Attukal Pongala

Every year on Pournami day, during the Malayalam month of Kumbham, lakhs of women devotees, young and old, rich and poor, Indian and foreign, gather at large on the sanctified premises of the temple at Attukal, a quiet town in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram city, for the 10 day festival. On the penultimate day the famous “Pongala”, an offering by the women devotees to their “Amma”, takes place. Year after year it has been attracting more and more women, those who have already savoured the divine atmosphere and those who have heard or read about it. No wonder “Attukal Pongala” has found its place amongst the “Guinness Book of World Records” for being the largest congregation of women anywhere in the world (Thanks to the Californian lady who revealed this fact to the world as part of her thesis work).

Attukaalamma is the divine form of the powerful lady Kannaki (Kannaki herself is considered as incarnation of Parvathi, the wife of Lord Shiva), who by her sheer “paathivrithya” burnt the kingdom of Madurai to ashes, a bane they had to endure for having hanged her husband to death for no crime of his. It is this mental strength of the Lady that gets imbibed into the minds of her devotees to withstand the miseries of life. Attukaalamma is the Goddess of power and prosperity; the embodiment of strength with the tenderness of womanhood who gave Moksha to Mahishasura by killing him. Little wonder that She attracts devotees from all walks of life. The preparation for the festival begins well in advance. The City Corporation, State Transport, Railway Department, NGOs, Temple authorities all work towards ensuring the convenience of women devotees. There are mud pots galore in the streets and shops, Pongala kits, Pongala sarees are all in the offing,luring women on a buying spree. If you plan for Amma’s darsan, beware; unless you have enough time and patience, you cannot even think of entering the temple inner yard. Any time of the day, Amma is busy listening to her devotees who jostle with each other to have her glimpse.

The temple festival starts with the Temple singers, known as “Thottam pattukar”, singing the glory of Kannaki in a small make-shift thatched hut built in front of the “Garbha Gruha”. Near to this the Goddess’ “Kappu kettu” is done wherein the power and divinity of Goddess is brought out of the “Garbha Gruha” for the benefit of the devotees.

The tales of Kannaki, her husband Kovalan, their disturbed married life, their escape from arduous life in Madurai, sale of Kannaki’s anklet, Kovalan’s capture by the Kings guards on suspicion that the anklet is one of the Queen’s lost ones, Kovalan’s unjustified killing, Kannaki’s woes and anger, Kannaki’s curse to Madurai and her exile to Attukal where a temple was later built in her honour; all events are musically rendered.

Day by day the number of women thronging the temple is swelling. For offering their pongala, women from far off places in Kerala and Tamilnadu come well in advance and book their bit of place in the temple premises for setting up their hearth. On the eve of Pongala all roads lead to Attukal, and the whole city hustles and bustles with women folks. You can see women carrying the required items - mud pot, coconut ladle, dried coconut palms on their heads and making their way to the temple. They move around streets as though it is their home. Vehicles honk only to be hushed by the women folk as it is women… women…all the way.

Late into the night too, you see something incredible, ladies finding shelter on the pavements and shop verandahs. Fearless, unrelenting, they sleep on the streets; for they strongly believe that their mother is there to guard them against any danger lurking in the night. They sleep peacefully on the pavements waiting for the dawn.

Early in the morning the women get ready after their morning bath. Clad in their new traditional Kerala attire, the subtle fragrance of Tulsi and Jasmine emanates from the locks of their hair plaited in the typical Kerala style.

They then rush to the temple to get Mother’s permission for the day. Getting her blessings entrances them, for she is a patient listener. Vows taken for the well being and prosperity of children, husband and parents reach the Amma through humble Pongala offering.

The women set the ingredients ready and wait with Sahasra Naama Japa or chanting of Her 1000 names, for the auspicious time. They fast on the day till the Goddess accepts their offering.

After the last episode of Kannaki is sung, the temple priest lights the Pandaara Aduppu, the divine hearth set up near the make-shift hut for the Thottam pattukar. The little hearths get lighted using the fire from the divine hearth. In no time the whole area is filled with fire and smoke. The scorching heat of the sun above, the rage of the fire below and the pain of the fire within the heart fills the women with hundred emotions. They cry, pray, praise the Mother. To leave their worries to her, prayers for mercy, prayers of gratitude, the devotees’ minds are filled with a mix of emotions as the Pongala bubbles out of the pot. Different varieties on the offering list include white rice, jaggery rice, steamed gram flour cake, steamed leaf cake etc.

After the preparation they wait for the priest to consecrate it by sprinkling holy water. Only after this the offering is considered accepted by the Goddess. The conclusion is the return journey, where again an ocean of women carrying the pongala pots on their heads tread through the streets to the waiting buses . Tired and weary eyes but determined and satiated looks says it all ; they know their prayers would never be unanswered. There is but, only one prayer on their lips, ‘Mother, set the conditions right next year too for we want to come back to you again’.

Pongala- truly a symbol of the strength of women, their unity, their love for their near and dear ones, their devotion and total surrender at the lotus feet of their Mother- Parashakthi. After all the hullaballoo, by dusk on the pongala day, as you walk along the city you find the employees of the city Corporation, including ladies cleaning up the city in full zest. As they sweep and collect the bricks, ashes, the tanker lorry follows behind with a splash of water to settle the dust and dirt. In no time city is spotlessly clean and back to normal.

Things are not over yet. You go back to the temple to find a medley of events coming up. Young boys aged upto 12 years are offered by their parents for 10 days at the service of the Goddess. Clad in simple towel, they eat, pray, sleep in the temple and their penance ends after doing 1008 namaskaras at the feet of Goddess. On the pongala eve the boys are decorated for the “Kuthiyottam” ritual. In memory of the Goddess’s soldiers who were wounded in the fight with Mahishasura, a Purohit pierces either end of the boys’ torso with steel strings. These boys are taken out of the temple in procession to the nearby Ayyappa temple. They are accompanied by different dance artists and fancy dress artists dancing to the rhythm of the percussionists. The procession continues till early next morning. The festival comes to an end with the “Kappu azhikkal”, when the idol of theGoddess is taken back from the external premises and positioned back at the “Garbha Gruha”.

A festival for every Keralite, the festivities and zealousness are reminiscent of the State Festival

Onam. One Attukal Pongala has just passed by and the wait for the next is on………..