According to sources devotees, including a large number of women thronged the temples since morning to offer prayers to the Hindu goddess of power Mahankali or Kali. Meanwhile attired in their best, women queued up at the temples to offer 'Bonalu', which consists of cooked rice, jaggery, and curd and turmeric water, carried in steel and clay pots on their heads. Furthermore the devotees believe that the annual festival will ward off evil and usher in peace.
Moreover the main celebrations were held at Mahankali Temple Lal Darwaza and the historic Akkanna Madanna temple at Hari Bowli in Shah Ali Banda. Furthermore on behalf of the Telangana government, Cabinet Ministers Indra Karan Reddy and T. Srinivas Yadav made offerings of silk clothes at the Mahankali Temple. Accordingly Congress leader Jana Reddy, former MP and actress Vijayashanti, Telangana Jana Samithi founder Kodandaram were among other prominent personalities who participated in the festivities at the temples in the old city and this is the fifth year of Bonalu being celebrated as a state festival for which the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government released Rs 15 crore.
Recently various government departments made all
the necessary arrangements for the devotees visiting the temples, including
facilities for drinking water, sanitation, roads and uninterrupted power supply
and the people believed that the epidemic was due to the anger of the Mahankali
and began offering 'bonalu' to placate her.
