Attukal Pongala 2027: Dates, Where to Celebrate and Travel Tips

Attukal Pongala 2027 is expected on Monday 22 February 2027, the ninth day of a festival that runs from 14 to 23 February at Attukal Bhagavathy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram ¹. These dates come from a July 2026 report that quotes the temple trust, so treat them as expected rather than final ¹.

The date moves because Pongala is fixed by the star, not by the Gregorian calendar. The ten-day festival opens in the Malayalam month of Makaram-Kumbham on the Karthika star, and Pongala falls on the Pooram star, which coincides with the full moon ³. The temple announces the final day, which is why the festival shifts by roughly ten days from one year to the next, as the 2025 and 2026 dates below show.

Readers searching for earlier editions will find these dates:

• 2026: festival from 23 February to 4 March, Pongala on Tuesday 3 March ⁸

• 2025: Pongala on Thursday 13 March ¹³

• 2027: festival 14 to 23 February, Pongala on Monday 22 February ¹

The 2027 festival therefore falls nine days earlier in the calendar than the 2026 one ^{8 1}.

The Kerala Tourism event page warns that its own dates are approximate and should be checked with local authorities ³. Book refundable transport and a flexible room until the temple trust confirms the schedule, because a one-day shift changes which night you need a bed.

Tip: Plan to be in Thiruvananthapuram by the evening of Sunday 21 February 2027, the day before the expected Pongala, so that a one-day change in the final date does not catch you on the road ¹.

Attukal Pongala is a devotional offering, not a ticketed event, and the Kerala Tourism description lists what women bring instead of what they pay: firewood, pots, rice, jaggery and coconut ³. Women of all castes, creeds and religions take part ³.

Everything for the hearth is sold locally. Rice, jaggery and cardamom are available almost everywhere in the city, and earthen pots and firewood can be bought on the spot ¹⁰. A hearth is simple: bricks laid on the ground, dried coconut-palm leaves as fuel and the pot resting over the flames ⁸. No official price list for these items has been published, so ask before you buy and compare two stalls.

The offering itself comes in several forms:

• Sharkkara pongala: raw rice, jaggery, coconut and cardamom, offered for prosperity ²

• Vella pongala, also called pongala payasam: raw rice, milk, banana and rock sugar, offered in gratitude for a fulfilled wish ²

• Vellachoru: raw rice, coconut and banana ²

Two rules matter for packing. Plastic products are strictly prohibited around the temple, and the Suchitwa Mission planned to distribute Haritha Pongala Kits in support of the green protocol in 2026 ⁶. Carry steel plates and cups rather than plastic containers for food and water ¹⁰.

Note: The vow is personal. Many women eat one meal a day and avoid non-vegetarian food and alcohol before cooking, and the fast is traditionally broken only after the offering ^{2 8}.

Attukal Bhagavathy Temple sits about 3 km from Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station and about 5 km from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, according to Kerala Tourism ⁴.

At the airport, Terminal 1 handles domestic flights and Terminal 2 handles international ones, and the airport lies about 3.7 km west of the city centre ¹⁴. The station, coded TVC, stands in Thampanoor opposite the central bus stand and offers a taxi stand and a pre-paid auto service ¹⁵. From either point, the sensible plan on Pongala day is to ride to a drop point and walk the last stretch.

The 2026 traffic plan shows how the area works on the day ⁶:

• Traffic curbs ran from 22 February to 3 March 2026 ⁶

• Vehicles could reach the temple only through the Padassery and Avittom Thirunal Granthasala roads ⁶

• Drivers dropped devotees at Padassery, Attukal Library or Medamukku, then parked at the Airanimmuttam Homoeo College Ground or the Airanimmuttam Research Centre Ground ⁶

• KSRTC ran a chain service to the temple from East Fort and the Iranimuttom parking ground ⁶

• Parking, including two-wheelers, was banned on Manacaud and Padassery approaches and interior roads, and illegally parked vehicles were towed ⁶

KSRTC planned 900 services on Pongala day in 2026 ⁷. On the railway side, the 2025 festival brought a special unreserved train from Ernakulam, leaving at 1:30 am and arriving at 6:30 am, with a return at 2:15 pm ¹³. Check whether Southern Railway announces something similar for 22 February 2027.

