Kummanam inaugurated Chakkulathukavu Pongala festival

Kummanam Rajasekharan of Hindu Aikya Vedi inaugurated the annual Pongala festival at the Chakkulathukavu Bhagavathy temple today morning. Melshanthi Radhakrishnan Namboodiri lit the `pandara aduppu’ at around 9.30 am.

Thousands of devotees from different parts of the State and Tamil Nadu have camped on the Chakkulathukavu Bhagavathy temple premises and surrounding areas at Neerettupuram, near Thiruvalla, from Saturday morning to take part in the annual Pongala festival to be held on Sunday.

Women devotees set up small hearths made of bricks on the sprawling temple grounds. Various government departments and the temple Devaswom have made elaborate arrangements for the smooth conduct of the festival.

Devaswom public relations officer, said all necessary arrangements had been made for the offering Pongala on the temple premises and the roadsides in a 50 km radius of Chakkulathukavu.

Information centres had been opened in different parts of Thiruvalla and Kuttanad taluks. As many as 10,000 volunteers had been deployed, he said.

Devaswom public relations officer said the police, the KSRTC, the Fire and Rescue Services, the Health Department, the Kerala Water Authority and the Water Transport Department had opened special units at Neerettupuram.

The KSRTC has started special services to Chakkulathukavu from its depots at Thiruvalla, Changanassery, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kottarakkara, Pathanamthitta, Haripad, Alappuzha, Mavelikkara, Kollam, Kayamkulam, Ponkunnam and so on.

As many as 500 police personnel have been deployed under the Thiruvalla and Chengannur Deputy Superintendents of Police for crowd management. A special police control room has been opened near the temple.

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