Hyderabad: Bonalu celebrations begin in Old City

The special focus in the celebrations are the Akkanna Madanna temple at Hari Bowli and Simhavahini Mahankali temple at Lal Darwaza.

Hyderabad: A festive atmosphere prevailed across the older parts of the city on Sunday on the first day of the two-day Bonalu festivities. Long queues of devotees were witnessed since morning at all the major temples including Akkanna Madanna temple at Hari Bowli, Simhavahini Mahankali temple at Lal Darwaza and other temples across the old city.

Women clad in traditional and festive best carried ‘bonam’ and made the offering to the deity. Last year, due to Covid 19 pandemic, the temples restricted the gatherings and did not allow the devotees. In several areas, the streets reverberated with the devotional songs even as ‘potharajus’ danced to the beats of the ‘teen maar’.

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Smaller processions were seen heading to local temples. Excitement was quite visible among the children who tried to have a glimpse of the potharajus and the cultural troops entertaining the public at Lal Darwaza temple and Akkanna Madanna temple.

People from other parts of the city also visited the old city to have a feel of the festive atmosphere. A long serpentine queue was witnessed at Bhagya Lakshmi temple at Charminar where barricades were arranged to streamline the crowd.

The police made elaborate arrangements to ensure convenience and security to the people visiting the temples. Around 8,000 policemen were drafted for the Bonalu security arrangements in the city.

On Monday, a massive procession will be taken out marking the end of a two-day festival in the old city. The procession will be led by a caparisoned elephant carrying a ghatam from Akkanna Madanna temple. Other small processions join with the main procession that will pass through Lal Darwaza, Nagulchinta, Shahalibanda, Charminar, Gulzar Houz, Madina Building and culminate at Nayapul temple.

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