Women from all walks of life assembled in Thiruvananthapuram, capital of Kerala, to celebrate the Attukal Pongala festival on Tuesday.
According to the police and trustees the Attukal temple, considered as the Sabarimala of Women, around 25 lakh women got together to give pongala as offering to goddess Kannaki, the deity of Attukal temple.
Pongala falls on the penultimate day of the 10-day festival at Attukal temple. Boiling earthen pots spread around 6 km around the city premises headlined the festive spirit. All roads in Thiruvananthapuram led to the Attukal temple on Tuesday with celebrities conducting the rituals shoulder to shoulder with the common women.
Miss World runner-up Parvathi Omanakkutan, South India's melody queen K S Chitra, cine and TV stars Chippy, Ambilidevi, Sreelekha, Kalpana and a horde of other celebrities conducted their pongala offerings to the Attukal devi.
Malayalam cine super star Suresh Gopi inaugurated the free lunch offered by the Attukal temple trust along with Parvathi Omanakuttan.
Police and administration made elaborate arrangements to prevent any untoward incidents and the Director General of Police Jacob Punnose, Additional DGP V R Rajeevan and the city Police Commissioner Ravada Chandrashekhar were present through out the function.
A strong contingent of around 2,000 policemen and 500 women constables were put on duty during the pongala day. Even political leaders made it a point not do much politicking on pongala day.
