Bonalu 2024 Festival: A Celebration of Culture and Tradition

Bonalu 2024: Bonalu will be celebrated in the state of Telangana on 29th July 2024 by the people. The festival Bonalu is a Hindu festival that is celebrated mostly in the state of Telangana. Goddess Mahakali is worshipped all over India on the auspicious day of Bonalu. Bonalu comes in the Ashada month of July and August. 

The first and last of Bonalu is dedicated to Goddess Yellama and special pooja are performed for her. The purpose of celebrating Bonalu is to thank the Goddess for fulfilling the dreams and wishes of devotees. A special meal offered to Goddess Yellama in Telugu is Bonam.

On the day of the festival Bonalu, women prepare rice with milk, and jaggery in a brass pot. Where that pot is decorated with vermillion, neem leaves, and turmeric. For this purpose, Bonam including bangles and saree are offered to the mother Goddess by the women to carry the pots on their heads across the states. 

This festival is the celebration of worshipping Goddess Kali in several forms like Yellama, Dokkalama, Mysamma, Pedamma, Ankalamma, Maremma, etc. The origin of the Bonalu festival is in the region of Hyderabad and Secunderabad in 1813 when a severe disease broke out in these locations which took thousands of lives.

Thus the military of Hyderabad then took a pledge to install the idol of Mahakali in Secunderabad. Hence the devotee believed that Goddess halt the spread of disease and the military came back to the city and established the idol of the Goddess. However, Bonalu was offered to the Goddess after installing her idol. Therefore, that day is celebrated as the Bonalu festival.

Bonalu 2024: A Festival Of Thanking Goddess Mahakali

One of the greatest celebrations in Telangana is Bonalu (Telugu: ), also known as Ashada Jatara. In the well-known twin towns of Secunderabad and Hyderabad as well as other regions of Telangana, it is celebrated once a year in July and August. Telangana’s government designated Bonalu as a state holiday in 2014.

Especially, the festival Bonalu is dedicated to Goddess Kali and is conducted in the Ashada month of the Hindu calendar. The day is considered very religious to thank the Mother Goddess for her blessings.

The word “Bhojanam” in Sanskrit is the source of the name. This later evolved into Bonam, which was thereafter known as Bonalu. It all implies food or a feast as in the Telugu language. This food sacrifice is made to the Mother Goddess Mahankali following the festival.

The meal that will be prepared in pots and offered to the Goddess is referred to as Bonam. In various parts of Andhra Pradesh, Bonalu includes the worship of the Goddess in several forms and names like Pochamma, Yellamma, Ankalamma, Peddhamma, Maremma, Dokkalamma, Poleramma, and Nookalamma.

When is Bonalu In 2024?

Starting on July 07, Bonalu 2024 will last for four ashada Masam Sundays. Numerous unique poojas will be performed to Goddess Yellamma on the first and fourth days of the Bonalu festival.

Bonalu 2024 festivities commenced at Jagadambika temple, Golconda Fort on July 14, Sunday. On July 21, there will be celebrations at the Ujjaini Mahankali Temple in Secunderabad. On Sunday, July 28, the primary Bonalu will be observed at Sri Mahankali Temple in Lal Darwaza. Telangana observes a public holiday on Aug 04.

History Of Bonalu Festival And Rituals

The reason for celebrating Bonalu in Telangana is to welcome the goddess to her home by offering food, sweets, and devotional songs. It is believed to say that every year the Goddess came to her maternal home during the Ashada month. At that time devotees pay respect, love, and devotion in the form of dance and pots of food including bangles and saree to the Goddess.

Devotees are enjoying the Goddess’s arrival to her own home in the same way that a family would welcome their daughter back into their own home. To make her happy with her people, special meals are provided.

Accordingly, they believe that Goddess Mahankali will cure all illnesses and remove all of a person’s sufferings. 

The ferocious Hindu goddess of calamity and dread, Mahakali, is. Numerous Puranic and Tantric Hindu writings refer to her origin, portraying her as the primordial energy of the cosmos. She is regarded as the goddess of time and is described as an abstract spirit. 

She typically appears in Indian art with a blue-black complexion, four arms holding weapons, a demon head and a skull cup, tiny fangs, dishevelled hair, angry eyes, and a lolling tongue. Similarly, she wears a skirt made of demon arms and is decked with a necklace made of 108 demon hands. In other representations, she also has ten heads.

Rituals Performed On Bonalu

On the auspicious day of the Bonalu festival women wear traditional clothes like saree, and younger girls wear saree/lehenga choli and accessories to get the beautiful attire. The other tranced women dance with balancing pots in honour of the local goddess on the beats of drums. 

In old times, people offered the male buffalo sacrifice in front of the temple but nowadays in place of buffalo, they sacrifice the roosters to remove the evil spirits.

Bonam Offering: Every Sunday, people get up early, take a full bath, and put on fresh, clean clothing. Women, go out and get fresh earthen pots, wash them, and cook rice with curd, water, and jaggery in them. Red, white, and yellow are used in combination to embellish the pot. On the pots, they rub kumkum and turmeric. As a result, this pot serves as the Goddess’ offering.

Bonam Jyoti: This is what is known as the Bonam Jyoti. In Bonam jyoti women place neem leaves on the top of the pot and cover that by lighting a lamp on top.

