Telangana Bonam means Non-stop music. Loading of poonakas. Now.. In the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, there is a different level. Hyderabad to Secunderabad has to swing for the month of Ashadha. On Sunday, July 7, the celebrations began with the first bonam for Sri Jagadambika Mahankali Amman at the Golconda Fort. After that, Secunderabad and Lal Darwaja will end with bonala jatra.
The swords are in the hands of the spear.. The heads of the wicked are maligned.. You’re a big tiger.. You’re a big girl, come on, gandi petta gandi maisamma! From Ashadha to Shravanam, the towns and villages of Telangana will ring for about a month. Ashadha means bonalu.. Bonalu is ashadha. The inseparable connection between the month of Ashadha and the culture and traditions of Telangana has been intertwined for centuries.
If the year-round festivals are one high, the Bonalu festival celebrated in the month of Ashadha is another high. With the songs of the game, the poonakas of the Sivasatulas, and the stunts of the potarajas, the uruvada becomes ekamvada. In the wake of the changed circumstances, The Telangana Bonam will cross the continents and shine brightly all over the world.
It’s a bonus… Non-stop music. Loading of poonakas. Now.. In the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, there is a different level. Hyderabad to Secunderabad has to swing for the month of Ashadha. On Sunday, July 7, the celebrations began with the first bonam for Sri Jagadambika Mahankali Amman at the Golconda Fort. After that, Secunderabad and Lal Darwaja will end with bonala jatra. The city will be in turmoil for a month. All the lanes, the colonies, the haves and the non-existent, all the paths are towards Amma.
Everyone’s wish is the same.. Everyone’s vow is the same.. Look at our children’s babies coolly, mother. I will offer a gold bonam to the returning bonuses.
In a new pot, a new pot of rice made with new rice and jaggery are made as naivedyam. It is placed in a bonam pot decorated with turmeric, kumkum and neem leaves and is offered to the goddess with devotion and devotion. The stunts of the pothu kings are a special attraction in the bonalu festivals.
A special mahotsava that worships village deities:
Bonalu is a festival that reflects the culture and traditions of Telangana. It is a unique mahotsavam where village deities are worshipped as their daughters. Bonalu festivals celebrated in the twin cities in the month of Ashadha are of a different level. From the time of the Kakatiyas to the present day, it is not uncommon to celebrate bonalu every seven years in a grand manner. Every year, bonalu celebrations begin at the Sri Jagadambika Mahankali Amman temple located on the Golconda Fort.
The festivities begin with a procession of cisterns. The first bonalu from the langar house, the idol peeta from banjara darwaza and the procession from chinna bazar to Golconda. Lakhs of people from other districts, not just from the twin cities, pay obeisances to the goddess on the hill.
After the bonalu of Golconda Jagadamba Mahankali Ammavars, kalyanotsavam is celebrated at Sri Pochamma Yellamma Devasthanam in Balkampet. After that, the bonalu of Sri Ujjaini Mahankali Amman of Secunderabad will begin. The rangam program and the elephant procession festivities will come to an end. Bonala festivities begin at Malivaram Lal Darwaza for Sri Simhavahini Mahankali Amman.
During the kakatiyas and nawabs’ time, bonalu
If you look at the history of bonalu festivals that have been going on since the 18th century. It is the belief of the people that in the month of Ashadha, the Goddess comes to their native place. In the month of Ashadha, bonalu is offered to the village deities Pochamma, Yellamma and Maisamma, who are the embodiments of Ujjain’s Mahankali Amman, to protect them from diseases and diseases due to water pollution. Bonalu festival is celebrated in every part of Telangana irrespective of whether it is a village or a town. The Bonalu festival, which started in the 18th century in the twin cities of Hyderabad, has since spread across Telangana.
During the time of the Nizam Nawabs. Many people have died due to plague in Golconda. The mother came to the dream of the local and asked him to offer bonalu and according to that request, the bonalu was offered to the Mahankali of Golconda. In the subsequent period, as the plague subsided, every year, all the workmen came together to offer bonalu to Mahankali in the Golconda Fort in the month of Ashadha.
It is a historical fact that during the reign of the Kakatiya kings, bonalu festivals were celebrated in Golconda. History tells us that Quli Qutb Shah and Badshah, who later captured Golconda under the control of Kakatiya, also continued the traditions of Bonala to the Goddess and officially celebrated bonam for a month every year.
