Pongala: The Largest Gathering of Women in the World

Music plays, a blending of karnatic music and Sanskrit chanting, the mood is both one of festivity and solemn reverence as the crowd of women gather near the Attukal Temple in Kerala, South India, for what will be the largest gathering of women on the planet. For days the atmosphere builds as women gather for the famous annual Attukal Pongala Mahotsavam ritual, buses and trains bringing in wave after wave of women in brightly coloured clothing, earthen pots and pongala supplies carried upon their heads. Bridging all classes, caste systems and faiths, the women-only pongala (aka ponkala) ritual is performed as an offering to Goddess Bhagavati. The terms Devi (Goddess), Bhagavati (powerful, supreme deity), Bhadrakali (auspicious Kali) and Amma (mother) are used interchangeably in Kerala to describe the same deity. This ten-day event has been listed by The Guinness Book of Records as the World’s largest gathering of women in a single day when on 23 February 1997 over 1.5 million devotees converged around the Attukal Temple. This has since grown to what is estimated to be over 2.5 million women. Can you imagine?

The famous Attukal Pongala Mahotsavam festival commenced (this year on the 11 February) with the musical rendering of the story of the Goddess (Kannaki Charitam), which continues to play for nine days. The atmosphere is cheerful as Bhajans, musical concerts, ballets depicting folk and temple arts, and singing take place around Thiruvananthapuram city. Colourful floats of the deity are carried by devotees. The seven kilometer (and growing) stretch around the Attukal Bhagavathy temple fills with women, in preparation for the making of pongala, which occurs on the ninth day, 19 February under the full Moon. Pongala, which means ‘to boil over,’ is a porridge offering to the Goddess made of rice, sweet brown molasses, coconut shavings, nuts and raisins.

Before the Sun rises, the women devotees prepare their pavement thresholds for the coming Goddess Bhagavati by drawing an elaborate kolam, a ritual drawing made from white crushed rock or rice flour. They then await the signal for lighting the hearth, which is given by the chief priest of the temple at an auspicious time, and is then followed by humming of the temple drums. Fire from the temple kitchen hearth is quickly passed amongst thousands. The streets are filled with wall to wall women ceremoniously cooking pongala porridge for the Goddess. The ceremony concludes when the temple priests pass by, sprinkling holy water. This is followed by a shower of flowers in honour of the Goddess Almighty. Pongala is shared among families, a prayer for peace and prosperity.

Love and Pongala Blessings
~Antonia