The month-long Bonalu festivities drew to a close on Monday evening as worshippers offered final prayers to the Goddess. Large parts of the Old City saw multiple processions with police and security personnel throwing a security dragnet on the main thoroughfares.
All eyes were on the main procession where the idol of Goddess Mahankali of the Akkanna Madanna temple in Haribowli was paraded on an elephant through the main road running between Shahalibanda and Nayapul.
An intermittent drizzle did not dampen the spirit of the worshippers and revellers as the lined roads to catch a glimpse of the Goddess and pray. “I came to know about the elephant leading the procession and my son wanted to see. We have a holiday so we came here to see the procession,” said Taposh, who works at a gold moulding firm and lives near Urdu Galli.
Others came from far away places like Karwan, Dilsukhnagar and even L.B. Nagar.
Heavy security
Through the city, roads were deserted as schools, colleges and state government offices stayed shut. An estimated 14,000 policemen drawn from various wings of the department were on their toes to ensure that the different processions passed peacefully through the city.
