Attukal Pongala

India is a land of festivals, where every state celebrates festivals with great enthusiasm. Attukal Pongala is a major festival of Kerala, organized by women at the Attukal Bhagavati Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. The religiously significant Attukal Pongala festival begins on the Bharani day in the Malayalam month of Makaram or Kumbham, and ends with the Kuruthitharppanam ritual at night. This festival usually falls in February or March and lasts for ten days. The people here lovingly refer to the Goddess as 'Attukalamma (Attukal Amma).

Pongala means ‘to boil over’ and is a famous ritual in Kerala, celebrated with great enthusiasm by the people. For this ritual, a large number of women gather together, filling the streets of the city with devotees. On the streets, women prepare a sweet dish called Payasam in clay pots, made from rice, jaggery, coconut, and bananas, and offer it with devotion to the deity. The most special aspect of this festival is that all the rituals and prayers on this day are performed exclusively by women.

During this festival, the streets become congested with gatherings of devoted women. It is believed that such rituals and ceremonies please the deity, and the festival is also related to the celebration of a good harvest. People celebrate this festival with joy and pray to the goddess for a bountiful harvest every year. According to mythology, it is also believed that Goddess Parvati killed the demon Daruka on this day, symbolizing the victory of good over evil. To slay the demon Daruka, Goddess Parvati took the form of Bhadrakali on this day. This Bhadrakali form of Goddess Parvati is worshipped as Attukal Amma. Devotees prepare Pongala as an offering to the goddess, seeking her blessings for a good harvest every year.

The fame of the Attukal Bhagavati Temple :-

According to a legend, the fame of this temple is linked to a Tamil woman named Kannaki. Her husband, Kovalan, was falsely accused by the villagers, leading the king of Madurai to sentence him to death. Grieved by the false accusations against her husband, Kannaki cursed the entire city of Madurai, leading to its destruction. After destroying the Madurai kingdom, Kannaki reached Attukal and, upon reaching the banks of the Killi River, requested an elderly man to help her cross the river.

The elderly man was a very kind individual who belonged to a prominent family. He helped the woman cross the river, but her extraordinary aura left him amazed. The elderly man became convinced that this was no ordinary woman but a divine being, so he invited her to his home. However, she disappeared from there. That night, while the elderly man was asleep, the woman appeared in his dream and instructed him to build a temple in his garden. The next morning, when the elderly man went to his garden, he found three golden lines there. Following the divine woman's instructions, he built a temple, which is now known as the Attukal Bhagavati Temple.