Hyderabad: Lashkar Bonalu, a symbol of Telangana’s unique culture, began amid traditional pomp and gaiety in Secunderabad on Sunday with thousands of devotees offering prayers at the Ujjaini Mahakali temple. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy offered prasad to the goddess and participated in the special puja. In keeping with tradition, the chief minister personally presented silk clothes on behalf of the state government. He was accompanied by Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar and MLA D. Nagendra. Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy and his wife also visited Ujjaini Mahakali. He said the tradition of Bonalu festival has been going on for over 100 years. He said such a festival is not celebrated in any other part of the country.
Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, Malkajgiri MP Eatala Rajendra, Hyderabad Police Commissioner K. Srinivas Reddy and other prominent personalities also offered prayers. Women devotees offered ‘bonam’ made of cooked rice, jaggery, curd and neem leaves to Goddess Mahankali. There was a festive mood in the temple and the streets around it as women dressed in their finest attire participated in various cultural programmes. The authorities had made elaborate arrangements for the smooth and peaceful conduct of the celebrations. Separate queues were made for women devotees. The festival will conclude on Monday with the famous ‘rangam’ where unmarried women will predict the future of the state, followed by the ghatam procession.
This will be followed by a procession of a decorated elephant carrying the image of the deity. ‘Potharaju’ smeared with turmeric and vermilion will join the procession dancing to the rhythmic beats of drums, which will pass through various areas. Asadha Bonalu is a festival celebrated in the month of Asadha as per the Hindu calendar, in which Goddess Mahankali is worshipped. Devotees, especially women, offer food as prasad to Goddess Mahankali in specially decorated pots. During the festival, people also perform ‘rangams’ or predictions of the future, and hold processions and cultural programmes. Bonalu in Secunderabad, or as it is called Lashkar Bonalu, is the second phase of the traditional festival that lasts for nearly a month in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.
The festival began on July 7 at the Jagadambika Temple at Golconda Fort. The festival will be celebrated on July 28 at the Sri Sinhavahini Mahakali Temple at Lal Darwaza and Sri Akkanna Madanna Mahakali Temple at Haribauli in the old city of Hyderabad. It is generally believed that the festival was first celebrated 150 years ago after a major cholera outbreak. People believed that the epidemic was due to the anger of Mahakali and started offering Bonalu to pacify her. After the formation of Telangana in 2014, the then TRS government declared Bonalu as a state festival. This year the Congress government has released Rs 20 crore to celebrate the Bonalu festival.
