Human beings were responsible for all the calamities including the recent floods.
These were the consequences of the misdeeds done by people, and they deserve to face punishment, observed Swarna Latha, the oracle of Ujjaini Mahankali temple on Monday. In the same breath, she also said it was her responsibility to protect the people. She was happy with the ongoing festivities this year. “I am happy with whatever little offerings people have made and the rituals held,” she said during ‘Rangam’ – the soothsaying event conducted on the concluding day of the annual two-day Bonalu festival at the temple.
Right from the crack of dawn, people arrived in large numbers to the temple to witness the event. Devotees, including those from other districts waited in serpentine queues, which extended till the main oad, to have a ‘darshan’ of the goddess.
Later, a colourful procession with the photograph of the deity atop a caparisoned elephant was taken out in the streets surrounding the temple. This year, the temple authorities invited folk artistes from different places to perform ‘kolatam’ and other dance forms. Secunderabad MP Anjan Kumar Yadav danced to the drum beats along with artistes.
In the evening, various youth and colony welfare associations from Secunderabad and other localities took out ‘Phalaharam Bandi’ processions.
