In Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, stands the Attukal Bhagavathy temple, lovingly known as the Sabarimala of Women — one of the most beloved Devi shrines of the South. Here the Goddess is worshipped as Bhadrakali, and is revered in the tradition of Kannaki, the heroine of the ancient Tamil epic Silappadikaram, honoured as an embodiment of the Mother's power and justice.
The temple is famed above all for the Attukal Pongala, when for a single day a great multitude of women gather across the city to cook a sacred offering of rice over countless small hearths — recognised as one of the largest gatherings of women anywhere in the world. Attukal Amma is worshipped as a tender and protective Mother, and her shrine is among the great centres of Devi devotion in Kerala.
At Attukal the offering is cooked in the open. On Pongala day the streets around the temple fill with women cooking rice over brick hearths, and the road becomes the kitchen.
Source: Attukal Bhagavathy Temple Trust, Thiruvananthapuram