As part of the ceremony honouring the deceased, women prepare all the requisite pots, dress in the traditional saree, and carry the pots on their heads while young girls dance in lehengas or half sarees.

Bonalu Trance

People pour water on the feet of women as they approach the temple to soothe their spirits since it is believed that ladies who wear Bonam on their heads possess the soul of the mother goddess.

Thottela

The thottela ritual is also performed on the day of Bonalu concerning the deity, where devotees make a colourful paper structure with the support of bamboo sticks and consider it a part of the ritual which is offered to the Goddess as part of the ritual.

Pothuraju

According to myth, Pothuraju, the goddess Mahakali’s brother, performs in the yatra as a well-built man wearing a red dhoti, bells on his ankles, and turmeric and kumkum on his torso.

• He performs dances in front of the Palaharam Bandi (Yatra) and is revered as the celebration’s organizer and the neighbourhood’s watchdog.
• He possesses the authority to use lashing whips and neem leaves to bind shigam-possessed women’s waists as he leads them to the shrine.

Moreover, After the first yatra (procession), a rite known as Bali, or sacrifice, is performed in which a goat or rooster is slaughtered and a lavish dinner for family and friends is made from it using meat, alcohol, and palm tree wine.

Rangam

In this ritual, a woman perched atop an earthen pot draws spiritual power and performs the art of foretelling the future and the present. Devotees are invited to inquire about their futures. The yatra does not begin until after this ceremony.

Ghatam

It is the final year. The ghatam is a vessel with a goddess-like decoration that is carried by a priest. Wearing a traditional dhoti before the pot is eventually submerged in water while drums are pounded. 

Therefore, elephants typically carry Ghatams, and the entire yatra concludes in the evening with a sparkling procession, a spectacle of much pomp and circumstance, and the immersion of Ghatams at Nayapul.

Bonalu Festival Celebrated In Popular Temples

At the Balkampet Yellamma temple on the second Sunday. Lashkar Bonalu is another name for the Ujjaini Mahakali Temple in Secunderabad, also known as Ashada Jatara Utsavalu.

The community celebrates one of the major events, called Lashkar Bonalu, over two days, and it includes many important temples in Secunderabad, such as Sri Ujjaini Mahakali Devasthanam, Sri Gandimaisamma, Sri Devi Pochamma, Sri Muthyalamma, Sri Peddamma, Sri Dokkalamma, and Sri Penugula Mallanna.

Likewise, Government officials visit and participate in celebrations at Sri Ujjaini Mahakali and Sri Devi Pochamma temples.

Third Sunday, the Mateshwari temple of Lal Darwaza in the ancient city, and the Pochamma and Katta Maisamma temple of Chilkalguda. People observe Bonalu at the Akkanna Madanna Temple in Haribowli and the Muthyalamma Temple in Shah Ali Banda.

Bonalu In Sravan Masam

Some places, including Gunfoundry and Kalasiguda, observe Bonalu during the month of Sravanam.

A two-day festival is a two-century-old tradition at the Gunfoundry Muthyalamma temple. 

• The Thotela Yatra begins on the first day, during which the god receives Bonam from various devotees. After that, the trustees conducted the Ghatam Yatra on behalf of the devotees, and it ended with the Ori (village) Bonam.
• On the second day after activities like Rangam, Kallu Ghatam, Sare Gampa yatra, and Garurangam (pothuraju) occur, they send off the Ghatam yatra.

Summing Up

Hence you are now able to understand the rituals and procedures of Bonalu 2024. This article provides the date and time for the festival. 99Pandit is an online service available to help devotees with their requirements including E-Puja services.

Providing your basic details you can book the pandit for puja and our team will contact you accordingly given the requirements.

Similarly, If you are looking for a pandit to perform any vedic ritual, you can book a pandit online or find a Pandit Near Me as well. The charges and the cost for the puja are very flexible and the booking process is very easy.

Enjoy your puja!

Frequently Asked Question

Q.When did Bonalu originate in Telangana?

A.The origin of the Bonalu festival is in the region of Hyderabad and Secunderabad in 1813 when a severe disease broke out in these locations which took thousands of lives.

Q.In Which month Telugu festival Bonalu is celebrated?

A.One of the greatest celebrations in Telangana is Bonalu (Telugu: ), also known as Ashada Jatara. This event occurs once a year in July and August in the well-known twin cities of Secunderabad and Hyderabad, as well as other areas of Telangana.

Q.Who is called a pothuraju?

A.According to myth, Pothuraju, the goddess Mahakali’s brother, performs in the yatra as a well-built man wearing a red dhoti, bells on his ankles, and turmeric and kumkum on his torso.

Q.When will Bonalu be celebrated in 2024?

A. Bonalu 2024 festivities commenced at Jagadambika temple, Golconda Fort on July 14, Sunday. On July 21, there will be celebrations at the Ujjaini Mahankali Temple in Secunderabad.

Q.What is known as Bonam?

A.A special meal offered to Goddess Yellama in Telugu is Bonam. Women offer Bonam, including bangles and saree, to the mother Goddess to carry the pots on their heads across the states.

Q.What are the other names of Goddess Kali?

A.Bonalu involves the worship of the Goddess under a variety of names and forms, including Pochamma, Yellamma, Poleramma, and Nookalamma, in different regions of Andhra Pradesh.