Attukal Temple Trust signs MoU with South Indian Bank for online payments

The Attukal Temple Trust authorities signed an agreement with the South Indian Bank for making online payments for offerings and donations. The SIB Managing Director and CEO Dr.V.M.Joseph and the Temple Trust Chairman Sri.R.Ravindran Nair signed an agreement regarding this. SIB Executive Director Abraham Thariyan, Trivandrum Regional Manager C.J.Jose Mohan, Temple Trust President R.Gopinathan Nair, Vice-President V.Ayyappan Nair, Secretary K.P.Ramachandran Nair were also present.

Attukal Pongala 2011 brochure

Attual Pongala 2011 brochure
(Courtesy: Temple website)
http://www.attukal.org/pongala2011.htm

Attual Pongala: The raw and the cooked

Children looking at the Attukal temple pond

Pongala is mental cleansing.
Imagine the pongala pot as your mind; what you boil and cook inside is none other than the ego, the sins and the bad thoughts that have always pulled you back.
The raw is now cooked, it a has transformed to a new thing, its no more the rice and jaggerry; its the prasada, or the resurrected mind.
Pongala is resurrection of mind.

Temple getting a facelift

Construction works in connection with the Attukal Pongala 2011 are progressing on warfooting, which would give the Attukal temple premises a new look. The temple witnessed a thick gathering today, the 1st of Malayalam month Dhanu, even amidst the construction works that has virtually gutted the entire space of the temple premises. Come and see, you will breath the air of the festival, even it is two months away. Pongala is so divine, that for the sixty days ahead, it would wither its fragrance and glory around.









Construction works in progress at the Attukal temple premises

Repainted temple shrine

Repainted idol of Attukal Bhagavathi at the front of the temple shrine.

Kuthiyottam registration 2011

Official announcement of registration for the Kuthiyottam offering that culminates the Attukal temple festival 2011. The registration started on 17 August and will close on 31 January 2011.

Idols on the temple shrine gets a new look

Newly painted idols on the back side of the temple shrine

It's an arduous task to paint thousands of idols that adorn the temple shrine. New colours have given an aura of divinity and sanctity around them. These idols of top of the shrine is one of the greatest attraction of Attukal temple. One cannot forget the thousands of idols that represent various stories related to Goddess Bhadrakali told in the Hindu puranas; as if the temple is a symbolic representation of the Devi purana.

The new look gopuram

Painting being done at the temple gopuram.

Temple gearing up for Attukal Pongala 2011

Preparations are on a fast track at the Attukal Devi Temple which is gearing up for the next Pongala season. The Attukal Pongala is on February 19, 2011. Come to the temple premises and you could see the construction works going on at a greater pace. The idols above the temple shrine give a colourful look with the new paint work, which is almost over. The gopuram at the entrance is being painted now. At the precincts of the sanctum sanctorum, you would really feel the holy breeze of pongala.

Tired, yet strong

Lunch time

Women rush back to their pongala pots after getting free food

offerred by the voluntary organizations

Pongala service

Many private buses and autorickshaws in the city offered free trip to

women on Pongala day. Autorickshaws wait to offer free trip from

Palayam to Vattiyoorkavu

Attukal Pongala's secular symbols

Pongala in front of the LMS church, Palayam. Vehicles that carried
women to Pongala are parked inside the church premises


Pongala in front of the Palayam mosque

When city turned a village

After making pongala, time to relax


Fun with the family


A relief from the scorching sun

Onathinidayile puttukachavadam !

Making mandapputtu

Preparing the dough


Making balls


Carving out face with fingers

The human face in the mandapputtu

Mandapputtu is another snack made during pongala as an offering to bhagavati. It is believed that offering mandapputtu will relieve you from all problems related to head. Mandapputtu is prepared from a mix of green gram, rice flour and jaggery. The dough is first prepared with aboveingredients and then made to balls. A human face will be carved out in these balls using fingers. The balls are then steam cooked.

The smoke screen

Making therali appam

Roll the vayana leaf to a conical shape


Fill the cone with dough

Place the filled cones in a steam cooker

Steam cook for twenty minutes and therali is ready

Therali is one of the sweet smelling snack offered to the goddess. Therali appam is usually made during pongala and on festivals like Sivarathri. Rice powder, jaggery, banana, cardamom, grated coconut, ghee and vayana (therali) leaf are the required stuff to make this sweet snack. Mix all the ingredients together with a small amount of water to make the dough. Roll the vayana leaves like a cone and fill them with dough. Steam cook for 20-25 minutes.

Scenes from Pongala

While the Pongala boils

It is customary to make kurava when the pongala boils. The new generation does not know how to make a kurava and most of the women ignore it. Kurava is still a domain of the old generation


The pongala pot boils over

Offering pongala

Boiling the water


Praying to the goddess before putting the rice


Putting the rice in the boiling water

Praying to goddess while the rice boils

Pongala pot boils over

The making of Pongala

The pongala pots are ready


Waiting for the fire


Getting the fire

Lighting the fire