Attukal Pongala Archives

21/Sep/2022

Attukal Bhagavathy Temple is 1.50 km from the railway station and 2 km from Padmanabha Swamy temple. It is located on Kovalam Road.

Attukal Bhagavathy Temple is known as Sabarimala for women. This is a very famous temple of Durga Bhagwati, the daughter of Mother Parvati of South India, which is established in Thiruvananthapuram. Thiruvananthapuram is the capital of Kerala. This temple is especially famous for the Pongal festival. This festival is celebrated every year for 10 days in the month from February to March. Women from many countries of the world attend this Attukal Bhagavathy Temple.

About Attukal Pongala

The Attukal Pongala festival is held at the Attukal Bhagavathy temple. The goddess worshiped in the Attukal temple is Kannagi who is an incarnation of Goddess Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva. Attukal Pongala is a popular women’s festival celebrated at the ancient Bhagavathy temple at Attukal in the Thiruvananthapuram district. It is a ten-day long event that begins on the Bharani day (Karthika Star) of the Malayalam month of Makaram-Kumbham (February-March) and ends on the tenth day with a night sacrifice known as Kurutitharapanam.

The ninth day is the important day of the festival when the Attukal Pongala Festival takes place. Thousands of women from all castes and creeds in Kerala and Tamil Nadu make offerings to the goddess by cooking Pongal near the temple. ‘Pongala’ is to be boiled. It is a customary offering to please the deity. It consists of rice porridge, sweet brown molasses, coconut, nuts, and raisins.

According to the Tamil poem Silappathikaram – The Epic of the Payal, the story goes that Kannagi’s husband Kovalan was put to death by the ruler of Madurai for stealing the queen’s anklet. Kannagi proves her husband’s innocence. Later, she leaves the city. On her way to Kodungallur temple, she stops at Attukal. Devi Attukalma is an incarnation of ‘Kannaki’, the heroine of the Tamil epic ‘Silappathikaram’, written by the Tamil poet Ilango in the 2nd century AD.

Women Celebrating Festival

The festivities begin with Thottampattu (a song about Bhagwati). Religious songs continue for nine days after the festival. On the ninth day of Attukal Pongala thousands of women gather in the temple and prepare Ponkala or Pongala. The cooking ritual starts in the morning itself. The chief priest brings the goddess’s sword and blesses the women by sprinkling holy water and showering flowers. Women take Pongala back home.

Later, the idol of the goddess is taken to the Manakaud Sanstha temple in a colorful procession that includes elephants accompanied by musical ensembles by artists such as Thalapoli, Kuthiottam, Annam, Vahanam, and others. Devotees welcome the procession with a nirapara (a pot filled with paddy and decorated with flowers). The procession reaches back to the temple the next morning. It marks the end of the festival.

This is a popular ancient temple in South India. It known as Sabarimala in women, Travelers who come to visit Padmanabha Swamy to see the entrance architecture. Pongal festival celebrated with great pomp in this temple. A ten-day program celebrated during the Pongal festival, which takes place in the month of February-March. This event is world famous. There is a huge crowd of devotees at this festival. Temples, roads, farms, and government offices everywhere, but only a mass of devotees is visible. 40 lakh women from Kerala and other states of India are present at this festival. Hence the name of this temple has been recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. This festival celebrated like the Kumbh Mela of North India.

Legend

It believed that the goddess appeared in the form of a young girl to an old man in the river Killi. He helped the girl to cross the river and decided to take her home. After reaching home, the girl disappeared. That night, the goddess appeared in the old man’s dream. She said that she had drawn three lines in a sacred grove and that she would like to reside at that place. The next morning, the old man went to that place and found three marks at the suggested place. He built a small temple and as time passed, the goddess brought prosperity to the region. Later, the local people renovated the temple to its present condition.

The Attukal Bhagavathy Temple

Attukal Bhagavathy Temple built in mixed art of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The architecture of the temple is very beautiful and enchanting. The idols of Mahishasurmardini, Rajarajeshwari, Maa Sati Parvati, and Lord Shiva created in a very artistic manner on the premises of the temple. Apart from this, idols of other deities also installed on the parikrama route. The images of Lord Vishnu and Goddess Kannaki beautifully depicted in Gokul. The stories of Daksha Yagya depicted.

The idol of Mother Parvati installed in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, which adorned with gold ornaments. The stone idol of Ma Parvati installed with gold leaf. The idol of Goddess Attakal Bhagwati also visible next to this idol. A gold locket given to all the devotees at the temple counter, which protects the devotees from all calamities.

Goddess Parvati seated in the Attakal temple. Lord Shiva, Ganesh, and Nagraj also installed in this temple. All Hindu festivals celebrated with pomp in this temple. Mandalavartham, Dussehra Puja, Kartik Deepak, Ahilya Puja, Poornima Puja, Ramayana, Prayanam, Akhand Jaap, Ganesh Chaturthi, Saraswati Puja, Ahilya Puja, Kartik festival, Mahashivratri and Navratri Puja, etc. celebrated with great pomp in the temple. She goes. Attukal Bhagavathy Temple inscribed in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2005. One lakh woman visits Attukal Bhagavathy Temple daily from February-March.

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