Attukal Pongala: Thousands of devotees gear up to offer Pongala in Kerala capital

Thousands of women congregated within a nine-km radius of the famed Attukal Devi Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, to offer Pongala on Tuesday (March 3, 2026).

Churches, mosques and residents opened their doors to devotees, who set up open brick hearths to cook the sacrament, an offering of rice and jaggery. 

The scenes in front of the Palayam Juma Masjid, St Joseph Metropolitan Cathedral and the Manacaud Valiya Palli, among other religious places of worship in the city, seemed redolent of Kerala’s secular and progressive ethos at a time when religious amity was coming under attack, including through cinema. 

The Palayam Imam, V.P. Suhaib Maulavi, told reporters that the mosque provided drinking water and light refreshments to the devotees. He said the members of the Muslim community centred around the Juma Masjid opened their homes and businesses to devotees. 

The St. Joseph Metropolitan Cathedral in Palayam provided bivouacking facilities for devotees. 

The rendering of Thottan Pattu, a traditional song celebrating the victory of the mythical Kannaki, an incarnation of the presiding deity, over the Pandyan king, at the temple, signalled the start of the Pongala festival at 9.15 a.m. 

At 9.45 a.m., temple Tanthri Thekkadath Parameswaran Vasudevan Bhattathiripad will light the hearth inside the temple. At the pre-ordained time, thousands of devotees camping in the festival area spread across 22 municipality wards will light their hearths. 

At around 2.15 a.m., hundreds of priests bearing “holy water” will radiate out of the temple to consecrate the Pongala offering prepared by devotees, signalling the end of the ritual.