number of tourists were present to witness the pongala festival.

Ms Christine Dragan and Holique from France said '' this is very fantastic and if we are here next year, of course, we will perform it.'' A freelance photographer from England, Kate Rose said ''it is very amazing and there should be something like this in England.'' Elaborate security arrangements had been made by police and state agencies to control the crowd. About 3000 police personnel and a big contingent of fire tenders had been deployed in an area of seven kms around the shrine, where the devotees converged to perform the ritual.

UNI