VIJAYAWADA: Bhagyanagar Sri Mahankali Jatara Bonala Utsavala Ummadi Committee on Sunday offered bonalu and silk robes to the presiding deity of Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam (SDMSD) atop Indrakeeladri in Vijayawada.
A conglomeration of temples in Hyderabad, Bhagyanagar Sri Mahankali Jatara Bonalu Utsavalu Ummadi Devalayala Uregimpu Committee, has been carrying out the tradition of offering bonala and silk robes to Kanaka Durga for the past 13 years. The ritual was conducted on the occasion of auspicious Aashada masam.
Devotees and folk artistes dressed as various mythological characters from Telangana reached the temple premises around 10 in the morning. Temple EO D Bramarambha and other officials welcomed the devotees and participated in the ritual.
The devotees took out a procession from Jammidoddi temple guest house and reached the temple via Ghat Road, carrying the traditional bonalu made of rice, jaggery, and curd, on their head, and silk robes.
As part of the tradition, the devotees took out a procession from Brahmin Street to the temple premises. Pothurajus danced to the rhythms of drum beats. Women devotees thronged the temple carrying traditional bonam on their heads. Ghatam, a decorated pot made of copper and silver was also carried during the procession by the women devotees.
After the possession, the committee members performed Ganga Teppa Puja at Durga ghat.“The tradition of offering bonalu to Kanaka Durga has become a routine along with the Bonam festival commencement in Telangana. Our committee has been offering bonalu and robes to the presiding deity for the past 13 years and we will carry forward this tradition,” committee representative Gaajula Anjayya said, adding that around 1,000 devotees from Telangana had participated in the ritual.
EO Bramarambha lauded the committee’s initiative of promoting brotherhood and said the devotees from Telangana were welcomed on a grand note.