Attukkal Pongala festival in Thiruvananthapuram is a mega mela that draws lakhs of female devotees every year. In the blazing heat of March they travel from far and near, squat on the roadside at midday and cook a delicious dish with the sacred fire passed on by a male temple priest. The goddess is female - some say she is a spiritualized version of Kannagi, the avenging widow of Ilango's Tamil epic Silapathikaram. Over the years many women friends have urged me to offer pongala. Some are horrified when I tell them I've haven't done it even once. The unstated question on their minds is: What sort of a Hindu are you? But I just don't buy the idea that the goddess has a sweet tooth and she actually wants me to sit out there in the open and get roasted alive.
Believe me I'm not totally unfamiliar with the ways of goddesses. My family temple in faraway Kannur has a Kali deity and a fearsome name to match. Most of the erstwhile warrior clans in Kerala seem to have kudumba ksethrams that uphold Durga-Kali cult. I've often wondered why they don't worship Shiva or Krishna instead. Shiva is the ultimate Destroyer and Krishna masterminded the Pandava victory in the mother of all battles at Kurukshethra. So why do we seek the blessings of the vengeful mother goddess when we go to war? Oops! We no longer go to war, and we no longer pray for victory. All we need today is wealth, health and entertainment. Perhaps we ought to be worshipping Kubera and others.
Attukal Pongala is a classic example of the spectacular success of a marketing campaign in a remarkably short time. Someday it will be the subject of a Harvard case study. Unlike Sabarimala, Attukkal temple has no visible magic or divine light or anything of the sort. It deserves credit for attracting hordes of devotees without hype and hysteria. And men are not 'banned' or prevented from entering or worshipping, whereas at Sabarimala a 'spiritual' ban on women is aggressively practised. But why is the pongala offered only by women? Don't men need the Devi's blessings too? Or is it because our patriarchal mindset cannot imagine men doing the cooking?
Incidentally, pongala happens at other temples too, but it is Attukkal temple that has made it to the Guinness Book of World Records for spawning the world's largest congregation of women year after year. The media, the state government, and various associations heartily join in the frenzied activities, adding their own brand of sugar and jaggery to the divine concoction. This mega show has given rise to yet another brand of tourism, namely Pongala tourism. No one can deny that the world's most lucrative business is religion. You can start off with zero investment and little or no skills. The risk element is negligible, and if you are a little market savvy you can do wonders. The second best business is politics, but it needs some special abilities, and the risks are somewhat higher. Interestingly, politicians are among the biggest consumers of religion. They play for high stakes, so they need special blessings, unlike the common man who has little to lose. Let us see how many Cabinet wives are out there on Pongala Day to cook a special commie sweet dish!