Tip: After the 2:20 pm offering, the temple area empties in every direction at once. Wait at a shaded stall for an hour rather than joining the first rush at Thampanoor ^{10 1}.

The ten days run from the Kappukettu ceremony on the first morning to the removal of the kappu on the last night, and Pongala itself fills one afternoon in the middle ^{3 1}. The temple story is told through the Thottam songs of Kannaki, the heroine of the Tamil epic Silappathikaram, for the days before Pongala ^{8 5}.

The expected timetable for the 2027 edition, as reported in July 2026, is ¹:

• 14 February, 11:40 am: Kappukettu and kudiyiruthal, the opening ritual ¹

• 16 February, 8:50 am: the start of the kuthiyottam vow ¹

• 22 February, 10:00 am: aduppuvettu, the lighting of the hearths ¹

• 22 February, 2:20 pm: the Pongala nivedyam, the offering ¹

• 22 February, 7:30 pm: Chooralkuthu for the kuthiyottam children ¹

• 22 February, 11:30 pm: the deity's procession out of the temple ¹

• 23 February, 9:45 pm: the kappu is removed and the festival closes ¹

On Pongala day, the chief priest lights the main hearth, called Pandara Aduppu, and the other fires follow street by street ⁸. Priests then move through the crowd and sprinkle holy water over the cooked offering, and only after that do the women eat ⁸.

The best viewing is not at the temple gate, which is the most crowded point in any year, but along the approach streets, where you can see hearths lit one after another. At night the deity travels to the Sastha temple at Manacaud, with kuthiyottam boys and a thalappoli procession of lamp-bearers ^{12 10}.

Note: The kuthiyottam boys spend seven days at the temple and complete 1,008 prostrations before the goddess ¹². Treat them with the same distance and quiet you would give any vow-keeper.

Men do not cook Attukal Pongala: the ritual belongs to women, and the cooking area around the temple is theirs ^{2 3}. Wikipedia notes that the only men near the temple at that time are security personnel, temple officials and priests ². As a male visitor, your place is at the edge of the streets, not in the hearth rows.

Men have a defined place in the wider festival. The Thottam singers, the head priest and the kuthiyottam boys are all male roles inside the ritual calendar ¹². Outside it, men help women in need, and the festival is described as one that allows it ¹¹.

Practical and respectful ways to take part:

• Drop and collect: families commonly use the Padassery, Attukal Library and Medamukku drop points, then park at the Airanimmuttam grounds ⁶

• Volunteer: male volunteers handed out buttermilk, lemon juice and fruit in 2023, and some groups set up shamianas for shade and lunch kiosks ¹¹

• Give through what exists: church, mosque and cultural-group stalls offered water, juice and food, and these are the natural places to contribute ¹¹

• Ask the temple office, not a stranger on the road, if you want to make a donation

Etiquette matters more than technique, and it is the part visitors most often get wrong. Keep your camera away from faces at the hearths, ask before you photograph a group of women, and never step between pots or over a brick line. Speak quietly near the main hearth, Pandara Aduppu ⁸.

Tip: If you are travelling with a woman who is cooking, agree a meeting point outside the hearth zone and keep her bag, water and charger with you rather than leaving them on the pavement ¹¹.

Pongala day in February is hot and humid: the long-term February average in Thiruvananthapuram is 32 °C by day and 23 °C at night, with about 26 mm of rain over roughly 2 days and about 9 hours of sunshine a day ¹⁶. The city sees its first southwest monsoon showers in early June, so the 2027 festival is expected to be dry ¹⁷.

