THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Tens of thousands of women flock are  lined up on the streets of Kerala’s capital on Tuesday to perform the annual Attukal Pongala festival, in which devotees offer pongala, a gruel made of rice, jaggery, ghee and coconut, to the presiding deity.

As women worshippers make the yearly Pongala offering to the presiding goddess of the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple in a short time, cooking smoke will rise from countless improvised ovens on the streets of Thiruvananthapuram.

For the first time since the COVID-19 epidemic, tens of thousands of women have gathered in the state capital to take part in the event in its original style. The traditional offering will begin at 10.30 a.m. with the lighting of the hearths at the Attukal temple. It will be a delicious custard made of rice, jaggery, grated coconut, ghee, and banana.

The head priest P. Kesavan Namboothiri will receive the flame from the sanctuary sanctorum from the tantri Thekkedath Kuzhikkattillathu Parameswaran Vasudevan Bhattathiripad in order to light the Pongala hearths at the "Thidapally" of the temple and the "Valiya Thidapally." After then, a priest's aid will light the "Pandara Aduppu" with the flame. This is the command to fire the tens of thousands of improvised brick ovens that have been erected around the temple and all throughout the city.

Thiruvananthapuram becomes a city-sized site for the Pongala, a celebration known for its astounding grandeur. The temple, which is linked to the mythological story of Kannaki, drew ladies from various regions of Kerala and the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu in the years before the pandemic, and it even had a few regular visitors from outside of India.

Given that the Pongala is being hosted in the pre-pandemic format this year for the first time in two years, civic authorities anticipate a larger attendance. In 2021 and 2022, believers made the offering from the relative safety of their homes due to the pandemic, which severely curtailed all large-scale public gatherings and claimed hundreds of lives in Kerala. Both years, only the most basic ceremonies were performed at the shrine.

The ninth day of the annual ten-day festival at the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple is when the Attukal Pongala, known for drawing a record number of female devotees, takes place. It started on February 27 of this year.

Intricate plans have been prepared by the State Government and the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation to ensure the celebrations honouring the triumph of good over evil run smoothly. The many government agencies and non-profit organisations have made arrangements for the provision of food and water, medical treatment, transportation, and security. Footpath locations had been reserved days in advance near the temple and throughout city neighbourhoods by putting bricks, strings, and tiny slips of paper with names on them.

The Fire and Rescue Services frequently aired a special advise on averting fire accidents over the loudspeakers on Tuesday morning as the devotees started making the last-minute preparations. Apart from the fire, devotees are encouraged to keep combustible items like sanitizers. They have also been urged to drink huge amounts of water and remain in the shade since the summer heat will rise as the day rolls on.

The first combined military exercise between the French and Indian forces at the Pangode military station takes place in Thiruvananthapuram in 2023, which also happens to be the year of the Attukal Pongala. The exercise, known as FRINJEX-23, is being held on Tuesday and Wednesday and has a French contingent of 111 troops and six officers.

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