Devotees Throng Ujjaini Mahankali Temple For Bonalu

On the occasion of Ashada Bonalu, devotees thronged the Sri Ujjaini Mahankali temple at Secunderabad today and offered prayers to the goddess.

Devotees started queueing up to see the goddess right from the morning, and with large numbers of them thronging the temple, the general vicinity became crowded. Officials made the necessary arrangements to ensure that the devotees did not face any inconvenience.

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy visited the temple and offered prayers to the goddess. He performed special pujas and offered silk clothes to the deity.

Earlier, Minister for Transport Ponnam Prabhakar, who is also the in-charge minister of Hyderabad district, offered the first bonum to the goddess. He along with his family members participated in the ritual and offered prayers to the goddess.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that all possible arrangements had been made for the successful conduct of the Bonalu festival, and expressed hope that the festival would be a grand success with the cooperation of the people. He also said that the Telangana government had declared the Mahankali Bonalu festival a State festival, and had made arrangements for its grand celebration.

Elected representatives from various political parties, including the Congress, the BJP and the BRS, also offered prayers at the temple and participated in special pujas. Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, Panchayat Raj Minister Seethakka, Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, MPs K Laxman and Anil Kumar Yadav, MLA Danam Nagender, Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari and other prominent personalities visited the temple and had a darsan of the goddess.

Hyderabad Commissioner of Police K Srinivas Reddy said that elaborate security arrangements had been made for the festival in coordination with various departments. He said that the police department had deployed 1,500 personnel for the festival, and that SHE teams had been formed for the safety of the women devotees. He also said that a control room had been set up at the Mahankali police station to monitor the situation continuously.