Malayalam festival
Attukal Pongala — ആറ്റുകാൽ പൊങ്കാല
āṟṟukāl poṅkāla
February–March · the Pooram star in the month of Kumbham
At the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, women from across Kerala and beyond line the city's streets for kilometres to cook pongala — sweet rice — in earthen pots on open hearths as an offering to the goddess. It has been recorded as one of the largest gatherings of women anywhere in the world.
Greetings in Malayalam
അമ്മേ ശരണം
ammē śaraṇaṁ
"Mother, you are my refuge"
devotional invocation
Customs & traditions
- ✦Cooking pongala in new earthen pots on the street
- ✦The temple priest lighting the main hearth, from which the fires spread
- ✦Sprinkling of holy water on the offerings by priests
Traditional foods
ശർക്കരപ്പായസം
śarkkarappāyasaṁ
Rice cooked with jaggery and coconut — the pongala itself
തെരളി
teraḷi
Sweet rice-flour dumpling steamed in a bay leaf
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