Kochi: Thousands of women offered Pongala to Attukal Amma at Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
Lighting of the ‘Pandara Aduppu’, the symbolic stove, signaled the beginning of Pongala at 10.15 am.
The fire was ignited in the presence of Tantri Parameswaran Vasudevan Bhattathiripad, Melshanthi V Muraleedharan Namboothiri then transferred the lamp from the sanctum sanctorum to the Pongala stove.
Pongala was performed within a 10-kilometre radius around the temple. The offering is made by making articles like sweet pudding with rice, ghee, banana, jaggery, and coconut.
Attukal Pongala is celebrated on the ninth day of the 10-day annual festival at the Attukal Bhagavathy temple where Kannaki is consecrated. Kannaki is a legend in Tamil epic Silappadikaram.
She is believed to have cursed Madurai and its rulers for wrongfully convicting her husband.
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