Thiruvananthapuram | Under the slightly cool relief of a cloudy sky, tens of thousands of women gathered in the Kerala capital on Sunday to partake in a sacred ritual known as 'Pongala.'
This ritual, considered one of the largest religious gatherings of women in the world, saw makeshift brick stoves line the roads for several kilometers in the city as women prepared offerings to honour the presiding deity of the famous Attukal Bhagavathy temple.
The rituals began shortly after, at 10.40 AM, when the chief priest lit the main hearth (Pandara Aduppu) near the shrine, signaling the start of the annual event.
Women from all across the state and outside prepared 'pongala', a mix of rice, jaggery, and scraped coconut, in fresh earthen pots by lining up on either side of the roads for kilometers around the shrine in the state capital.
The ritual had made it to the Guinness Book of World Records in 2009 for being the largest religious gathering of women on a single day when 2.5 million took part in it.
Women have been arriving in the state capital since Thursday to grab good spots for setting up their brick hearths where they will prepare 'pongala'.
The pongala festival marks the finale of a 10-day ritual at the shrine.
Preparing 'pongala' is considered an auspicious all-women ritual as part of the annual festival of the Attukal temple here, popularly known as the 'Women's Sabarimala'.
As per a local legend, the annual festival commemorates the hospitality accorded by women in the locality to Kannagi, the divine incarnation of the protagonist of the Tamil epic 'Silappadhikaram' while she was on her way to avenge the injustice meted out to her husband Kovalan, after destroying Madurai city.
This year's 'pongala' is in the news for another reason also -- churches here have changed their worship timings on Sunday to accommodate the huge number of devotees expected to turn up on the day to celebrate the festival.
Besides changing the worship timings, some churches will also open their grounds and even some portions of their buildings for those celebrating the 'pongala'.
In order to ensure that the festival is celebrated in a safe and clean manner, the Kerala government's Suchitwa Mission has issued a set of green protocols.