Women waiting at Attukal temple premises to offer Pongala, in Thiruvananthapuram.

Thousands of brick hearths will be lit across Thiruvananthapuram city by 10.30 a.m. today as women devotees offer the annual ‘pongala’ offering to the presiding deity of the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple.

Overcast skies and a drizzle on Sunday morning gave some anxious moments to the devotees, many of whom had taken their places on the footpaths, open spaces and the temple grounds on Saturday itself.

Every year, women devotees arrive in Thiruvananthapuram from different parts of Kerala and even neighbouring States like Tamil Nadu to take part in the annual ritual. And this year is no different in that respect.

They will light the hearths and begin cooking the ritual offering — a sweet pudding of rice, jaggery, grated coconut, ghee and banana cooked in earthen pots — once the ‘Pandara Aduppu,’ the main hearth at the Attukal Temple is lit. Temple tantri Thekkedath Kuzhikattu Parameswaran Vasudevan Bhattathiripad will hand over the flame from the temple’s sanctum sanctorum to Goshala Vishnu Vasudevan Namboothiri, the chief priest.

The Attukal Pongala falls on the ninth day of the annual ten-day festival at the temple.

The Pongala festival is dedicated to Kannaki, the heroine of the Chilappatikaram. Lore goes that after the destruction of Madurai, Kannaki passed through Attukal on her way to Kodungalloor.

The police and other government agencies including the Health and Water Resources Departments have made extensive arrangements for the smooth conduct of the annual festival. As part of the security arrangements, 3500 police personnel have been deployed in addition to special squads. The Health Department has arranged heat clinics to assist devotees affected by the sweltering day temperatures.

The sanctification ceremony, signalling the end of the Pongala ritual, will be held at 2.30 p.m. The Chooralkuthu ritual will be held in the evening.

The 2024 edition of the ten-day festival will come to a close with the ‘Kaapazhipu’ ritual on Monday night and the ‘Kuruthitharpanam’ in the early hours of Tuesday.