THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Women have begun arriving in large numbers in the state capital from across Kerala and even the neighbouring states for celebrating the famous ‘Attukal Pongala’ festival here on February 25.

The festival, which witnesses convergence of thousands of women devotees, involves the preparation of offerings on brick hearths lining the roads of the city for the presiding deity of the Attukal Bhagavathy temple here. Thousands of women were present at the temple on Saturday from early morning to get a glimpse of the deity.

This year’s ‘pongala’ is in the news for another reason. Churches here have changed their worship timings for Sunday to accommodate the huge number of devotees expected to turn up on that day to celebrate the festival. Besides changing the worship timings, some churches will also open their grounds and even some portions of their buildings for those celebrating the ‘pongala’.

In order to ensure that the festival is celebrated in a safe and clean manner, the Kerala government’s Suchitwa Mission has issued a set of green protocols.

The central thrust of the ‘green pongala’ campaign is to avoid single-use plastics and other kinds of disposables, including paper products.