Attukal festival begins tomorrow

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The 11-day Attukal Pongala festival will begin with the ‘Kappukettu’ ceremony on Thursday. Actor Jayasurya will inaugurate the cultural programmes in the temple at 6.30pm on Thursday. He will give away Amba Puraskaram instituted by temple trust to ace oncologist Dr V.P. Gangadharan. A festival committee with over 110 members will be formed to ensure the smooth conduct of the around 40 lakh devotees expected to attend the final day of celebration. The festival touted as the largest annual congregation of women will conclude on March 2 with pongala.

On the final day, the holy hearth will be lighted by the chief priest of the temple at 10.15am and sanctification ritual will be performed at 2.30pm.  Around 10,000 girls are expected to be part of Thalappoli ceremony and a thousand boys will observe penance and be part of Kuthiyottam.  A massive police control room backed by hundreds of CCTVs will also start functioning. Approximately 40 plain clothed policewomen will be fanned out to battle petty thieves, snatchers and molesters. The Food Safety has made it compulsory for all entities organising ‘annadan-am’ to register themselves through Akshaya centre. The trust officials have also requested devotees to abide by the green protocols.