HYDERABAD: The lanes and by-lanes in Secunderabad wore a festive look, as thousands of devotees thronged the famous Sri Ujjaini Mahankali temple and several other Mahankali temples on Sunday and offered prayers to the goddess, on the occasion of Bonalu. Bonalu, an important festival of Telangana, held in the month of Ashadam, is celebrated to ward off evil and usher in peace and harmony.Secunderabad Bonalu popularly known as Lashkar Bonalu began with women dressed in their best traditional attire walking to Mahankali temples, carrying bonam (a brass or earthen pot of rice, turmeric powder, jaggery and curd, covered with neem leaves and a burning lamp on it) and offering prayers. The temple doors were thrown open early on Sunday morning and devotees kept pouring in a steady stream. Pothrajus and ghatams accompanied by teen maar drumbeats and Telugu folk songs reverberated in all lanes. Several devotees offered a Thottela (a small colourful, paper structure supported by sticks) as a mark of respect. City police made elaborate security arrangements for smooth conduct of the festival.Devotees also thronged different Mahankali temples at Ramgopalpet, Pan Bazar, Mettuguda, Bhoiguda, RP road, MG road, Paradise, Ranigunj and YMCA. All temples small and big, were crowded with devotees and decorated with neem and mango leaves. In the evening, these places of worship glittered under the light of colourful bulbs. Many cultural programmes were also arranged in the temples.Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao along with his family, ministers M Mukesh Goud, D Nagender, TJAC convener M Kodandaram, mayor B Karthika Reddy and other leaders and government officials, offered prayers at the Ujjaini Mahankali temple. Rangam Today: The festival will conclude on Monday with a procession of Mahankali on an elephant. Rangam, foretelling of the future by a young unmarried woman, will be performed at 9 a.m on Monday.
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