Lakhs of women took part in the famed Attukal Pongala festival in Kerala on Friday. The event was listed in the Guinness World Records in 2009 for being the largest religious gathering of women on a single day. It marks the culmination of the 10-day-long annual festival at the Attukal Bhagavathy temple in the city. A record of 2.5 million women took part in the festival on a single day in 2009.

The temple, located in the heart of the city, is dedicated to Attukal Bhagavathi, believed to be an incarnation of Kannaki, the central character of the Tamil epic "Silappathikaaram". The Pongala event takes place on the penultimate day of the 10-day-long Attukal Pongala festival. The most prestigious seat for cooking is in the temple compound where devotees cook the offering for the deity on makeshift brick stoves.