Attukal Pongala begins

T’PURAM: Amidst chants of Sarvamangala Mangalye…, the Attukal Bhagavathy temple festival began here on Friday. Lakhs of devotees from all over the state will be attending the 10-day festival that culminates on March 4.

Around 25 lakh devotees are expected to attend the famous Attukal pongala offering on March 3. This is the first pongala after the festival got into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the world’s largest religious gathering of women.

The festival took off with the Kappuketti Kudiyiruthal ritual at 8.00 pm. Special poojas and rituals were conducted at the temple to mark the first day of the festival. Hundreds of devotees thronged the temple to witness the deeparadhana and Kudiyiruthal ritual on Friday evening.

Cultural programmes also began at the special stages erected on the temple premises for the purpose. The cultural programmes began with the singing of devotional songs of the Attukal Devi. This was followed by a ganamela, dance-drama and a devotional music concert among other programmes.

The highlights on Saturday will be a veena concert by Swathi Thirunal Sangeetha Natya Kala Kendram, drama Karinkurangu by Stage India, Kozhikode, and music concerts.