The annual Pongala festival at the famed Karikkakam Sree Chamundeswari temple here will begin on Thursday with a Gurupuja.

The festival will be preceded by Mahakumbhabhishekam of the temple gopurams on Wednesday by the temple Tanthri Brahmasree Puliyannoor Illath Narayanan Anujan Namboodiripad.

All arrangements for the pongala festival are complete, the temple trust said in a pressnote. It urged devotees to observe the COVID protocol while participating in the pongala.