page_title: Pongal (festival)
section_title: Pongala in Kerala
hierarchical_section_title: Pongal (festival) / Pongala in Kerala
caption_attribution_description: English: Worship during Attukal Pongala at Tippu Street, South Fort, Thiruvananthapuram.
context_page_description: Pongal, is also referred to as Thai Pongal, is a multi-day Tamil harvest festival of South India, particularly in the Tamil community. It is observed at the start of the month Tai according to Tamil solar calendar, and this is typically about January 14. It is dedicated to the sun god, the Surya, and corresponds to Makar Sankranti, the harvest festival under many regional names celebrated throughout India. The three days of the Pongal festival are called Bhogi Pongal, Surya Pongal and Maattu Pongal.
  According to tradition, the festival marks the end of winter solstice, and the start of the sun's six-month-long journey northwards when the sun enters the zodiac Makara. The festival is named after the ceremonial "Pongal", which means "to boil, overflow" and refers to the traditional dish prepared from the new harvest of rice boiled in milk with jaggery. To mark the festival, the pongal sweet dish is prepared, first offered to the gods and goddesses, followed sometimes with an offering to cows, and then shared by the family. Festive celebrations include decorating cows and their horns, ritual bathing and processions.
context_section_description: In Kerala – a state that shares historic cultural overlap with Tamils through Chera dynasty according to Sangam literature, the festival is called Pongala. The rituals including the cooking of milk-rice-jaggery dish, social visits, and the reverence for cattle is observed in Kerala communities. It is observed on the same day as Tamil Pongal, and is a limited state holiday in the districts of Wayanad, Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram.
  Of particular note is the largest pilgrimage and annual gathering of Hindu women to the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple near Thiruvanathapuram (Kerala). The Pongala festival falls according to the Malayalam calendar, in the month of Makaram-Kumbham (February–March). They gather and stay in the streets, town people host and help with the supplies, they cook together and offer the Pongala dish to the Hindu temple goddess Bhagavathy (aka Parvati avatar, Durga-Kannaki). Free food is distributed to everyone on the streets.
  While the Attukal Pongala pilgrimage and festival has roots in the Hindu culture and temple, it attracts participation from women from other religions. The Attukal Pongala has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest gathering of women in the world, featuring an estimated 2.5 million women. The celebrations include dance (Kathakali) and musical performances by boys and girls, as well as major processions featuring the temple goddess.
caption: The Pongala dish by women pilgrims near the Goddess temple in south Kerala
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