A coffee table book on Bonalu festival was launched in the city on Saturday by Maharashtra Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao. The book edited by well-known filmmaker and artist B. Narsing Rao has colourful photographs, and it traces the history and evolution of the worship of goddesses in villages.
“Earlier, the worship of village goddesses was looked down upon. It has changed since the formation of Telangana. I don’t want to see this as a book, but as a cultural repository. We scanned through 10,000 photographs to shortlist the ones that you find in the book. It took us nearly three years to come up with this as we collected archaeological evidence about the origins and beliefs,” said Mr. Narsing Rao at the launch.
“Bonalu and other local festivals remained unappreciated earlier. For nearly six decades, the culture was suppressed by a section of people. But it was the ‘cultural torch’ that lit the fire of Telangana movement. Bonalu and Bathukamma were weapons during the agitation,” said Allam Narayana of Telangana Press Academy.
Speaking on the occasion, the Maharashtra Governor stressed on the plurality of the society. “In 1995, the Supreme Court said India is not a theocratic state. Culture and traditions are part of our lives. Books like this highlight the fact that the SC said. But we still need to do a lot to promote Telugu language and culture,” said Mr. Vidyasagar Rao. The 280-page book is priced at ₹3,000.
