Lashkar Bonalu Begin, Bangaru Bonam To Ujjaini Mahankali

The two-day annual bonalu jathara, popularly known as the Lashkar Bonalu, at the Ujjaini Mahankali temple in Secunderabad started on Sunday with Nizamabad MP K Kavitha, daughter of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, offering a bonam to the goddess in a vessel made of 3.8 kgs of gold, with 1,108 women devotees wearing similar saris and carrying bonams following her.

The procession was taken out from the residence of Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav at Audiah Nagar nearby to the temple amidst drum beats and dance performances by cultural troops.

Endowments Minister A Indrakaran Reddy flagged off the bonam procession, which passed through some main thoroughfares including the road passing City Light Hotel and Kingsway.

The golden bonam was made of gold donated to the temple over the years by devotees. Nearly 10 kgs of gold was melted from the offerings. The rest of the gold has been preserved in a locker and will be utilized for a golden sari for the goddess, which may be presented during the upcoming Navaratri festivities - a tender has been given to Manepally Jewellers.

After offering the bonam to the goddess, Kavitha extended greetings to the women (adabiddalu). She said that the bonalu at the Ujjaini Mahankali temple had gotten much greater recognition after statehood for the Telangana region. She said that she had prayed to the goddess to keep the people in the state very happy, healthy and prosperous.

Excise & Prohibition Minister Padma Rao Goud, Deputy Speaker Padma Devendar Reddy, GHMC Mayor Bonthu Rammohan and Malkajgiri MP Malla Reddy also participated in the festivities. In the early hours, minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav, accompanied by his wife and relatives, also offered bonam to the goddess.

Thousands of devotees stood in serpentine queues to have a darsan of the deity right from the early hours. Long queues were seen from the Ramgopalpet police station and the General Bazaar areas. Clad in silk saris, women residing in Secunderabad and its surroundings came to the temple and offered bonams with reverence.