Pongala

The name 'Pongala' means 'to boil over' and refers to the ritualistic offering of porridge made of rice, sweet brown molasses, coconut gratings, nuts and raisins.

Women participating in the Pongala set up makeshift stoves using bricks and firewood along the roads, bylanes, footpaths and shop fronts in a radius of several kilometres around the temple.

They squat next to their stoves to cook the mixture of rice, jaggery and coconut in earthen pots that is offered to the goddess seeking divine blessings.

The Chief Priest of the temple lights the main hearth from the divine fire inside the sanctum sanctorum.

She is also the deity who brings victory in wars and therefore the goddess is offered blood sacrifice as stated in Sangam Literature.

[5][6] The festival draws over 2.5 million women on a single day in March to perform the Pongala ritual, and has been a center of attraction for devotees as well as tourists who visit Trivandrum during this season.