The sun is only part of it. Women cook for hours beside open flames, and a 2026 report described the sun, thick smoke from hundreds of hearths and close spacing as making conditions extremely hot ⁹. In 2026 a woman's saree caught fire from a hearth behind her, and the Corporation said it was considering a mandatory fixed distance between hearths ⁹.

How to manage a day outside:

• Drink water steadily; the 2023 notes stress dehydration risk ¹⁰

• Wear cotton, and keep loose cloth away from the flames ¹⁰

• Keep a clear gap between your hearth and the next row, especially behind you ⁹

• Find the exits and the nearest water tap: authorities planned 1,550 taps and 50 showers near the temple in 2026 ⁶

• Note the ambulances: ten were planned by the Health Department for Pongala day in 2026 ⁷

Arriving early helps, and so does knowing what you are walking into: the cooking continues for hours before the offering, and the heat builds with every hearth that is lit. Women reach their spots a day before, and groups from nearby lodges can fill a street quickly, so a late arrival is left with whatever space remains ^{11 9}. Keep children away from areas where Pongala is being prepared ¹⁰.

Tip: Plan a shaded rest after the 2:20 pm offering and eat the offering with coconut water, milk or fruit if you have fasted ^{1 2}.

For Pongala, a room near Thampanoor or East Fort is the easiest base, because the Central station and bus stand sit together in Thampanoor and KSRTC's chain service to the temple runs from East Fort ^{15 6}. Manacaud and the roads near Attukal are closest to the hearths, but they are also the roads most affected by the traffic curbs ⁶.

Compare the realistic choices:

• Thampanoor: station, central bus stand, taxis and auto stands within walking distance ¹⁵

• East Fort: the chain-service pick-up for the temple and the city's old core ⁶

• Manacaud and Attukal lanes: shortest final walk, but restricted road access on Pongala day ⁶

• Kowdiar and Pattom: calmer residential parts of the city to the north and north-east ¹⁷

• Kovalam: a beach base about 12.6 km from the city centre, which means a longer return after a late night ¹⁸

• Varkala: about 50 km from the city, so it works as a day trip after the festival rather than a base ¹⁹

Women's groups from nearby hotels and lodges claimed space beside the temple in 2026, which suggests that rooms close to Attukal fill early ⁹. No sourced room-price range exists for 2027, so compare prices on the booking platforms yourself, and reserve as soon as the temple trust confirms the dates.

If you want a beach after the festival, treat Kovalam and Varkala as the second half of the trip: the Varkala cliffs stretch about 7.5 km along the Arabian Sea and the town has its own railway station ¹⁹. For the festival nights themselves, stay in the city.

Choose a room with a fan or air conditioning, since the February average of 23 °C at night is warm ¹⁶. Ask the host whether the road outside is a Pongala hearth street: a hearth outside your door means a very early start and no vehicle access.

Tip: Book a room at least a few weeks ahead for the nights of 21 and 22 February 2027, because the whole city fills up, not only the lanes near Attukal ¹.

Mobile data is worth setting up before you land at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, because maps, parking QR codes and bus checks all run on it ^{14 6}. An India eSIM installed over Wi-Fi at home switches on when you land, so you have a connection for the ride into the city.

Set up the phone in this order:

1. Install the eSIM at home and keep your home number active for calls if you need it.

2. Download offline maps of the area between Thampanoor, East Fort and Manacaud.

3. Download Malayalam in your translation app, because Malayalam leads in the city and announcements may use Malayalam and Tamil ^{17 7}.

4. Save the Padassery, Attukal Library and Medamukku drop points as pins ⁶.

5. Carry a power bank: you will be outside from the early morning until the evening.

The 2026 parking plan used a QR code facility and a 24-hour control room ⁶. If a similar system is used in 2027, you will need a connection to use it.

When millions of people share a few square kilometres, plan for slower connections around the temple and the stations. A downloaded map and a shared pin are more reliable than a call, so agree a meeting point before the smoke thickens.

Tip: Screenshot the bus timetable and the drop-point pins before you walk towards the hearths, in case the signal slows after the 2:20 pm offering ¹.