The first woman chief of the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple Trust will assume charge on Thursday morning. A. Geetha Kumari, who has been elected chairperson of the trust that administers the Attukal temple, says she is “happy” to assume her new responsibility.
The daughter of one of the founders of the trust, Ms. Geetha Kumari has been an executive committee member since December 2020. Her connection with the temple goes back to her childhood when she would accompany her family from Manacaud where they used to stay to offer prayers. Though her family hails from Changanassery, Ms. Geetha Kumari says perhaps it is the family’s affinity for the deity that prompted her father to buy land and build a house in the capital city.
She grew up watching her mother visit the temple regularly, and followed in that tradition. Though her father passed away before the trust was established, her mother became one of the trustees and remained so till 2007 when Ms. Geetha Kumari took over.
The trust representatives were of the opinion that it would be good to have a woman at the helm of the trust, known as the Sabarimala of women. In the election held following the death of former chairman K. Sasidharan Nair, she won majority by defeating a male candidate.
“This is an opportunity to work as a team for the development of the temple. I was a works committee member and so I am aware that the temple infrastructure needs improvement. Instead of buying flowers for the temple from Tamil Nadu, there are plans to start cultivating them on the temple land lying idle,” says Ms. Geetha Kumari who retired as Director of the Irrigation Design and Research Bureau in 2012.
