HYDERABAD: As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases are continuing unabated in the city, uncertainty looms large over the Bonalu festival.
A high-level meeting with Ministers A Indrakaran Reddy, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Ch Malla Reddy, Sabitha Indra Reddy, along with Endowment department commissioner Anil Kumar and elected representatives has been scheduled on Wednesday to take a decision on the matter.
The recent Central government guidelines issued while reopening of temples prohibit large gatherings, congregations and physical offerings in the temple. In the light of above guidelines, the government has to make a tough call.
When contacted, a majority of the temple management officials expressed their opinion against conducting the Bonalu festival on a large scale. They suggested that devotees offer Bonam, rice cooked with milk and jaggery in a new brass or earthen pot, at their residences.
"Every year, thousands of devotees throng temples with Bonam. It is hard to control them as they would come in groups. It will also become difficult to stop children and elderly persons from entering the temple," said a prominent temple’s board chairman.
As some areas in the city are becoming hotspots with the spread of Coronavirus, another official raised a concern that women carrying Bonam would walk barefoot from their residences to the shrines. Bonalu is celebrated across various parts of the twin cities during the Aashaada Masam.
The celebrations begin at Golconda Fort followed by Ujjaini Mahankali Temple in Secunderabad and Balkampet Yellamma temple and the Matheswari temple of Lal Darwaza.