Bonalu : Here’s everything to know about Telangana’s traditional Hindu festival

[Deepak Kiran]

Dedicated to Goddess Mahakali — a more ferocious avatar of Goddess Durga — the Bonalu festival is celebrated every year in the southern Indian state of Telangana, specifically in the cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. This year, Bonalu began on Sunday, July 3, and will continue till July 24.

Bonalu is celebrated in the month of Ashada which, according to the modern calendar, falls around July-August. On the first and last days of the festival, special pujas and other religious ceremonies are held for ‘Yellamma’, who is said to be one of the many regional incarnations of Mahakali.

It is essentially a commemoration of the Goddess, to appease her and to thank her for fulfilling wishes. Besides, Yellamma, other forms of the Goddess like Maisamma, Pochamma, Peddamma, Dokkalamma, Ankalamma, Poleramma, Maremma, and Nookalamma, are worshipped during this period.

Bonalu gets its name from the word ‘bonam‘, which means a meal or a feast in Telugu. As such, it is an offering to the Goddess, wherein she is given rice cooked with milk and jaggery in a brass or earthen pot decorated with neem leaves, turmeric and vermilion. A lit lamp is placed on top of the pot, which is then carried by women on their heads and offered — along with turmeric-vermilion, bangles and sari — to the deity in various temples.

 

[Deepak Kiran]

The story of Bonalu’s origin

The origin of the festival can be traced back to 19th-century Hyderabad. In 1813, a plague broke out in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, and claimed many lives. A military battalion from Hyderabad, deployed in Ujjain, learnt of this, and prayed to Goddess Mahakali in the Mahakali Temple there to rid the cities of the plague, following which they would start worshipping her by installing her idol.

When the disease was driven away and the battalion returned to the cities, they kept their vow and even offered her a meal. This tradition has continued throughout. Other beliefs suggest that it is the time when Goddess Mahakali returns to her parental home from her abode in the heavens, and is pampered and treated with good food.

Celebrations

Every year, the festival starts at Golconda Fort, and on the second Sunday, it moves to the Balkampet Yellamma temple in Balkampet, and the Ujjaini Mahakali Temple in Secunderabad. On the third Sunday, it moves to the Pochamma and Katta Maisamma temple of Chilkalguda and the Mateshwari temple of Lal Darwaza in Hyderabad. Akkanna Madanna temple in Haribowli, and Muthyalamma temple in Shah Ali Banda also witness Bonalu celebrations. Devotees wear traditional attire and lots of jewellery, and assemble to pay obeisance to Goddess Mahakali.