In Trivandrum, home to Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and others, there is always a festival celebrating something. This past weekend, it was Pongala, a Hindu festival that draws 1.5 million women to worship a goddess called Devi. I was invited to attend with a Hindu friend but opted out, so she described it for me afterwards. The women fill the streets, sidewalks, and empty lots surrounding the temple for kilometers. They bring with them clay pots, dried coconut leaves, and all the fixings for a sweet rice dish that the goddess is said to like. They sit down and wait for the holy fire to be passed from the temple to light their fires, around 10am. The whole city is filled with smoke. They cook their rice dish (payasam), then wait for the priests to come and sprinkle holy water from the temple into it, around 2:30pm. That's a long time to be sitting on the street in the hot sun, I thought. The payasam is supposed to be an offering to the goddess, but I guess it is usually brought home and eaten because my friend gave us some. Would you eat it? This festival has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for largest religious gathering of women. Very interesting.
