Traditional fervour and gaiety marked the two day Bonalu festival in the Old City that began on Sunday. The first day of the festival passed off peacefully under strict police vigil.
Thousands of devotees thronged the historic Akkanna Madanna Mahankali temple at Shahlibanda and Simhavahini Mahankali temple in Lal Darwaza, besides other temples in Uppuguda, Aliabad, Gowlipura, Puranapul and offered prayers.
The festival began with ‘Mahabishekam’ in the morning. Dressed in traditional attire, women offered ‘bonam’ containing cooked rice, jaggery and curd in steel and clay pots while ‘potharajus’ danced to ‘teen mar’ drumbeats. Long queues were witnessed at all the major temples till late evening.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Deputy Chief Minister Md Mahmood Ali, Home Minister Nayani Narsimha Reddy, BJP State president G Kishan Reddy, Nizamabad MP Kavitha, CLP leader K Jana Reddy, GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar, Hyderabad Police Commissioner M Mahendar Reddy and other VIPs visited the temple and presented their offerings.
The festival will conclude on Monday with the oracle prediction, ‘Rangam’, followed by a procession carrying ‘ghatam’ of Goddess Mahankali. It will pass through the main thoroughfares of Shahalibanda, Charminar and Nayapul, where the ghatam will be immersed in Musi river.
After visiting the temple, the Chief Minister said the government has declared Bonalu and Bathakamma are State festivals and will take necessary steps to make it an impressive event.
