Attukal Pongala - Largest gathering of women |Guinness World Records

The Attukal Bhagavathy Temple is a Hindu religious shrine at Attukal, Trivandrum in Kerala, India. Goddess Bhadrakali (Kannaki), mounted over 'vethala', is the main deity in this temple. Bhadrakali, a form of Mahakali, who killed the demon king Daruka, believed to be born from the third eye of lord Shiva. 'Bhadra' means good and 'Kali' means goddess of time. So Bhadrakali is considered as the goddess of prosperity and salvation. Goddess 'Attukal devi', itself is the supreme mother 'Bhaadrkali devi', (in soumya aspect) the goddess of power and courage. She is often referred as Kannaki, the heroine of Ilanko Adikal's 'Silapathikaaram'. The temple is renowned for the annual Attukal Pongala festival, in which over three million women participate. A festival that has figured in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the single largest gathering of women for a religious activity, the Attukal Pongala continues to draw millions of women with each passing year. According to the Attukal Temple Trust, around 4.5 million devotees are expected to attend the pongala in 2016. Attukal Temple is situated near the heart of the city, 2 kilometres away from Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, East Fort in Thiruvananthapuram. Devotees believe that all of their wishes will be fulfilled by the goddess, provide prosperity and can attain salvation. Attukal devi is often worshipped in 3 forms such as Maha Saraswati (goddess of knowledge), Maha Lakshmi (goddess of wealth) and Mahakali/ Durga/ Parvathy (goddess of power).

     The most famous and important among Pongala festival happens at the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala where around 3.5 million people participate. The festival in Attukal is considered by the population of the city, across their religious beliefs, as the biggest festival in the city.^[4]

Rice, coconut and jaggery are brought by women devotees along with round earthen pots for cooking. Women participating in the Pongala squat on roads, bylanes, footpaths and shop fronts in a radius of several kilometres around the temple 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. This fire is exchanged from one oven to another.

Devi is essentially the mother goddess of ancient people of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In this part of India this concept is evolved from the deity 'Kottave' worshiped on the peak of 'Aiyramala'. During ancient times, the entire population from the nearby villages converge on this hill and they stay there during the entire festivities lasting for several days. During this time social cooking used to take place by the women which was considered to be holy and liked by the goddess. Such social cooking naturally strengthened the bonds between these villages. This custom is still continued in the form of Pongala offering. This is one side of the character of the goddess. She is also the deity who brings victory in wars and therefore the goddess is offered blood sacrifice as stated in Sangam Literature. The word used for this is 'Kuruthi'. It means killing. The Tookaam ceremonies in some temples is a reminder of the ancient practice of blood sacrifice. This custom was modified later on to give 'Kuruthi' to the deity by killing cocks, which however is not practiced now.

Pongala festival is mainly celebrated on a large scale in the Attukal Temple in Thiruvananthapuram Town itself. Other temples where Pongala Samarpanam (though on a significantly smaller scale) is done are the Vellayani Devi Temple, Kovilvila Bhagavati Temple, Karikkakom Devi Temple, Puthiyakavu Bhagavathi Temple, Kanakathur Sree Kurumbakkavu Temple, Pulpally Seetha Devi Temple, Palakunnu Bhagavathi Temple, Mulluthara Devi Temple, Chakkulathukavu Temple, anikkattilammakshethram and Thazhoor Bhagavathy Kshetram in Kerala.

The annual Pongala festival of Attukal Bhagavathi temple, has been entered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest congregation of women in the world. 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.

The Pongala celebration at Vellayani Devi temple is also famous. The Pongala, Alpindi Vilakku, Kalamerzuthum Pattum, Kali Pooja, Devi Pooja, Ethirealppu festival, Sarppam Thullal, Sarppam Pattum, Navarthri Pooja and the traditional Pooja known as Uthiradam Pooja( or Kurthi Pooja) are organized as part of the Pongala festivities at Vellayani Devi Temple.

History

The Goddess Kannaki (Bhadrakali) is the main deity in this temple. The mythology behind the temple, relates to the story of Kannagi who was married to Kovalan, son of a wealthy merchant. After marriage, Kovalan met a dancer Madhavi and spent all his riches on her forgetting his wife. But when he was penniless, he went back to Kannagi. The only precious thing left to be sold was Kannagi's pair of anklets. They went with it to the king of Madurai to sell it. But an anklet was stolen from the Queen which looked similar to Kannagi's. When Kovalan tried to sell it, he was mistaken for the theft and beheaded by the king's soldiers.

Kannagi got infuriated when she heard the news and rushed to the King with the second pair of anklet. She broke one of the anklets and it contained rubies while the Queen's contained pearls. She cursed the city of Madurai, and it is said that due to her chastity, the curse came true and Madurai burned. Kannagi is said to have attained salvation after the Goddess of the city appeared before her.

