Attukal

Attukal devi temple is one of my favourite temples in Trivandrum. My parents used to take us all to the temple on Fridays during our school days. The divine feeling you get when you enter the temple is difficult to describe in words. The prasadam especially the chandanam is very special. This year visited the temple after dropping Mash and teacher at the Railway station.

Pongala

"Attukal Pongala" is the main festival of this temple. Millions of women gather every year in February (Malayalam month Kumbham) around this temple and prepare "Pongala" (Rice cooked with the ingredients: Jaggery, coconut, ghee etc) in the open in small pots to please the Goddess Kannaki. At the time of festival nearly five kilometers around the temple becomes covered with smoke from the temporary 'aduppu's (temporary hearths made of 3 to 9 bricks). A holiday is declared in the city on that day. Tourists from other countries also join in "Attukal Pongala". The temple is also called "Women's Sabarimala" . It was reported in the media that in 2008, more than 2 million women offered pongala.

Legend:

Goddess kannaki is the Main Diety. Events related to Goddess Kannaki have high influence in the culture,traditions and belief in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It is belived that after setting fire to Madurai city in retaliation of punishing her innocent Husband, Kannaki left for Kodungaloor in Kerala. On the way to Kodungaloor, Devi took rest for a while at Attukal and gave 'Darsan' (appeared) to the natives there. Finally Bhagavathy settled at Kodungaloor sree Bhagavathi temple. Attukal Temple is more popularly known as the Sabarimala of the Women. The reason is that most of the devotees are women in this temple. The Pongala Mahotsavam is the most important festival of temple. Pongala festival has found a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest attendance of women.

Guinness record:

The temple over the years has acquired international importance as it was listed by the Guinness Book of world Records as "the largest gathering of women in the world". The record was based on the number of pilgrims on 23 February 1997, when 1.5 million assembled to offer 'pongala'

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