Attukaal Pongala

Millions of women throng Kerala festival
India's southern state of Kerala may have hosted the largest gathering of women ever seen on the planet.

Clad in traditional Kerala saris and bearing offerings of food, more than two million women - perhaps more - thronged the state capital Trivandrum on Sunday.

The women braved searing heat to offer a special meal at the Attukal temple to Hindu goddess Bhagavathy - one incarnation of the potent goddesses Kali and Saraswati.

Women howled shrilly, as is the custom at the culmination of this 10-day annual event, and they joined the chief priest in offering their earthenware pots overflowing with rice and jaggery - an unrefined sugar - to the presiding goddess.

They were seeking her blessing for the health and prosperity of their families - and the special meal, known as the pongala, was later distributed among family and friends back at home.

Aerial count



Women howl shrilly as they make their offering
This is a unique festival the size of which is unmatched - the congregation at Attukal temple has grown exponentially over the years.

Such festivities used to be modest affairs and the annual gathering was confined to the temple premises until about 25 years ago.

But once families associated with the temple formed a trust, the festival became more organised, there was more publicity and it attracted women from across the state and even foreign countries.

Guinness Worlds Records certified the crowd strength was 1.5 million when it was assessed for the first time in 1997.

Last year turnout was 2.5 million and this year, according to festival organisers, it was estimated to be 3 million.

Attukal Bhagavathy Temple Trust secretary KP Ramachandran Nair says that from next year an agency associated with the National Geographic channel will conduct aerial surveys for a more scientific headcount.

It is an elaborate logistical feat: almost 3,000 police, 600 of them women, were on duty around the clock. Two hundred priests positioned themselves at different points to sprinkle holy water on the pongala. Fifty portable toilets were also provided.

Tearful devotees

At Sunday's mass offering, the ceremonial cooking began at 1015 local time (0445 GMT). The chief priest lit up the main hearth in front of the temple.


There is nothing like this anywhere else in the world. It is amazing the way a whole city makes arrangements for women to make this offering

Diane Jennet, devotee
Smoke billowed from hundreds of thousands of temporary hearths and hung above the city.

Tearful women swayed to the chanting of mantras, invoking the blessing of the goddess until next year's festival.

Popular Malayalam television actress Chippi was also present: "I've lost count of the number of times I've participated in the pongala festival.

"And why I do it is because I am sure Attukalamma [the mother goddess] will take care of me and family till I come back next year."

Not everyone manages to make their offering close to the temple: many had to set up hearth wherever they could.

People who live near the temple host dozens of women to cook the pongala. One retired professor of English, MS Hema, hosted more than 100 friends and relatives at her home.



The size of the women's festival is unmatched
Among her guests was Dianne Jennet, who has been coming every year since 1997 from San Francisco. The collective spirituality she observed in female devotees at Attukal became the subject of of her PhD dissertation back in the United States.

"It's difficult to explain. I just develop this desire to make the journey every year. Pongala is all about community, devotion and equality.

"There is nothing like this anywhere else in the world. It is amazing the way a whole city makes arrangements for women to make this offering. Nobody could imagine shutting down San Francisco for a day, blocking the vehicles for a women's gathering," she said.

The legend goes that Bhagavathy once visited the spot where the temple stands today on the banks of the Killiyar river.

The goddess, in the guise of a girl, sought the help of the head of a local family to cross the river. He helped her - but she vanished soon after.

In the ancient religious texts, Bhagavathy is said to annihilate evil and protects the good in this world - she grants every wish of her devotees. This is also the fervent hope of the women who come year on year.

At the end of the ceremony a small plane hovered above the masses showering flowers.

It was the end to a tiring but spiritually nourishing session. Devotees picked up their belongings and boarded buses and trains to head home.
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Mumbai attacks India 26/11

125 dead, 327 injured in Mumbai attacks

New Delhi NSG commandos battled to flush out militants still resisting in three pockets in the country's financial capital on Friday, over 24 hours after heavily armed fighters killed at least 125 people in coordinated attacks.

Early on Friday morning, sporadic gunfire and explosions continued at a Jewish centre where at least 10 Israelis were trapped or being held hostage.


Police said militants were also still holed up at the Taj Mahal hotel and the nearby Oberoi-Trident hotel along with an unknown number of hostages.


Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pinned blame for the attacks on militant groups based in India's neighbours, usually an allusion to Pakistan, raising prospects of renewed tension between the nuclear-armed rivals.


He warned of "a cost" if these nations did not take action to stop their territory being used to launch such attacks.


An estimated 25 men armed with assault rifles and grenades -- at least some of whom arrived by sea -- fanned out across Mumbai on Wednesday night to attack sites popular with tourists and businessmen, including the city's top two luxury hotels.


Police said at least seven of the attackers were killed and nine suspects had been taken into custody. They said 12 policemen were killed, including Hemant Karkare, chief of the police anti-terrorist squad in Mumbai.


At least six foreigners, including one Australian, a Briton, an Italian and a Japanese national, were killed. Scores of others were trapped in the fighting or were being held hostage.


More than 300 people were wounded.


Commandos battled the militants through Thursday, often room to room in the hotels, to rescue people, police said. Flames billowed out of the buildings and loud explosions were heard during the fighting.


Mumbai, a city of nearly 18 million people that is the nerve-centre of India's growing economic prowess and home to the "Bollywood" film industry, was virtually shut down on Thursday as the battles raged.


But in a reflection of the poverty that sits cheek-by-jowl with the upmarket shops and restaurants in the city, hundreds of people were stretched out asleep on pavements and handcarts near the scenes of fighting.


The sea-facing Marine Drive in front of the Oberoi-Trident is a favoured spot for early morning walks, and some regulars came out for their constitutional despite the tension.


"I hear they (the security forces) have relaxed the rules a little so I came for my morning walk but I did not see any of the regulars," said Raja Ram Patil, 54, a local businessman.



British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the attack would be met with a "vigorous response".


U.S. President-elect Barack Obama condemned the incident. Obama, who favours a regional solution to the war in Afghanistan and is encouraging Pakistan and India to make peace over Kashmir, was monitoring the situation closely, an aide said. [nLR502129]


The Times of India published a photograph of one of the attackers, dressed in a black T-shirt and holding an assault rifle with a backpack over his shoulder.


At least some of them had come ashore in what police said was a rubber dinghy. They commandeered a vehicle and sprayed passersby with bullets, and fired indiscriminately in a train station, hospitals and a popular tourist cafe.

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