Women devotees offered pongala, an annual ritual held at the Attukal temple in Thiruvananthapuram, on Saturday. This year, the devotees offered pongala — cooking and offering various sweet dishes like 'payasam in hearths — at homes owing to a decision to that effect by the temple trust due to the pandemic. The only offering held inside the temple premises was that by the temple trust in the main hearth.
Attukala pongala is one of the world's largest congregations of women in which lakhs of women, mostly from the southern part of the state, gather every year.
The ritual began at 10.45 am and concluded at 3.30 pm.
However, some devotees gathered at the temple premises in the morning to watch the lighting up of the main hearth.
Minister for Devaswom Kadakampally Surendran and Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Arya Rajendran were present at the temple premises.
The government in January had decided to conduct the pongala by following COVID-19 protocols and by allowing devotees to perform the ritual only inside the temple compound.
However, the temple trust later decided to hold the ritual at devotees homes’ only.
"The decision of the temple trust was appropriate though the government had initially decided to allow 5000 women to offer pongala inside the temple compound through online registration," the Minister told Asianet News. He added that this would be the year which would see the highest number of pongala as devotees have wholeheartedly accepted the trust’s decision.
"There has been an exemplary reaction from the part of the public (to follow the COVID-19 protocols)," the Mayor said.
The pongala is usually held within a 4-5 kilometre radius of the temple at institutions, offices, other temples in the area, and on roads.