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Hyderabad: Colourful end to Bonalu festivities in Old City
Colourful end to Bonalu festivities in Old City
The dances by potharajus and other folk artists enthrall the devotees, who linedup along the roads to witness the colourful procession
Hyderabad: The annual Ashada Masam Bonalu festival in the Old City concluded on Monday with a grand and colourful procession amidst the teen maar band and dances by the folk artists from Lal Darwaza to Nayapul. Youth danced in gay abandon to the teen maar beats.
The annual procession was taken out by the Ummidi Devalayala Uregimpu Committee on the second day of Bonalu. The process was led by Sri AkkannaMadanna Temple Committee where Ghatam deity was atop an elephant Laxmi, which was brought from Virupaksheshwara Temple in Karnataka. City Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar flagged off the procession by performing puja to the goddesses on the elephant.
A total of 25 Ghatams of major temples were included in the procession including AkkannaMadanna Mahankali Temple, MateshwariMutyalamma Temple Bela, Bangaru Maisamma Temple Haribowli, Mahakaleshwar Temple Mir Alam Mandi, Kota Maisamma Temple Alijah Kotla, Bangaru Maisamma Temple Magar Ki Bowli, Nalla Pochamma Temple Murad Mahal and several others.
The dances by potharajus and other folk artists enthralled the devotees, who were sitting on the both sides of the roads witnessing the colourful procession. The procession started from Hari Bowli and passed through Maisamma Mahankali temple in Bela, Nehru Statue, Lal Darwaza x roads, Shalibanda, passing through Charminar, Pattargatti, Madina and culminated at the Matha temple at Delhi Darwaza near Musi river in Nayapul peacefully.
Earlier in the day, the festivities started with the pooja in the wee hours. Several hundreds of devotees took part in pooja in various temples in the city. At around 11 am the PothurajuSwagatham was organised.
Pothuraju was seen going round the surrounding areas of the temple showering blessings, believed to safeguard devotees from evil spirits. Cultural programmes were organised on make-shift stages on the roads and nearby temples by the devotees.
Tight security arrangement
The city police made tight security arrangements for smooth conduct of the two-day grand festivities. CCTV cameras were installed at the temple and nearby areas. A large number of women constables were deployed to assist the devotees arriving at the temple. The police closed traffic by barricading the roads leading to the procession.
Around 8,000 police personnel including RAF (Rapid Action Force), Traffic police, Law and Order police, bomb squads etc and officers were deployed as part of the massive police security arrangement in view of the festival.
