Lakhs of women take part in Attukal Pongala at Thiruvananthapuram despite coronavirus fears

Despite renewed fears of coronavirus with six new cases being reported in the state, lakhs of women took part in the annual Attukal Pongala celebrations here on Monday.

The festival is all about the annual ritualistic offering -- namely Pongala cooked with rice, jaggery and coconut in earthen pots -- to the presiding deity of the Attukal Temple by women. Makeshift hearths were arranged as devotees lined up the streets in large numbers.

Considered the largest religious gathering of women, this year devotees were seen offering prayers and cooking Pongala even as many were seen wearing masks amid the COVID-19 scare.

At the conclusion of the festival, the Attukal Temple chief priest sprayed holy water into the Pongala prepared by devotees.

More than 250 priests were deputed to spray holy water to the offering across the city.

Even though the health department had requested people to avoid mass gatherings, lakhs of women reached the city to offer Pongala.

In the year 2009, the event had registered its name in the Guinness Book of Records for having the world's largest gathering of women, around 25 lakh.