Preparations in final stage

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With around one month left for the world-renowned Attukal Pongala festival, the office-bearers of the Temple Trust are engaged in the final stage of preparations. ’We are expecting around 30 lakh devotees this time,’’ said Trust president M Radhakrishnan Nair. ’Painting works are near completion. The works of the decorative marquees and stalls will commence in a couple of days,’ he said.Temple art forms like Kathakali, Koodiyattam, Ottanthullal and Chakyarkoothu will be staged during the festival. The temple art forms will be staged from 5 am to 1 pm and from 5 pm to 1 am at the mini-stage near the Chattambi Swami statue. The cultural programmes will begin with ‘Gandharam’, a unique programme by Soorya Krishnamoorthy. The major programmes scheduled include dance performances by Lakshmi Sarma, Tara Kalyan and Navya Nair, music concert by Anuradha Sreeram, a show by Rasikaraja team and comedy show by Kottayam Naseer.The cultural programmes will be staged at the main stage from 5 pm to 12.30 am. The detailed programme list will be announced soon, said B Muraleedharan Nair, programme committee convener.The review meeting on the arrangements for the festival held at the Temple Trust Hall on Thursday had decided to take several steps for the convenience of the pilgrims. Devaswom Minister V S Sivakumar, Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty, Mayor K Chandrika, V Sivankutty MLA and officials of various departments attended the meeting. The KSRTC officials said that special bus services would be operated for the benefit of pilgrims. The Railway officials said that special stops will be sanctioned for trains. The meeting assigned the District Supply Officer to ensure the quality and fair price of food products in the festival region. The Supplyco will sell ‘pongala’ kits for ` 80 through Maveli stores. The DCP said that around 5,000 policemen would be deployed for the festival. Twenty-five closed circuit cameras will be placed at different locations and would be monitored through a control room. The traffic officials will take steps to ensure smooth traffic.