The two-day Bonalu celebrations at Sri Ujjaini Mahankali Temple in Secunderabad concluded on Monday.
Second day
The second-day of the festivities started off with ‘Rangam’, followed by a procession of a caparisoned elephant carrying a portrait of the deity.
The ‘Rangam’ ritual saw Swarnalatha, performing the oracle, wherein she predicted that the State would receive bountiful rains this year. Standing atop an earthen pot, she ‘invoked’ goddess Mahankali onto her and performed the custom.
Replying to a volley of questions, she said: Don’t fear, the State will get abundant rainfall.
She said everyone is equal to her. Caste and creed are created by man and this is in turn causing problems to them. “I will protect devotees from all evils and ensure their well-being. There has been a double increase in the turnout this time when compared to previous year,” she said.
Constructing temple
Asked about the temple development, she replied that necessary steps would be taken in this regard with the assistance of devotees and underscored the need for constructing Mahakaleswar Swamy temple on the premises.
Devotees, who turned up in large numbers, listened attentively to the oracle.
After the ritual, drumbeats reverberated and a procession led by a caparisoned elephant carrying the goddess portrait was taken out in the surrounding areas of the temple.
Confusion prevailed when policemen denied entry to Swarnalatha at the main entrance. Temple officials immediately intervened and requested the policemen to allow her.
Thousands of devotees from Ranga Reddy, Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar and Warangal districts thronged the temple and had darshan of the goddess on Monday.
In the evening, several colony welfare and youth associations took out ‘Phalaharambandla’ processions with ‘potharajus’ dancing to the drumbeats.
