In 2009, the ritual had made it to the Guinness Book of World Records for being the largest religious gathering of women on a single day when over 2.5 million people took part in it.There are two stories related to the origin of the temple. The first story goes like this. Mulluveetil is an ancient house in this place. One day in the evening the karanavar(head of the family)was doing his oblation in the Killi River. There he saw a beautiful little girl nearby the river. The girl requested the karanavar to help her in crossing the river. Karanavar helped the girl, stunned by seeing a little girl along the river side, he took the girl to his house. The Other members of the family gave a warm welcome to the girl. After some time the little girl disappeared from that house. On that day the Karanavar had a dream. In the dream the girl revealed herself as the goddess, the incarnation of Goddess Vishnumaya. The girl showed a grove near his house and said that she had drawn 3 lines in a particular spot in the grove, he should build a shrine in that place. The next day the karanavar went to the spot and saw the lines and immediately a temple was built in that place. The second mythology of the origin of the Attukal temple is related to Chilappathikaram, a famous work composed by Elenkovadikal in the sangam period. Chilappathikaram tells the story of Kannaki and son of a rich merchant Kovilan. Kannaki was Kovilan's wife. After their marriage, Kovilan fell in love with a dancer, Madhavi. He spent all his wealth for Madhavi. When he lost everything he returned back to kannaki. At that time the only wealth remaining with her was a pair of leg anklets. Kannaki told Kovilan to sell one of her anklets. Kovilan went to the market to sell this anklet. At that time Madurai was ruled by King Nedunj Cheliyan1, who belonged to the Pandya Dynasty. When he came to the market soldiers of pandya Raja mistakenly thought that the anklet with Kovilan belonged to the Queen of the kingdom. The Queen's Ornament was stolen by someone. The Angry king Ordered to kill Kovilan. When Kannaki heard the news, she rushed to the Palace and showed another anklet with her. The anklet of the queen was made of pearls but the kannagi's anklet was made with Ruby. Distressed king and Queen ended their lives after this incident. Thus Kannaki cursed that the entire Madurai kingdom be burnt. She excluded children and old people from the curse. Her curse becomes a reality which results in huge economic and human loss. Later she withdrew her curse. After this She came to kerala through Kanyakumari. On the way to Kodungallur(a place in Kerala) she came through Attukal and rested there. Ladies there gave a warm welcome to kannaki by making pongal. Later a temple was built in the place where kannaki took rest. This is another story behind the origin of Attukal Temple. Main Deity is Kannaki and the other deities in the temple are Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesha, Lord Serpent, Madan Thampuran. Chattambi Swamikal, a famous Social reformer in the history of kerala found this divine temple as a place for meditation. A temple of Chattambi Swamikal can also be found here. Pongal is usually a dish prepared in Tamil Nadu. Here the main Offering to the goddess is Pongal. Pongal is a sweet Dish made with Rice, Jaggery, Coconut and water in earthen pots. This dish is prepared in a fireplace made with bricks. These 5 elements show the relationship of Human life with Pancha Bhutas. The Pongala Festival is held in the month of February/March. The festival lasts for 10 days. Auspicious Attukal Pongala is done on the 9th day of the festival. Women from different parts of the state, neighboring states, even from different countries come to take part in this festival. Every street, commercial spaces, public places, offices, schools, colleges are filled with Womenfolk for this pongala festival. Attukal Temple is also called 'Sabarimala Of Women. The pongala spreads nearly 5km from the circumference of the temple. Women take vratham for 9 days to participate in pongala. The name is aattukkal Bhagavathy is a misnomer; in Tamil it is ATRUKKAAL=ஆற்றுக்கால்- killi river border and pongal festival; but modified without meaning as aattukal pongala. KR IRS 24224//25224
On Sat, 24 Feb 2024 at 20:18, 'gopala krishnan' via Thatha_Patty < [email protected]> wrote: > ATTUKAL PONGALA > > Dear friends, > Today is the world famous Attukal Pongala in this year. Attukal is a Devi > temple close to Trivandrum. Attukal pongala is considered as all women’s > Sabarimalai pilgrimage and worship. > > Though there are many temples famous for Pongala in Kerala, Attukal is > most famous. Attukal Devi is Kannaki from Madurai on her way to > Kodungallur in Central Kerala. > > The pongala ovens start from the temple, along all roads and streets goes > over 3-4 Kms from the temple. Lakhs of ladies from different parts of > India, from world also, perform pongala as a prayer. The oven at Attukal > temple is called Pandara aduppu. After lighting oven in temple, fire is > extended to light ovens of women, lighting from the oven in the temple. > Women of all age participate. No age restrictions. > > My daughter in law performs pongala at Trivandrum, in an oven somewhat > close to the temple. > > There is relay of the Attukal pongala in Malayalam channels and already > started . > > Gopalakrishnan 25-2-2024 > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Thatha_Patty" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/357001572.176154.1708827511732%40mail.yahoo.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/357001572.176154.1708827511732%40mail.yahoo.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZor_tEoMU3AtSD98%2B%2Byf7QWwGA8-xCaHMoVz3-TwwUj%3D5A%40mail.gmail.com.
