THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The non-vegetarian hotels in the temple zone have started serving vegetarian dishes like dosa and chatni in the evening to cater to the Attukal temple devotees that throng the city for the Pongala festival on Tuesday.
For a night, the shawarma grills have given way to oil tubs filled with bajis and vadas. Certain major hotels who chose to continue serving non-vegetarian dishes have stocked more veggies expecting massive consumption.
“Free annadanam happens only on the day of Pongala. So since last year we have been stocking more nadan dishes like puttu and dosa, kurma and pappadam as women will need vegetarian food on Monday night. The tea maker will get no rest tonight. We hope to sell at least 1,000 more cups of tea,” said Shahul Hamid, manager of Bismi hotel, Manacaud.
Grounds beside Attukal and streets around Koncharavila, Kuryathi etc were occupied before noon. Small-scale eateries have fanned out and serve refreshments with cauliflower fry being the most sought-after.
Kozhikodan Kulukki sarbath was one of the hot sellers for people who came to watch cultural programmes. The grocery shops have since Friday started stocking lesser grocery and more packaged drinking water targeting Pongala devotees,
“We have taken around 480 bottles of branded cold drinks and 300 bottles of packaged drinking water,” said owner of Karthika store, Kamaleswaram.
Meanwhile, the traders and workers at Manacaud market have pooled money and raw materials to serve food for around 10,000 people.
