Women denied permission to offer Pongala at temple


THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Tension prevailed as for the first time, hundreds of women devotees, who had been offering Pongala in front of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple here for years suffered a setback Tuesday when Kerala Police denied permission for the religious ritual in front of the temple this year.


The devotees said even the premises of Churches and Mosques are being used for the Pongala as a great gesture of religious harmony. Even the people from other communities offer all facilities to the women devotees arriving in the capital from distant places including neighbouring states during this festival every year.


But for the first time, the Kerala police denied permission to offer 'Pongala' in front of the temple citing security reasons, leaving the devotees in desperation.


Adamant police officials had discussions with the representatives of various religious organisations, but no amicable solution was evolved, creating tension as women devotees are also adamant in their demand to allow the temple premises for the ritual.
This year's 'Attukal Pongala', the largest annual gathering of women devotees in the world, will be held at Attukal Bhagavathy temple here tomorrow.


It is expected that about 35 lakh women devotees will take part in the festival. From early this morning, thousands of women have been flocking to a 10-km radius of the Attukal temple in the city to offer 'Pongala'.

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