Countdown begins for Attukal Pongala

Women have started flowing to Attukal.
It's now 11o'clock at night, and the road to Attukal is alive. People walk watching the decorations and banners across the road and talking loud to beat the sound of the loud speakers that line the road. Now some one would grab your attention, it could be the women who sell the pongala pots or sometimes the men who sell rice and other essentials to make pongala, all neatly packed in covers. It seems that no body is going to sleep for the next two days.

If you look to either side you could see women all lined up to watch the theruvilakku that go by procession late at night. Now the women who come from distant places have also joined the hosts to watch the festival. Women who arrive early try to find a place near the temple premises, but it would not be always comfortable, because of the huge crowd. The option is to find a host; the people who live around the Attukal temple generously offer hospitality to the women who come from far away places or districts. Thus often a new friendship is also born.

You never feel the long distance if you start walking from East Fort, watching all the lights and glitters around you; at once you will find yourself lost in a huge crowd, you have reached the temple. It reminds you that you are only one among these million people who are going to gather here within hours, all in search of Attukal Amma's blessings; it's where every entity becomes one.