Panchayath/ Municipality/ Trivandrum Corporation Corporation LOCATION District Trivandrum Nearest Town/ Thirumala Landmark/ Junction Nearest Bus Statio Thirumala Bus Station – 2.5Km Nearest Railway Thampanoor Railway Station –5Km ACCESSIBILITY Statio Nearest Airport Trivandrum International Airport – 9Km Pangode Kavil Sree Bhagavathy Temple Trust, Thirumala Trivandrum - 695006 Phone:+91-9446177760(Shaji Shivanandan- President) CONTACT +91-9446081082(V.Premkumar- Secretary) +91-9884700251(G.Sugathan – Rakshadhikari) DATES FREQUENCY DURATION TIME March- April (Meenam) Annual 5 Days ABOUT THE FESTIVAL (Legend/History/Myth) Pangode Kavil Sree Bhagavathy Kshethram is a famous shrine located in Thiruvananthapuram district. The presiding deity of the temple is Kavil Bhagavathy. Sub deities of this temple are Potti Thampuran, Ganapati, Yakshi Amma, Madan Thampuran, Nagarajavu, Nagayakshi, Karinkali, Maruda, Mantramoorthi, Yogeeshwaran, Ammayappan. The main attraction at the temple is the gigantic Shivling (Ammayappan), standing in the middle of a grove. Devotees are allowed to perform abhishek directly on the shivling, which is a rare feature in the temples of Kerala. The big and small trees growing in the premise of the temple is a gift of the nature and resembles that of a small jungle (Kavu). Pangode Kavil Sree Bhagavathy Kshethram also boasts one of the tallest gopurams, compared to other temples in the state. The annual festival is celebrated during Malayalam month Meenam (March - April), which is one of the largest crowds pulling event at Pangode. Local Above 25000 RELEVANCE- NO. OF PEOPLE (Local / National / International) PARTICIPATED EVENTS/PROGRAMS DESCRIPTION (How festival is celebrated) Annual festival of this festival starts in the Malayalam month Cultural Programs and of Meenam (March/April).The shrine is traditionally decorated folk arts with plantain, coconut leaves, flowers, leaves, traditional Spiritual discourses lamps and lights. There are special poojas and offerings Seminars during the festival period. Traditional performing arts and Percussion Music music and dance are staged during this period. Numerous Musical Concerts cultural programs and temple arts are performed on all days Drama of the festival. There are lot of cultural events and religious Ganamela discourses. On the final day there is Pongala, which is a ritual Kadhakali where thousands of women participants offer a porridge Otanthullal made of rice, sweet brown molasses, coconut gratings, nuts Mohiniyattam and raisins. Rice, coconut and jaggery along with round Bharathanatyam earthen pots are brought by women devotees for cooking. Dance programmes The Chief Priest lights the main hearth from the divine fire Kavadiyattam inside the sanctum sanctorum. This fire is exchanged from Pongala one to the other. And also kavadi is there on the final day which is one of the largest crowds pulling event at Pangode..