In Thiruvananthapuram, lakhs of bricks used by women to perform rituals for the Attukal Pongala, will be re-used to construct houses for the poor. Attukal Pongala is the most important festival of Attukal Bhagavathy Temple. The offering of Pongala is a very special temple practice in the southern part of Kerala.
In this festival where lakhs of women light a fire using three bricks and firewood, cook a mixture of rice, coconut and jaggery as an offering to the temple Devi.
Usually, the corporation cleans the waste and bricks within hours after the festival is over. However, as per Thiruvananthapuram Mayor VK Prasanth, the corporation will start collecting the bricks from next year and will launch a new scheme to help the poor in building houses.
“Till now we were cleaning only the waste other than bricks. People also leave bricks on the roadside after Pongala, that would be taken away by somebody by next day. Next year onwards, we will collect them. We have plans for a better scheme to make them useful, by helping the poor in building houses,” he said.
“It is an innovative scheme also aimed at a clean city by reuse of resources,” the Mayor added.
