Attukal Pongala (07.03.2023)
-Rohit Kumar Parmar [1]
Attukal Pongala is a popular ritualistic, and Harvest related festival, celebrated by women at the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. The ten day festival begins on Karthikakshatra in the Malayalam month Makaram or Kumbham, (coinciding with February/March of the Gregorian Calendar).
The festival begins on the Karthika star with musical rendition of the story of Goddess Kannaki Charitam, during the traditional Kappukettu and Kudiyiruthu ceremony, when the idol of Devi, is embellished with Kappu (Bangles).
The Attukal Pongala Mahotsavam takes place on the ninth day of the festival when lakhs of women devotees assemble in the open ground of the temple, adjacent spaces- footpaths, roads, and prepare a sweet dish as offering to the Goddess. The festival concludes with the sacrificial offering known as Kuruthitharpanam at night. Only women are allowed to participate in the Pongala ritual. Though a Hindu festival, women in Kerala, practising other faiths also offers Pongala to the Goddess.
Pongala (literally means to boil over) is a ritualistic offering of a sweet dish consisting of rice (other grains also), jaggery, coconut, nuts and raisins. Devotees offer pongala to appease the presiding deity of the temple, popularly known as Attukal Amma.
Goddess 'Attukal Devi', is the supreme mother 'Bhaadrkali Devi', symbolising power and courage. She is often referred to as Kannaki, the heroine of Ilanko Adikal's 'Silappathikaaram'. Silappathikaaram (Silappatikaaram), is the earliest Tamil epic, a poem of a tragic love story of an ordinary couple, Kannaki and her husband Kovalan.
Kovalan, a rich businessman in Madurai and married to Kannaki, falls in love with a beautiful dancer Madhavi, and spends all his time and money on her, and becomes bankrupt. He returns to his wife Kannaki, after the dancer throws him out of her house. Kannaki a loving and caring wife, continues to support her husband and asks him to sell one of her anklets, to start a new business with that money.
When Kovalan tries to sell the anklet, he is caught since, on the previous day, a theft took place in the palace of Madurai King and the queen's anklets, similar to that of Kannaki, were missing. The jeweller whom Kovalan approaches to sell the anklet, suspects him as the thief and informs the king, who has him beheaded.
Hearing the news of her husband Kannaki comes to the palace in anger and throws the other anklet in front of the king. The broken anklet of Kannali has rubies, while there were pearls in the queen’s anklet, exposing the King.
In sorrow, Kannaki curses the King and sacrifices her body and throws it towards the city, which is gutted in fire as a result. Kannaki moves to Kodungalloor in Kerala. On the way to Kodungalloor, she passes through Thiruvananthapuram, disguised as a small girl, and requests an old man to help her to cross the river. Seeing a small girl, the old man takes her to his house but the girl disappears. On that night, Goddess Kannaki comes in the dreams of the old man and asks him to construct a temple in his compound and install her idol there, which is known as Attukal Devi Temple.
[1] Author (Free lance, IES Retd, Former Senior Economic Adviser, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution) has in posts on his website (https://rohitkparmar.wixsite.com/site), YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/@rohitkparmar), twitter (https://twitter.com/rohitkparmar?s=09), facebook (https://www.facebook.com/rohit.parmar.5268750/), Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohit-kumar-parmar-841b4724) been writing/ sharing varied topics and can be reached at rohitkparmar@yahoo.com.
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