In 1908, the Musi river was flooded. Life is in disarray. Thousands of lives were lost in musi. After that, infectious diseases broke out… According to history, the then Nizam’s king Mir Mahboob Ali Khan lal offered prayers to Goddess Mahankali at the Darwaza, came to Charminar and offered yellow saffron bangles and silk vastras as per tradition in the Musi river and initiated the Bonala festivities. According to the history, Akkanna Madanna, who was a minister in the court of King Tanisha, performed bonalu celebrations from the Haribowli Ammavari temple in Shalibanda to Sri Jagadamba Mahankali Amman on the Golconda Fort.
History of Pothuraju:
Every Sunday in the month of Ashada, the goddess cooks bellanam with new rice in a new pot for the goddess, decorates the bonamkunda beautifully with yellow kumkum and neem leaves, carries it on his head and goes to the temple amidst the dappu daru. Offered as naivedya to the Goddess. On the one hand, the poonakas of shivasatulas and on the other hand, the stunts of the pothurajus are the center of attraction in the bonalu festivals. According to the puranas, pothuraju is the younger brother of seven sisters, Ammavars. Pothuraju is seen as a special attraction in the bonalu festivities by performing stunts with drums, mela talas and whips.
Those who dress up as Pothuraju observe a fast throughout the day. Take a bath in the morning and then decorate it. Add about a kilo of turmeric to half a kilo of oil and take care of the mixture to the body. The decoration, which was once confined to just a yellow coating and a large saffron dot, has now shifted to a variety of colours and shapes. After the pothuraju decoration, there is an unknown seriousness on their face.
Amma’s form is the attraction
Mahankali temples in Telangana villages have many specialties. With broken hair, fiery red eyes, and a long tongue that stretched out. The shape of Mahankali in the form of Ugra is known as ‘Maisamma’ in the villages of Telangana. The mother has many names. She is measured in different ways depending on her appearance. The goddess who guards the fort is called ‘Kota Maisamma’ and the mother who guards the doras’ gadi is ‘Gadi Maisamma’. ‘Gandi Maisamma’ is the goddess of the place where the gandi is buried in the bundle. Devotees perform pujas to Mahankali who protects the pond bund as ‘Katta Maisamma’.
Maisamma is deeply believed to be the siblings of Nalla Pochamma, Vella Pochamma, Muthya Lamma, Dokkalamma, Maremma and Uppalamma. These seven sisters and sisters are also fierce. Each one exhibits a different kind of aggression. The epidemic that creates black scales on the body is called nalla pochamma. If there are white scales, it is a white pochamma. If there are blisters on the body like blisters, it is muthyalamma. If the body becomes sick after being sick. Dokkalamma.
Bonalu festival is a festival that is celebrated to cool down the furious goddess of nature, i.e., to ask her to see salanga. Whenever there are natural calamities such as droughts, floods, infectious diseases, etc., the goddess of nature is trying to quench her anger. In every ashadha, ooru vada bonala jatarai moves to see that droughts and epidemics do not spread. It is believed by the devotees that the goddess will be pacified if she sprinkles hot blood on the rice poured in a heap at the goddess while offering toddy, onion, tamarind juice and bonalu.
It is believed that it protects against drought and floods and protects against infections.
Ashadham Tholakari Festival
Drizzle brings about many changes in the village environment. The ground is sharp. The farmer ploughs and ploughs. He wants to grow gold crops. The farmer worships the goddess of nature so that the crops grow well. The work of cultivation begins with the first ploughing of the rain. People of all castes get work only through the cultivation of tholakari. The carpenter prepares agricultural materials such as cart, plough, and tools such as blacksmith stick, sickle, shovel, straw, etc. The crop pandit is a hand-full of work for the labourers.
All of them are happy. If the pond is full, the mutrasi people will have employment for fishing. The water of the pond is also the basis for the pottery who gets rid of all the dirt of the village and the pottery who makes pots. That’s why the whole town moves to the village to fill the pond and ask her to see salanga. Bonala Jatara takes place depending on the structure of the town.
No matter how many castes there are in the village, all castes participate in the festival of Bonalu. The first bonam comes from the house of Patelamma, who belongs to the Bonam Munnuru Kapu caste, in the Golconda Fort, where the Bonalu of Telangana begins. In the ammavari jatara, the bindas come beating the drums. Chakali is sacrificed.
