Archive · 10 Aug 2026
Hyderabad celebrates 118th Bonalu festival with religious fervour
The Bonalu festival is a big celebration in Hyderabad, a city in India.
This year, people celebrated it for the 118th time.
During the festival, people go to temples to pray to a goddess named Mahankali.
They believe the goddess protects them from bad things and brings peace.
People carry special pots on their heads filled with cooked rice, jaggery, curd, and turmeric water called Bonalu.
Movie stars like Vijay Deverakonda and director Sandeep Reddy Vanga also came to pray at the temple.
Government ministers came too, and they offered silk clothes to the goddess.
Many police officers were on duty to keep everyone safe.
The festival is very old and started more than 150 years ago after a cholera outbreak.
It ends on Monday with a big parade carrying the goddess's pot to the Musi River.
The 118th annual Bonalu festival was celebrated with religious fervour across Greater Hyderabad on Sunday, with devotees thronging Mahankali temples from the early hours.
Endowments Minister Konda Surekha, Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, MP Anil Kumar Yadav and TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud offered prayers at several historic temples, including Lal Darwaza and Charminar.
Tollywood actors Vijay Deverakonda and Anand Deverakonda and director Sandeep Reddy Vanga offered prayers at the Lal Darwaza temple, with Vijay saying they prayed in the name of the production house 'Bhadrakali'.
Devotees, including a large number of women, offered Bonalu of cooked rice, jaggery, curd and turmeric water carried in steel and clay pots on their heads.
The two-day festival, a Telangana state festival since 2014, will conclude on Monday with 'Rangam' and a procession to Delhi Darwaza Matha Temple near the Musi River.
- Who
- Devotees, Telangana ministers including Konda Surekha and Ponnam Prabhakar, political leaders from Congress, BRS and BJP, and Tollywood actors Vijay Deverakonda, Anand Deverakonda and director Sandeep Reddy Vanga
- What
- The 118th annual Bonalu festival, featuring special prayers, Bonam offerings and silk robes to Goddess Mahankali and a concluding procession
- When
- Sunday, with the two-day festivities concluding on Monday
- Where
- Mahankali temples across Hyderabad and Secunderabad, including Lal Darwaza, Charminar, Amberpet and Malkajgiri
- Why
- To honour Goddess Mahankali, ward off evil and usher in peace; the festival dates back over 150 years to a major cholera outbreak
- Festival
- Bonalu (Ashada Jatra Utsavalu)
- Edition
- 118th annual celebrations
- Deity
- Goddess Mahankali (Kali), the Goddess of power
- Main venue
- Simhavahini Mahankali Temple, Lal Darwaza, Hyderabad
- State festival since
- 2014, after creation of Telangana state
- Security
- Over 2,000 policemen deployed; liquor shops, bars, restaurants and toddy outlets closed
- Key offerings
- Cooked rice, jaggery, curd, turmeric water (Bonam), Odi Biyyam, sarees and silk cloth
- Closing event
- Rangam oracle at Akkanna Madanna temple and procession to Delhi Darwaza Matha Temple near Musi River
