Greater Cincinnati Telangana Association hosts Bonalu celebration

The Greater Cincinnati Telangana Association (GCTA) recently hosted a celebration of the Bonalu festival, with around 250 ardent devotees from Cincinnati, Dayton, and Northern Kentucky attending the event.

Hyderabad: The Greater Cincinnati Telangana Association (GCTA) recently hosted a celebration of the Bonalu festival, with around 250 ardent devotees from Cincinnati, Dayton, and Northern Kentucky attending the event. Despite the humid weather, devotees gathered at Lake View Acres Park to celebrate the sacred Hindu festival with fervour and zeal.

The festivities began with the traditional adornment of Ammavaru, using flowers and turmeric. Devotees flocked to offer their prayers and circumambulated the adorned deity while carrying bonam, a sacred offering placed atop their heads.

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Cincinnati Telangana NRIs mesmerised the crowd with their captivating beats of folk music, while women presented home-cooked meals as offerings to the revered deity. The devotees danced to ammavari songs, and a select few performed the vibrant ‘Potharaju’ dance. The lively Thottelu procession and exuberant Potharaju performances elevated the festive spirits among all the devotees.

The event was a success because of the hard work and contributions of the GCTA committee members- Narasimha Rao Nagulavancha, Ganesh Kota, Suresh Deverakonda, Vishweswar Reddy Gatla, Prabhakar Reddy Rampa, Gayathri Bommala, LavakerReddy Boreddy, Aruna Madichetty, Shobhan Ponna, Santosh Kethiri and Sitaram Boyinepally, a press release said.