Thousands of women converge for Attukal Pongala amid corona scare

Thousands of women devotees converged at Attukal in Thiruvananthapuram to offer ‘pongala’ amid coronavirus fears looming large. Attukal Pongala is considered the largest religious congregation of women in the country.

Unlike previous years, women devotees, including children and elders, could be seen wearing face masks while preparing the offering, as a precautionary measure in the wake of the virus outbreak. People using hand sanitizers in between was also common. Some devotees complained that masks and sanitizers were out of stock in many medical shops in the city.

On Sunday, State Health Minister K K Shailaja said the festival, which is celebrated in Thiruvananthapuram every year, would be not cancelled since months of preparation had gone into it.

“Months of preparation has gone into the conduct of the Pongala. So, the decision is to not cancel the Pongala,” Shailaja said.

She added that it would be too late now to issue any special advisory for the festival regarding the spread of coronavirus, since thousands of people had already turned up.
This comes after five more people from Kerala tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday (March 8).

She said that since they have decided to go ahead with the Pongala, precautions taken by everyone on their own would be the only safety measure.

The health minister said that those with even the slightest hint of a disease, with symptoms of a cold, cough, runny nose, or a sore throat, should avoid attending the festival.

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Despite not being able to cancel the event, Shailaja suggested that those who had returned from foreign countries over the past two months could offer the Pongala from their houses. However, this suggestion did not seem to be taken up for further discussion.

Thiruvananthapuram District Collector K Gopalakrishnan said they had begun to conduct awareness campaigns on the prevention of infection by COVID-19 at railway stations, bus stands, and temples. he said he had been coordinating with Collectors of other districts to do the same.

The Attukal Pongala is said to witness the largest congregation of women for a single event in the entire world.

Since the World Health Organisation (WHO) had issued guidelines suggesting people — especially those above the age of 60 — to avoid crowded areas, the decision to continue with the festival seems to a major health hazard, considering the fact that nearly 35 per cent of women attending the Pongala would be over the age of 60.

There are also speculations that issuing an advisory about the Pongala that may seem restrictive could be politically adverse.

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Shailaja said 23 health teams have been constituted as part of the precautionary measures, and that 12 four-wheeler ambulances and five bike ambulances would be deployed at the site of the event.

She added that teams of people, including those from residents’ organisations, would be positioned in different areas to keep an eye on women showing symptoms of being infected COVID-19. However, there is a catch in this since it wouldn’t be easy to distinguish those showing coronavirus symptoms, and those who are coughing and sneezing due to the excess smoke and fumes from the Pongala pots.

This situation is still fraught with more complications than expected, since women from not just all parts of Kerala, but from across the world would be attending the festival. Officials claim it has been difficult to screen all foreigners visiting the city since they are short on staff and do not have enough time to examine every single visitor.