Hyderabad, June 25 (IANS) The Bonalu festival, which symbolises the unique culture of Telangana, will be held from July 16 to August 13.

The Telangana government is making elaborate arrangements for conducting the festivities on grand scale in Hyderabad.

The festival will commence on July 16 at Sri Jagadamba Mahankali Temple at the historic Golconda Fort.

Endowments Minister Konda Surekha, who is currently visiting London, held a Zoom meeting with officials of various departments to review the arrangements for Bonalu.

She was joined by fellow Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and Mohammed Azharuddin, along with some MLAs and senior officials.

She directed officials from all departments to work in coordination to ensure proper facilities for the Ashada Jatara Bonalu celebrations to be held across temples in the Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Ranga Reddy, and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts.

Saying that Bonalu festival is a grand celebration that reflects the soul of Telangana, she said that this year Ashada Bonalu will be organised with grandeur across three corporations — Greater Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri Corporations.

She asked all departments to work in coordination to ensure the success of the festival.

Robust measures must be implemented to provide facilities for devotees and ensure there are no shortcomings, she said.

The Minister remarked that the Bonalu festival symbolises Telangana’s culture and traditions, the devotion of women, and the collective faith of the people.

Minister Surekha urged the Transport Department to take special measures, given that devotees from all corners of the state flock to witness the Bonalu festivities.

She expressed her gratitude to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy for allocating Rs 20 crore for organising this year’s Bonalu festivities.

The Minister highlighted that the financial assistance provided by the state government for the Bonalu festival has increased significantly over the past few years.

She directed that these funds be utilised effectively for improving temple infrastructure, providing amenities for devotees, and arranging for decorative lighting, floral decorations, CCTV cameras, queues, drinking water facilities, sanitation management, and medical camps.

She ordered implementation of special traffic plans, the deployment of additional buses and medical teams, and robust security arrangements at temples that experience heavy crowds.

Every year, the festival is held in Hyderabad and surrounding districts in three phases.

Golconda Bonalu will be followed by Lashkar Bonalu, which is held at Ujjaini Mahankali temple in Secunderabad.

The festivities will conclude at Sri Simhavahini Mahankali temple in Lal Darwaza and Sri Akkanna Madanna Mahankali temple in Haribowli in the old city of Hyderabad.

Devotees, especially women, make offerings in the form of food to the Goddess in specially decorated pots.

It is commonly believed that the festival was first celebrated more than 150 years ago following a major cholera outbreak.

People believed that the epidemic was due to the anger of Goddess Mahakali and began offering Bonalu to placate her.

–IANS

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