Attukal Pongala is observed today, February 28, 2010 at the Attukal Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The capital city of the state of Kerala in India, Trivandrum, will be transformed into a sea of women devotees annually on the Pooram Nakshatram day in the Malayalam month of Kumbham (February – March). More than two million women participate in the Attukal Pongala ritual, which is the largest annual gathering of women in the world. All the women that have descended to Attukal in Trivandrum from various parts of Kerala, India and around the world are here to cook Pongala to Attukal Devi, an incarnation of Shakti.

The 'Pongala' ritual comprises preparing ‘prasad’ for the deity. Women cook rice and jaggery in earthen pots and they offer it to the goddess. They also cook different type of sweet dishes – called ‘mandaputtu,’ ‘appam,’ ‘therali’ – made out of rice powder and jaggery. Coconut tree fronds are used to cook the ‘prasad.’

Fifty years ago the Pongala ritual was a small festival celebrated by the families in and around the Attukal village. Slowly, the power and fame of the Devi started spreading around as people started to find solace and peace in the Devi. This incarnation of Shakti soon started to attract thousands of Shaktis – women devotees. Today, 2.5 million Shaktis arrive to propitiate the Supreme Shakti – which is the life force behind all animate and inanimate.