Religious10 days (Pongala is Day 9)

Attukal Pongala

The world's largest women's religious gathering

20 Feb – 1 Mar 2027Thiruvananthapuram, KeralaExtreme crowdIn 302 days
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Significance

A 10-day festival honouring Attukal Amma — a Kerala form of Goddess Kannagi. Pongala is offered as an act of devotion; no man cooks, no man enters the cooking zone.

4 million women cook rice-jaggery pongala in clay pots on makeshift fires along every street of Thiruvananthapuram, surrounding the Attukal Bhagavathy temple in a 7 km ring — a Guinness-certified largest female gathering on earth.

First-time visitor

Arrive a day before Pongala, find a rooftop along MG Road, watch the 4-million pot lighting at 10:30 AM.

What to see

  • Pandakka Pournami kappu on Day 1
  • Kuthiyottam child offerings
  • Pongala day — 4 million pots of pongala lit at 10:30 AM
  • Deity procession on final night

Festival foods

Pongala (jaggery rice)Mandapam prasadBanana chips

Best for

spiritual travellersphotographycultural immersion

Travel tips

  1. 1City roads shut by 6 AM on Pongala day
  2. 2Men witness from rooftops or side streets only
  3. 3Book hotels 2 months ahead in Thiruvananthapuram

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Fort Kochi — linked destination for Attukal Pongala

Linked destination

Fort Kochi

Kerala

A 500-year-old colonial quarter where Chinese fishing nets, Portuguese churches, Dutch palaces and Jewish synagogues share the same salt breeze. The oldest European settlement in India.

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Questions & Answers

About Attukal Pongala

Attukal Pongala 2027 is scheduled for 20 Feb – 1 Mar 2027. That's 302 days from today.

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