The controversy over the entrance of women in some specific temples of Kerala is old for decades, but this time women are up in arms to participate in the forthcoming temple festival at the Attukal Bhagavathy temple here on February 22.
What has been learnt from several sources is that millions of women will line the streets leading to the Attukal Bhagavathy temple and shall also partake in the cooking of special rice offering for the deity during the temple festival. While talking to the reporters regarding this the Chairman of the Temple Festival Committee G. Madhavan Nair said, 'During last year's festival, nearly two-and-a-half million women lined up on the streets near the temple to cook the rice offering. This time we expect an increase of 30 percent women devotees.' The event takes place on the penultimate day of the 10-day long Pongala festival. The sweet offering, called pongal, made by women is a mixture of rice, jaggery and coconut.
It has been learnt from the popular tales and also from mythology that Attukal Bhagavathy is believed to be an incarnation of Kannagi, the heroine of Tamil epic 'Silappathikaram'. It is said that Kannagi, who by her wrath burned Madurai in retaliation against her husband's death, traveled to Kerala and rested at Attukal. Women there are believed to have cooked pongal to soothe Kannagi's rage and also the temple is known as the Sabarimala for women.
The unparalleled rush for the festival that had its initiation a few years ago compelled the 'Guinness Book of World Records' to record it as the only event where over a million women get together to take part in festivities. Women are seen to arrive at least two days before the special day to occupy a cooking place near the temple, while the latecomers have to line up further away on the streets.
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