Attukal Pongal

The goddess of the Attukal temple in Thiruvananthapuram is identified with Kannaki of the Silappadikaram, who burned Madurai after her husband was unjustly executed and then rested at Attukal on her way. The Kannaki Charitam is sung during the Kappukettu ceremony that opens the festival.

Millions of women cook pongala, rice, jaggery and coconut, in earthen pots on small brick hearths, in rows filling the temple and every surrounding street for kilometres. Priests sprinkle holy water at the close. It holds a Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of women for a religious activity, at around 3.5 million.

The pongala itself: rice porridge with jaggery, coconut and ghee, plus therali and mandaputtu.

Specific to Thiruvananthapuram, though pongala offerings are made at other Kerala temples. Only women cook the pongala, men assist with logistics but do not participate in the offering.