Greater Cincinnati Telangana Association celebrates Bonalu in Ohio

The event started at about 5.30 PM with cloudy weather and wonderful wind, and there were about 250 people participating in that divine and pious celebration.

Hyderabad: The Greater Cincinnati Telangana Association celebrated Bonalu with great pomp and fervor on Sunday, July 28, at Lake View Acres Park in Lebanon, Ohio. Of special mention, GCTA was the first organization to celebrate Bonalu in the USA; it started the tradition of celebrations in the year 2012.

The continuous rain since the afternoon did not dampen the spirits of the devotees either. The event started at about 5.30 PM with cloudy weather and wonderful wind, and there were about 250 people participating in that divine and pious celebration. It all started with women who were attired in colorful sarees, carrying bonam and aarathi on their heads, walking towards a nicely decorated stage set up with Ammavari’s photo, flowers, and banana leaves.

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Accompanied by devotional music, some potharajus danced in joy and were joined by some women participating in the traditional dance. Both adults and children enjoyed the procession to the stage. The women circled the stage for some rounds before offering bonam to Ammavaru. All devotees then stood in a queue to offer prayers and seek blessings from Ammavaru.

The organizers of the GCTA program offered sumptuous Telangana food and prasadam to devotees soon after the program. GCTA organizers, including Narasimha Rao Nagulavancha, Lavaker Reddy, and Prabhakar Reddy Rampa, thanked all volunteers for their dedication and tireless work in making the event a grand success. They also thanked the devotees for attending the program in large numbers.