It is said that on her way to Kodungallur, Kannagi passed Attukal. She took the form of a little girl. An old man was sitting on the banks of a stream, when the girl went to him and asked him whether he could help her cross it. Surprised to find the young girl alone, he took her home. But she disappeared. She came back in his sleep and asked him to build a temple where he found 3 golden lines in his grove. He went ahead and did the same, and it is said that this is at the location of the present Attukal temple. Goddess Kodungallooramma (Bhadrakali/Kannaki) is believed to be present at Attukal during the festival days. Ponkala is offered to celebrate the victory of Kannaki over the king Pandya. Another story says that 'Attukal devi' is Bhadrakali, born from the third eye of lord Shiva to kill the demon king Daruka. Mother Bhadrakali is a form of Shakthi devi (Mahakali) worshipped mainly in Kerala. 'Bhadra' means good and 'Kali' means goddess of time. So Bhadrakali is often referred as the goddess of prosperity, time and salvation.

kovalam International Beach

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4MBkBr-qriuYfcIWLBBSkg Kovalam was among the most prominent tourist spots in India during the hippy era. Kovalam is a beach town by the Arabian Sea in Thiruvananthapuram metropolitan area, of Trivandrum City Kerala, India, located around 18 km south of the city center.There are a large number of beach resorts in and around Kovalam.The sea port of Vizhinjam is about 3 km away and famous for its special varieties of fish, old Hindu temples, big churches and a mosque.The Proposed International Trans shipment Terminal at Vizhinjam is also close to Kovalam.
 It still has a high status among tourists, who arrive mostly from Europe and Israel. Kovalam is finding a new significance in the light of several Ayurvedic salons, and recuperation and regeneration resorts which provide a wide variety of Ayurvedic treatments for tourists.[
                   Kovalam first received attention when the Regent Maharani Sethu Lakshmi Bayi of Travancore constructed her beach resort, Halcyon Castle, here towards the end of the 1920s. Thereafter the place was brought to the public eye by her nephew the Maharaja of Travancore. The European guests of the then Travancore kingdom discovered the potentiality of Kovalam beach as a tourist destination in the 1930s. However, Kovalam shot into limelight in the early seventies with arrivals of the masses of hippies on their way to Ceylon in the Hippie Trail. This exodus started the transformation of a casual fishing village of Kerala into one of the most important tourist destinations in all India.

Kovalam has three beaches separated by rocky outcroppings in its 17 km coastline, the three together form the famous crescent of the Kovalam beach.

Lighthouse Beach
            The southernmost beach, the Lighthouse Beach is the one most frequented by tourists, Lighthouse Beach got its name due to the old Vizhinjam Lighthouse located on a 35 meter high on top of the Kurumkal hillock. The lighthouse is built using stones, is colored in red and white bands and enjoys a height of 118 feet. It's intermittent beams at night render the beach with an unearthly charm.

Hawah Beach

Eve’s Beach, more commonly known as Hawa Beach, ranks second, in the early day, is a beehive of activities with fishermen setting out for sea. With a high rock promontory and a calm bay of blue waters, this beach paradise creates a unique aquarelle on moonlit nights.

Samudra Beach

A large promontory separates this part from the southern side. Samudra Beach doesn't have tourists thronging there or hectic business. The local fishermen ply their trade on this part.
  Detour past Kovalam junction to land on Samudra Beach which is to the north of Ashoka Beach. One has the option to walk along the sea-wall too.The sight of the waves lashing on the rocks below is awesome.
 Shallow waters stretching for hundreds of metres are ideal for swimming. The beaches have steep palm covered headlands and are lined with shops that offer all kinds of goods and services.
              The larger of the beaches is called Lighthouse Beach for its 35 metre high light house which towers over it atop Kurumkal hillock. The second largest one is Hawah Beach named thus for the topless European women who used to throng there. It was the first topless beach in India.However topless bathing is banned now except in private coves owned by resorts. Visitors frequent these two beaches. The northern part of the beach is known as Samudra Beach in tourism parlance. A large promontory separates this part from the southern side. Samudra Beach doesn't have tourists thronging there or hectic business. The local fishermen ply their trade on this part. The sands on the beaches in Kovalam are partially black in colour due to the presence of ilmenite and Monazite. The normal tourist season is from September to May. Ashoka beach is also the part of Kovalam beach.
    The long coastline of Kerala is inextricably entwined with the culture, life and traditions of the state. Memories of early seafarers and traders have faded, but boats of various types and styles have survived. Kerala's beaches, or Kovalam to be more specific, were rediscovered by back-packers and tan-seekers in the sixties. Hordes of hippies followed in the seventies. That started the transformation of the casual fishing village into a busy tourist destination. In 2002, there were 66 hotels in Kovalam, and that too in a place that is just 16 km from the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.
    From a measly 29,000 overseas tourists visiting Kerala in 1979, the number rose to 225,000 in 2000 and the number of tourists is growing rapidly. Foreign tourist arrivals in Kerala in 2006 was 428,534, an increase of 23.68% over the previous year. Domestic tourist arrivals were 6,271,724, an increase of 5.47% over the previous year.The ABC of Kerala tourism is ayurveda, beaches, (backwater) canals.
           While details of incoming tourists are not available, indications of a survey are that domestic tourists are high from Gujarat and Maharashtra both located on the west coast of India, and international tourists are mostly from Europe. Beaches were amongst the favourite destination of foreign tourists.
              Lying between north latitudes 8°18' and 12°48' .s Kerala is well within the humid equatorial tropics. The mean annual temperatures range from 25.0–27.5 °C in the coastal lowlands. With 120–140 rainy days per year, Kerala is influenced by the seasonal heavy rains of the southwest summer monsoon.
       Beaches in the Indian state of Kerala are spread along the 550-km Arabian Sea coastline. Kerala is an Indian state occupying the south-west corner of the subcontinent. The topography of the coastline is distinctive and changes abruptly as one proceeds from north to south. In the northern parts of Kerala, in places such as Bekal, Thalassery and Kannur, the headlands rise above the shore from the fringe of the beaches. The highlands are dotted with forts built by the colonial powers – the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British. The view of the surrounding area is exquisite. From Kozhikode, once the hub of the Malabar coast, the view changes to flat lands with rocky outcroppings jutting out. One feature is common all through – the coconut tree in large numbers. Dense groves of coconut trees line the coast and extend to the interiors.