Kerala: Green protocols issued by govt for clean Attukal Pongala festival

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 23 (PTI) The Kerala government's Suchitwa Mission on Friday issued a set of green protocols to be followed during the famous 'Attukal Pongala' festival to ensure it is celebrated in the state capital on February 25 in a safe and clean manner.

The festival, which witnesses convergence of thousands of women devotees from across the state, involves the preparation of offerings on brick hearths lining the roads of the city for the presiding deity of the Attukal Bhagavathy temple here.

The central theme of the campaign launched by the Suchitwa Mission, the Technical Support Group (TSG) in the waste management sector under the Local Self Government Department, is 'Green Pongala, Safe Pongala - worship without harming nature', a government statement said.

The central thrust of the campaign, being run with the support of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple Trust, is to avoid single-use plastics and other kinds of disposables, including paper products, during the festival, the statement said.

"Devotees have been urged to strictly avoid plastic and other use-and-throw materials during the pongala. Only steel plates and steel glasses should be used for distribution of food and drinking water. Inspection has been stepped up to ensure that banned materials are not used and violators promptly imposed with fines.

"The devotees should avoid bringing plastic covers and polluting materials to the spot. In case, any such material happens to be in their possession due to unavoidable reasons, it should be taken back instead of throwing them around," it said.

A letter containing the guidelines to be followed during the pongala ritual and all festivities connected to the event has been handed over to the temple management, it said.

The guidelines and the action plan were drawn up based on meetings held at the office of the Local Self Governments Minister M B Rajesh, the District Collectorate and the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation since February 10, Suchitwa Mission's Thiruvananthapuram District Coordination Committee said, according to the statement.

To increase awareness about the green protocols, a hashtag campaign with posters has been mounted on social media highlighting the central theme and the guidelines to be followed by organisers of food distribution drives, shop owners and voluntary groups, it said.

Additionally, a vehicle campaign was also flagged off by Suchitwa Mission Executive Director U V Jose and Attukal Temple Trust President V Sobha, the statement said.

Besides that, a 'Plastic-free Pongala' campaign has also been launched jointly with the District Collectorate and Information Bureau and training has been given to the 'Green Army' to be deployed by the Corporation during the event, it said.

The Suchitwa Mission will also deploy resource persons in various locations in the city to support the Green Army on the festival day, it further said.

"Joint inspections with the Corporation officials are being conducted to ensure that the green protocol is followed to the last detail. This has been stepped up two days ahead of the pongala and during the event," it added.

The 'pongala' -- a mix of rice, jaggery and scraped coconut -- or various other kinds of sweet delicacies are prepared in fresh earthen or metal pots.

The pongala festival marks the finale of a 10-day ritual at the shrine.

Preparing 'pongala' is considered an auspicious all-women ritual as part of the annual festival of the Attukal temple here, popularly known as the 'Women's Sabarimala'.

As per a local legend, the annual festival commemorates the hospitality accorded by women in the locality to Kannagi, the divine incarnation of the protagonist of the Tamil epic 'Silappadhikaram' while she was on her way to avenge the injustice meted out to her husband Kovalan, after destroying Madurai city. PTI