Reminiscing Bonalu, frame by frame

The photographs ranged from the old black and white Bonalu festivities in the 1950s to the modern times. There were photographs of eminent leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Chandrababu Naidu, Ghulam Nabi Azad who visited the temple in the past. Over 1000 photographs captured the essence of Bonalu over various phases of the festival.

The Akkanna Madanna temple in Shah Ali Banda had attracted over 2000 people in the four day Bonalu photo exhibition. The exhibition consisted of photographs of the festival, tracing its origins encompassing 64 years of its history.

The photographs ranged from the old black and white Bonalu festivities in the 1950s to the modern times.

There were photographs of eminent leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Chandrababu Naidu, Ghulam Nabi Azad who visited the temple in the past. Over 1000 photographs captured the essence of Bonalu over various phases of the festival.

Satish Kumar, treasurer of the temple, says, “The idea behind the exhibition was to show people, coming from different areas, how the festival was celebrated in the city, especially in our temple and how the trend had changed from the past.

These pictures show the changes in terms of celebrations, rituals, make-up etc.”

One of the highlights of the exhibition was the picture of the attack on the temple in 1998 by a group of anti-social elements who partially destroyed the idol and the temple belongings. Ever since the attack, the temple is guarded by two policemen round-the clock.

The temple feeds at least 2000 people every Friday on the festive month as part of its annadaanam programme. The idol of the god dess was taken on a procession on an elephant on the last day of the festival and was one of the special attractions of the temple’s rituals. The temple was also illuminated for the festival and a 100 ft bonam was offered to the goddess.