Attukal Bhagavathy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram

The Attukal Bhagavathy temple is a hindu shrine located at Attukal in Kerala. It is dedicated to the goddess Bhadrakali, symbolically places over a spirit vetala. She is believed to be an incarnation of Kannagi, the famed heroine of the ancient Tamil epic Clippatikaram.

The temple is renowned for the annual Attukal Pongal festival, in which over three million women participate. This festival has figured in the Guinnes Book of World Records for being the largest gathering of women for a religious acitivity. 

History

Devotees believe that all the wishes are fulfilled by the goddess and worship to her can allow them to attain freedom for rebirth. The goddess is often worshiped as all three goddesses of the Tridevi:Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati.

According to the epic, Kannagi who was married to Kovalan, the son of a wealthy merchant. After their wedding, Kovalan met a dancer named Madhavi and spent all his money on her, neglecting his wife. When he gave up all his money, he returned to Kannagi. The couple went to the king of Madurai with Kannagi's pair of anklets to sell it and one of the anklets had been stolen in coincidentally which looks like Kannagi's. 

King thought Kovalan husband was the thief and was killed by sword by soldiers. Kannagi heard the news and rushed to the king with her other anklet which was broken without any rubies, while the queen's anklet had pearls. She cursed the city of Madurai to burn, and because of her purity was powerful, the curse came true. It is believed that Kannagi attained liberation after the city's goddess appeared before her.

How To Reach

Tiruvananthapuram bus stand is located at a distance of around 3 KM from the temple. You can take a local taxi or bus to reach the temple from bus stand.