Attukal
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Attukal is a Hindu pilgrim center in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. The Attukal Bhagavathy Temple,has been popularly referred to as Sabarimala of the Women.
Attukal is situated about two kilometres south east to Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram City.
Attukal Pongala is the main festival of this temple.Goddess Kannakki (Parvathi) is the Main Deity in this temple.Millions of ladies gather every year in February/March (Month Kumbham in Malayalam Calendar [Kumbham-Pooram Star]) around this temple and prepare "Pongala" (Rice cooked with ingredients Jaggery, Ghee, Coconut etc.) in open places in small pots .
[edit] Pongala Festival
The Pongala Mahotsavam is the most important festival of Attukal Bhagavathy Temple. The offering of Pongala is a special temple practice existing in the south Kerala and Tamilnadu.Among the pongala festivals the one in attukal is the most famous and crowdy. In Attukal temple, the Pongala Mahotsavam is a ten-day programme which starts on the Karthika star of the Malayalam month of Kumbham (February-March) and closing with the sacrificial offering known as Kuruthitharpanam at night on the star of "pooram" on the tenth day. The Pongala offering is on the ninth day when the star "pooram" and full moon coincides. The entire area of about 7 kilometre radius around temple with premises of houses of people of all caste, creed and religion, open fields, roads, commercial institutions, premises of Government offices etc. emerges as a consecrated ground for observing Pongala rituals for lakhs of women devotees assembling from different parts of Kerala and outside. Both men and women can offer pongala to DEVI. However ladies dominate in the festival.
. In 2007, the Pongala was held on 3rd March and it has been reported that about 2.5 million devotees participated in it.Nearly 27 lakh women offered pongala on february 22nd of 2008 . The number of women offering Pongala is increasing each year, and is the largest event in world where the maximum number of women gather together on a single day(as per the guiness world records). The temple's name was published in Guinness book of Records, for being the world's largest religious union of women [1].
[edit] Other Festivals
The other festivals in this temple are :
1. Mandala Vratham - Festival in connection with the annual Utsavam of Sabarimala
2. Vinayaka Chathurthi - Pooja to the Lord Ganapathy
3. Pooja Vaypu - Identical to Dussera festival (Saraswathy Pooja and Vidyarambham)
4. Sivarathri - Siva Pooja
5. Karthika - (Devi's star) in November - December - Karthika Deepam
6. Ayilya Pooja - Milk, flowers etc. offered to serpent God and special rites.
7. Aiswarya Pooia - On all fullmoon (Pournarni) days
8. Nirayum Puthariyum (Ramayana Parayanam) - During the month of Karkidaka
9. Akhandanama Japam - 4th Sunday of every month
[edit] External Links
[ http://www.attukaldevi.com ] Attukal Bhagavathy Temple is a popular temple that belongs to the prehistoric era. The temple is considered as one of the most famous ancient temples in the whole of south India. Temple is more popularly known as the Sabarimala of the Women. The reason is that most of the devotees are women in this temple. The Pongala Mahotsavam is the most important festival of temple. Pongala festival has found a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest attendance of women. Visit: www.attukaldevi.com [Nakshathra Design]
