The Hindu : Front Page : Heavy turnout for Attukal Pongala

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Sunday, Mar 04, 2007
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Heavy turnout for Attukal Pongala

Special Correspondent

OFFERING TO THE GODDESS: Devotees offering pongala at the Attukal Bhagavathy temple in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday. — Photo: S. Gopakumar

Thiruvananthapuram: Tens of thousands of women braved the scorching sun for hours to offer pongala on Saturday, marking the climax of the 10-day annual festival at the Attukal Bhagavathy temple here. From early morning, devotees carrying earthen pots and bundles of firewood streamed into the city from the suburban areas, neighbouring districts and outside the State.

At 10.45 a.m., the temple priests lit the ceremonial hearth in front of the temple amid chanting of devotional hymns, fireworks, Panchavadyam and chendamelam. This provided a signal for thousands of devotees right across the city to light up their hearths to prepare various kinds of naivedyam, the offering to the deity. Public address systems also relayed the cue to the pilgrims. A huge pall of smoke rose over the city.

The long line of devotees extended to Palayam, Thampanoor, Killipalam, Karamana, Kalady, Manacaud and both sides of the National Highway bypass from the Eenchakkal junction. A number of foreign nationals had also turned up to witness the event and capture it on camera. Many of them were attracted by the news of the temple's entry into the Guinness Book of Records for the highest turnout.

Earlier in the morning, after the daily pujas and singing of the "Thottampattu," temple thantri Chennas Dinesan Namboodiripad handed over a ghee lamp from the sanctum sanctorum to melshanti Neelakantan Namboodiri to light the "Pandara aduppu" at the Thidapally inside the temple. The flame was then passed on to other priests to light the hearth before the "Pattupura" at the entrance.

Mayor C. Jayan Babu; V. Sivankutty, MLA; Director-General of Police Raman Srivastava; City Police Commissioner K. Padmakumar; and officials of the district administration were present on the temple premises. A helicopter flew over the city, showering flowers on the devotees and their offerings.

By 2.45 p.m., priests carrying holy water fanned out in different directions from the temple. In a symbolic acceptance of the offerings by the deity, they sprinkled holy water on the Pongala prepared by the devotees.

Government agencies, voluntary organisations and residents' associations joined hands to provide assistance to the devotees. Many streets were cordoned off by volunteers to prevent the entry of vehicles. The City Corporation, Kerala Water Authority and Revenue Department had made arrangements to supply drinking water to the devotees.

Medical teams set up temporary clinics and mobile units to offer emergency assistance. Several pilgrims who suffered sunstroke were rushed to hospital by ambulance. Fire tenders were deployed to prevent fire accident. A large number of autorickshaws offered free rides to the devotees.

The KSRTC operated special services from various places in the district. The Railways also regulated the timings of several services to accommodate the devotees.

A large contingent of police was deployed on the temple premises and all over the city to control the crowds and provide emergency assistance. They were assisted by NCC units and volunteers from social, political and religious organisations.

Later in the night, after the Kuthiyottam ceremony, the idol of the Devi was taken in a procession to the Sree Dharma Sastha temple at Manacaud. The festival draws to a close on Sunday after the procession returns to the Attukal temple.

Traffic jam

The entire city road network was caught in a massive gridlock for many hours in the evening as the reverse influx of devotees clogged the main routes. All the roads on a 5-km radius from the temple were jammed. Thousands of vehicles were stranded for hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The Thampanoor and East Fort areas were a sea of humanity as devotees scrambled for some means of transport to return home after a tiring day under the hot sun.

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