Mahankalih from Ujjaini
Suriti Appaiah, a native of Secunderabad, was transferred to Ujjain, serving as a doli in the British Army. In 1813, the cholera epidemic broke out and many people died. Appayya had vowed to make a statue of Mahankali in Secunderabad if he was saved from the pandemic. He returned to the city safely after the cholera subsided. In July 1815, Ujjain made a wooden statue for Mahankali.
The idol of the goddess was placed under a neem tree and worshipped. After that, a small temple came up there. Later, in order to increase the area of the temple, the well on the east side was repaired and the idol of Manikyamba was found in it. Manikyamba idol is installed next to the idol of The Goddess and is worshipped as per the ammavari’s aarti. Here, the goddess appears with a sword in her hand and a bharina in the other hand. The neem tree in front was kept intact and the temple was built around it.
Inheritance responsibility:
For hundreds of years, bonalu has been celebrated in temples such as pot, bonam, potaraju and ghatam decorating are all inherited from the same family. In fact, it is the representation of the respective castes which are part of the structure of the village. There are only a few castes in some villages. Depending on the structure of the villages, there are differences in the conduct of the Bonala Jatara.
These differences can be seen among the potarajas, priests and the castes responsible for the offering of the first bonam. All the castes in the construction of the village are regularly participated in the Bonala Jatara, where the environment is measured as the deity. A similar rule is seen in the Bonalu festival celebrated in temples.
The waves are the waves of the waves
There is also a sequence in the celebration of bonalu festival after another in one temple. There are seven sisters in each field. On the day of golconda bonalu, the seven sisters of golconda area are given bonuses. Golconda.. Golconda Bonalu is celebrated up to Karwan, Dhoolpet, Pataraghatti and Rayadurgam in the vicinity. Ujjain Mahankali is waiting for the bonalu of Goddess Golconda Mahankali. Bonalu festival is celebrated at the Mahankali temple of Ujjain in Lashkar on the next Sunday after the bonalu in Golconda.
On the same day, bonala jatra is celebrated in all the temples of the seven sisters in Lashkar. Lashkar Bonalu is celebrated up to Secunderabad, Cantonment, Moulali and nearby areas of ECIL. They take out a procession of tanks.
Lal Darwaza Bonalu awaits the bonalu of Ujjain’s Mahankali Amman. Bonalu is offered to the seven sisters in the old city on the day of lal darwaza bonalu. The streets of the old city are crowded with the gestures of the potarajas who play the poonakas of the Sivasats, the whip like the kodenagu, the beating of the heroic roars, the sound of the anklets and the gallows. The old city is so wonderful that it feels like all the streets are flowing towards the temples with bonalu-raised women.
Bonalu is celebrated from Ashadha to Shravana month due to the custom of celebrating bonalu festival in another temple only after it is held in one temple. The Ashadha Jatara, which started at the Golconda Fort, is celebrated by the locals in stages until Shravanam, just as the waves that originated from the place where a drop of water fell and spread. Those who have plants offer bonalu even on normal days. If married, the girl child’s parents offer bonam with the new bride.
Coming together in business and getting cured of diseases. Bonuses are also offered on other occasions. These year-round bonuses are reported on Sundays and Tuesdays. Apart from this, there is also a tradition of constructing a small temple in the field and in the backyard and offering bonam once a year to the deity who guards the crop and the house.
Every year there is something new:
The Telangana government has given special attention to the centenary bonalu celebrations as the state completed 10 years of its formation. Starting from Golconda Sri Jagadambika Amman Temple, Secunderabad Sri Ujjaini Mahankali Temple, Sri Simhavahini Mahankali Ammavari Temple at Old Basti Lal Darwaza, Sri Mahakali Sahita Mahakaleshwara Swamy Temple in Mir Alam Mandi, Sri Akkanna Madanna Temple in Shalibanda, Sri Bhagyalakshmi Temple in Charminar, Sri Darbar Maisamma Temple in Karwan, Sri Nallapochamma Temple in Sabzimandi. In the remaining 19 temples, senior officials of the devaswom department or public representatives will offer silk garments.
Hyderabad, which was once a village, gradually became a town and then a city. It has now become a cosmopolitan city. Yet people here have not lost faith in the village deities, and the art of bonalu has not diminished at all. The twin cities have changed shape and lost their greenery. Some of the festivals that have been going on since time immemorial have ceased to exist. Some other festivals have emerged anew. No matter how much cities have changed, the Bonalu festival, which is celebrated by the people of the city with devotion, is new every year.