Women devotees reserve space early for Pongala

Thiruvananthapuram: Attukal Pongala, touted as the largest congregation of women in the world, will take place here on Friday. The streets in the  capital were occupied by women devotees a night earlier. Thousands of hearths have been set up on roads starting from the Attukal temple premises located around two km from the heart of the city. Around 4,500 policemen, including commandos and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams, have been deployed.

Detectives from Tamil Nadu police will also assist the local police in spotting miscreants. Devices, including drones, have been fielded  to boost surveillance. The hearths will be lit at 10.15 am soon after the lighting of a holy ‘Pandara’ hearth on the temple premises. The offerings that mostly include sweets will be blessed with holy water, ‘Naivedyam, ’ at around 2.30 pm. 

This will be followed by aerial dropping of  flowers and retreating of pilgrims. Soon after the Pongala, around 3000 corporation sanitary workers and thousands of volunteers will clean up the city and wash the streets of  the ash. As per  belief, goddess Kannagi had cursed the city of Madurai and on her way to Kodungallur halted at Attukal where a shrine was set up.