The Attukal pongala festival got off to a rapturous beginning on Sunday morning with the temple’s chief priest, T. M. Muralidharan Namboodiripadu, highlighting the conventional hearth in the presence of hundreds of worshippers.

Hundreds of thousands of women devotees lit the small hearths along the roadsides and cooked rice and jiggery, which they would offer as a sacrament later in the afternoon to appease the presiding deity of the ancient Attukal Devi temple.

The flame from the sacred heart inside the temple precincts was passed on quickly in several directions.

As per the tradition, the ritual is performed by women, seeking the blessings of Goddess Bhagavathi for peace, plenty and prosperity.

Earlier, the priests ritually sanctified the temple precincts. The temple “thanthri”, Chonas Dineshan Namboodiripad, then handed over the sacred flame from inside the sanctum sanctorum to the chief priest.

The city was jammed with vehicles transporting devotees to Attukal from 3.30 a.m. The police reported a hard time managing vehicular traffic and pedestrian movement. Mob control proved cumbersome inside the Attukal temple on account of the absence of barricades, a senior police official revealed.