Hyderabad, July 20 (IANS) The annual ‘Bonalu’ festival was celebrated in Hyderabad on Sunday in a traditional manner with thousands of devotees participating in the festivities.

Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and state ministers were among prominent personalities who offered prayers at the Mahankali temples in the old city of Hyderabad.

Deputy Chief Minister Vikramarka and Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar, Vakati Srihari and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy offered silk robes to the deity on behalf of the state government at Simhavahini Mahankali temple at Lal Darwaza.

The Deputy CM said they prayed for the development of the state and prosperity, and happiness for people.

Former Haryana governor Bandaru Dattatreya, BJP MP K. Laxman, MLA D. Nagender, BRS MLC K. Kavitha, BJP leader Madhavi Latha, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) chairman B. R. Naidu, were among prominent personalities who offered prayers at Mahankali Temple Lal Darwaza, the historic Akkanna Madanna temple at Hari Bowli in Shah Ali Banda and other temples to the deity in different parts of the city.

The festival dedicated to the Hindu goddess of power, Mahankali or Kali, is intended to ward off evil and usher in peace.

Union Minister for Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy offered prayers at the Mahankali temple in Amberpet.

Devotees, including a large number of women, queued up at the temples to offer Bonalu, which consists of cooked rice, jaggery, curd and turmeric water, carried in steel and clay pots on their heads.

Declared as the state festival after the creation of Telangana state in 2014, Bonalu is being celebrated on a large scale with pomp and gaiety.

Various government departments have made all necessary arrangements for the devotees visiting the temples, like drinking water, sanitation, roads and uninterrupted power supply.

Police made elaborate security arrangements for the festival. About 1,200 policemen were deployed around the Lal Darwaza temple.

The two-day festivities will conclude on Monday with ‘Rangam’, the oracle prediction at Akkanna Madanna temple, followed by a combined procession on a caparisoned elephant, carrying ‘ghatam’ of the goddess Mahankali.

The procession will pass through the main thoroughfares of the old city, including historic Charminar, before reaching Delhi Darwaza Matha Temple near Musi River, where the ghatam will be immersed.

Authorities ordered the closure of liquor shops, bars, restaurants and toddy outlets in Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda Commissionerates in view of the festival.

Bonalu is celebrated in parts of Hyderabad and Secunderabad during the Ashadam month. Also known as Ashada Jatra Utsavalu, it is celebrated on four Sundays in different places in the twin cities. Last Sunday, it was celebrated in Secunderabad, where Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy made the offering.

It is believed that the festival was first celebrated over 150 years ago following a major cholera outbreak. People believed that the epidemic was due to the anger of Mahankali and began offering Bonalu to placate her.

–IANS

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