Thiruvananthapuram: The capital city has geared up for this year’s Attukal Pongala , which will take place on Wednesday. All arrangements are in place for the smooth conduct of the festival.This year more devotees will be able to offer pongala closer to the temple, as Attukal Devi Temple Trust has purchased 35 cents adjacent to the temple and will open it for devotees to set up hearths. Offering pongala close to the temple is a cherished wish for any ardent devout.“Maybe in future this land would be converted into a parking lot, but as of this year, we’ll open it to devotees which would ensure larger participation in pongala close to the temple,” said Trust secretary K Sisupalan Nair. The land, where stages for cultural programmes are set up, would be cleared and made ready for pongala offering before Wednesday.This year's pongala also brought a rare distinction to the trust as it became one of the first religious committees in the state to get food safety license and registration for production and sale of prasadam (appam and aravana). “We have completed all formalities,” said convener of publicity committee Shobha V.The temple committee, which had faced severe criticism for the conduct of Kuthiyottam, also made one change this year. The curtain which masked the prarthanamandapam where the children are housed was removed and a grill was placed through which parents and children could see each other. “We understood that being away from parents was hard for some of the kids and hence the new system was put in place. Besides, daily counselling sessions have also been introduced for the children,” added Shobha.Meanwhile, the sprawling ground around the temple and narrow housing lanes leading to the main temple compound are overflowing with festival spirit.For Manonmani, the member of the family which has been supplying items for temple rituals for the last 45 years, it has been busy days. Every day she and her husband Sivanandan ensure supply of flowers, sandal, vermillion and other items for temple rituals. The days just before pongala become even more hectic. Daily supply of 15 kg of sandal has to be raised to 100 kg of sandal. Bouquets need to be made for 815 kuthiyottam kids for the procession. “We accommodate around 50 persons in our house. As many as 100 bricks are always kept ready and if needed we go for more. We also prepare food and refreshments for the devotees. This routine has been an indispensable part of our lives for years,” says Manonmani.

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