The festival's 9th day, 'Pooram Day' is the main attraction, The Attukal Pongala Day and the festival will end with the Kuruthitharpanam on the 10th day of the makam star evening.
Millions of women gather around this temple every year during the month of Kumbham and prepare Pongala (rice cooked with jaggery, ghee, coconut and other ingredients) in the open in small pots to please the Kannaki goddess. Pongala is a ritualistic offering of a sweet dish, consisting of porridge rice, sweet brown molasses, gratings of coconut, nuts and raisins. It is made as an offering to the temple's presiding deity-the Goddess-popularly known as Attukal Amma. It's believed that Goddess Attukal devi will fulfill their wishes and provide prosperity.
Women prepare a divine rice food in earthen pots, and offer it to the temple goddess. Preparation for pongala ends with the ritual called Aduppuvettu. This is the lighting of the pongala hearth (called Pandarayaduppu) that the chief priest built inside the temple. The Guinness World Records mark the festival as the greatest annual women's gathering. This is the first Kerala Pongala festival. The ceremony was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records on February 23, 1997, when 1,5 million women attended Pongala. A new Guinness World Records celebrated attendance of 2.5 million in 2009. For women also this temple is known as the Sabarimala.