Attukal Pongala festival at Attukal bhagavathi temple| Story behind Attukal temple

Attukal Pongala festival at Attukal bhagavathi temple | Story behind Attukal temple

"അമ്മേ നാരായണാ

ദേവീ നാരായണാ

ലക്‌ഷിമി നാരായണാ

ഭദ്രേ നാരായണാ"

ATTUKAL PONGALA

          Thiruvanathapuram,Kerala,India :The Attukal Pongala  held at Attukal Temple is the largest gathering of women for a festival in the world. Attukal pongala even got into Guinness book of record. Check out the certificates .

Attukal Pongala Guinness World Recorded for largest gathering of woman.

The offering of ‘Pongala’ is an special practices in the southern part of kerala.

          Pongala means ‘boil over’,its an kind of rice pudding made of rice,sweets ,coconut,nuts,etc which is offered to the Goddess(Attukal  Amma).This Pongala is usually made in mud pots.

          Only women can perform this ritual and during this festival the surroundings of the temple will be covered with devotees .The entire city will he lighten up during this festival and the streets of the city will be covered with thousands of people on the day of Pongala.The number of devotees are increasing year by year and it has been recorded in Guinness World Book Of Records.

THE ATTUKAL PONGALA FESTIVAL

          Attukal Pongala is celebrated yearly once and is held at attukal temple and around its surroundings in Thiruvanathapuram.Its an ten day festival which starts in the Malayalam month of makaram-kumbham ie between February-march and ends in the day after pongala with Kuruthitharpanam. Among these ten days the Pongala day is the major attraction.

          As lakhs of women  visits Attukal pongala during festival  season it is known as ‘Sabarimala for Women’.

Attukal Amma: The Goddess of Millions

          On the Pongala day,Attukal Devi’s sword is carried by the chief priest and he bless them by sprinkling holy water and flowers on  their Pongala offering.
 Find out the brochure below .

ATTUKAL TEMPLE STORY

          The Goddess ‘Kannaki’ is worshiped  in Attukal Temple.Story of Kannaki revolves like,kannaki was married to an rich merchant Kovalan.After marriage Kovalan mets Madhavai a dancer and he spends all his time and riches with madhavi forgetting his wife Kannaki.

But by time passed he lost all his wealth and then he returned back to Kannaki.Due to their poverty they decided to sell kannaki’s one pair of anklet. Kovalan went to Madurai to sell the anklet.  But an anklet was stolen from the Queen of Madurai which looked similar to Kannaki's. When Kovalan tried to sell it, he was mistaken for the theft and beheaded by the king's soldiers.

          Kannaki got extremely angry when she heard the news and rushed to the King with the second pair of anklet and  he broke one of the anklets  in front of the king and it contained rubies while the Queen's contained pearls.

          She cursed the city of Madurai,and it is said due to her chastity, the curse came true and city burned. Kannaki  attained salvation after the Goddess of the city appeared before her.And it is said that on her way to Kodungallur,Kannaki visited Attukal and she  took the form of a little girl and asked an old man sitting near the banks of the stream to help her in crossing the river.
          Surprised with a small girl alone near the river ,he took her to his home,but she disappeared from there .Later She came back in his sleep and asked him to build a temple where he found 3 golden lines in his nearby ground of shrubs and herbs(Kavu). He went ahead and did the same, and it is said that this is at the location where now  Attukal temple is situated.

          Another story says that 'Attukal devi' is Bhadrakali, born from the third eye of lord Shiva to kill the demon king Daruka.

Read Attukal Amma Well written book and be blessed 

(Attukal Amma - The goddess of Millions)

 Click the image to know more about the book
Attukal Amma: The Goddess of Millions


HOW TO REACH ATTUKAL TEMPLE

Air : The nearest airport is Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, located at Valiyathura, 6kms from the city and about 7 km from the Temple. All international and domestic flights are available in this airport.

Rail : Thiruvananthapuram central station located at Thampanoor is about 2 km from the temple The booking office is open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 2pm and 2.15 to 8pm. Sunday from 8am to 2pm. Railway enquiry Phone: 131.

Road : Thampanoor, about 2 km from the shrine is the main bus terminal in Thiruvananthapuram. It is located just opposite to the railway station. All long distance buses leave from here. (Bus Station - Phone: 0471-2323886)

Attukal Pongala festival at Attukal bhagavathi temple | Story behind Attukal temple

  What ever may be stories or myths tells us.. Its very true that  all devotees believes that   "Attukal Amma " is behind all the prosperity happened to them.

Attukal Temple Phone Number  
   
  Land Line        :           0471 246 3130

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