Hyderabad: The Jagadambika temple in Golconda Fort is all set for the annual Bonalu festival scheduled to begin on July 7. A coordination committee with officials of various government departments, including the Hyderabad city police commissioner Kothakota Srinivasa Reddy and district collector Anudeep Durishetty, visited the site and reviewed the arrangements on Friday, July 5.
The month-long festival of Bonalu will begin from the Jagadambika temple atop Golconda Fort.
Commissioner Kothakota Srinivasa Reddy said that strong security will be arranged during the Bonalu festival.
“This time, as women from remote villages are likely to attend the festival, all arrangements are being made accordingly. The municipal department has been asked to hire enough staff to remove the waste that accumulates there during Bonalu otherwise, there is a chance of infections due to the rainy season,” he said on Facebook.
Similarly, RTC buses have been asked to park only at the places indicated by the traffic police. On the occasion of such festivals, pickpocketers and chain snatchers will come more and special surveillance teams are being organized against such people. CCTV cameras are being installed and special she-teams will be set up to stop eve-teasers.
The commissioner said that arrangements will be made with the coordination of the officials of all departments to avoid any inconvenience to the devotees who come on the occasion of Golconda Bonalu and that all preventive measures are being taken to prevent any untoward incident.
In Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana, devotees, especially women, make offerings to goddesses in the form of food in specially decorated pots to celebrate Bonalu.
Golconda Bonalu will be followed by Lashkar Bonalu, which is held at Ujjaini Mahankali temple in Secunderabad.
It is commonly believed that the festival was first celebrated over 150 years ago following a major Cholera outbreak.
People believed that the epidemic was due to the anger of Mahankali and began offering Bonalu to placate her.
