Hyderabad: The Bonalu festival began at Golconda Fort on Thursday with an official puja conducted on behalf of the State government at the Jagadamba Mahankali temple in Langar House.
The celebrations, rooted in Telangana’s Ashada month traditions, started with the presentation of silk garments and the first Bonam offering to the deity by Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar and Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and Konda Surekha.
The festival will run for a month, concluding with the final Bonam at Golconda Fort. Devotional pujas will be held every Thursday and Sunday during this period.
Minister Konda Surekha said Bonalu represents the cultural identity of Telangana and conveyed wishes for the well-being of the people and the State under the blessings of Goddess Jagadamba.
Minister Ponnam Prabhakar noted Bonalu’s growing international recognition and said the State government has sanctioned ₹20 crore for celebrations across 3,000 temples. He added that Bonalu would be observed on a large scale this year.
Senior officials and public representatives including GHMC Mayor Gadwala Vijaya Lakshmi, Rajya Sabha MP Anil Kumar Yadav, BC Commission Chairman Niranjan, Principal Secretary (Endowments) Shailaja Ramaiyar, Hyderabad Collector Dasari Harichandana, Police Commissioner CV Anand, Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao, and Fisheries Corporation Chairman Mettu Saikumar attended the event.
BRS MLC K. Kavitha also participated, offering Bonam to Goddess Jagadambika.
