Bonalu 2025: Hyderabad's 118th festival draws thousands to Mahankali temples
Synopsis
Hyderabad's 118th Bonalu brought together rival politicians, Tollywood stars, and tens of thousands of devotees at Mahankali temples across the old city on 9 August — a rare moment of cross-party unity around a festival that began as a cholera-era plea to a goddess and is now Telangana's biggest state celebration.
Key Takeaways
Hyderabad marked its 118th annual Bonalu on 9 August at the Simhavahini Mahankali temple, Lal Darwaza and other shrines across the old city.
Ministers from the ruling Congress — including Konda Surekha , Ponnam Prabhakar , and Seethakka — offered silk robes on behalf of the state government.
Opposition leaders K.T.
Rama Rao (BRS) and N.
Ramchander Rao (BJP) also participated, reflecting the festival's cross-party significance.
Tollywood actors Vijay Deverakonda and Anand Deverakonda , and director Sandeep Reddy Vanga , offered prayers at Lal Darwaza.
Over 2,000 police personnel were deployed; liquor outlets were shut across three commissionerates.
Festivities conclude on Monday with the Rangam oracle and a procession through Charminar to the Musi River .
Thousands of devotees thronged Mahankali temples across Hyderabad on Sunday, 9 August as the city marked its 118th annual Bonalu celebrations with traditional fervour, drawing ministers, film personalities, and ordinary worshippers in equal measure. The Simhavahini Mahankali temple at Lal Darwaza in the old city served as the focal point of the festivities.
Key Celebrations and Prayers
Ministers and political leaders from across party lines converged at the city's most prominent shrines. State Endowment Minister Konda Surekha and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, along with Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Mahesh Kumar Goud and Member of Parliament Anil Kumar Yadav, offered prayers at Lal Darwaza temple. The ministers presented silk robes to the deity on behalf of the state government. Senior officials including Endowments Commissioner Hanumantha Rao, Police Commissioner Sajjanar, and Hyderabad Collector Priyanka Ala were also present.
Earlier in the day, the ministers and the TPCC chief offered prayers at the Bhagyalaxmi temple at Charminar. State Minister for Industries and IT D. Sridhar Babu offered prayers and silk robes at the Akkanna Madanna Mahankali temple in the old city. Panchayat Raj Minister Seethakka and government advisor V. Hanumantha Rao prayed at the Mahankali temple at Amberpet, with Seethakka saying they sought blessings 'for bountiful rain and prosperity of the people.'
Cross-Party Participation
Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy and his wife offered prayers at the Amberpet temple, telling the media he prayed for the well-being of the people. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar performed puja at the Nallapochamma temple at Madannapet. State Health Minister Damodar Raj Narasimha offered prayers at the Darbar Maisamma temple in Karwan.
From the opposition, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao visited both the Bhagyalaxmi temple at Charminar and the Lal Darwaza temple. State BJP president N. Ramchander Rao performed a special puja at the Sri Ujjaini Mahankali Ammavari Temple in Malkajgiri. The broad cross-party participation underlines Bonalu's status as Telangana's foremost state festival.
Tollywood Joins the Festivities
Actors Vijay Deverakonda and Anand Deverakonda, along with director Sandeep Reddy Vanga, were among the prominent film personalities who offered prayers at Lal Darwaza. Speaking to reporters, Vijay Deverakonda said they offered prayers in the name of Sandeep Reddy's production house 'Bhadrakali', and that he was 'happy to visit the temple for the first time and seek the blessings of the Goddess.'
Security, Arrangements, and the Bonalu Tradition
More than 2,000 police personnel were deployed around temples across the city. Authorities ordered the closure of liquor shops, bars, restaurants, and toddy outlets across the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Rachakonda Commissionerates for the duration of the festival. Various government departments arranged drinking water, sanitation, and uninterrupted power supply at temple premises.
Devotees — a large number of them women — carried the traditional Bonalu offering of cooked rice, jaggery, curd, and turmeric water in steel and clay pots balanced on their heads. The offering is believed to placate Goddess Mahankali and ward off evil. Historically, the festival is said to have originated over 150 years ago following a severe cholera outbreak, when communities began propitiating the goddess to contain the epidemic.
Declared the official state festival after Telangana's formation in 2014, Bonalu is observed across four consecutive Sundays during the Ashadam month — also called Ashada Jatra Utsavalu — at different locations in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Last Sunday's celebrations were held in Secunderabad, where Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy made the offering.
What Happens Next: The Rangam Procession
The two-day festivities are set to conclude on Monday with 'Rangam' — the traditional oracle prediction — at the Akkanna Madanna temple, followed by a grand procession featuring a caparisoned elephant carrying the ghatam of Goddess Mahankali. The procession will wind through the old city's main thoroughfares, passing the historic Charminar, before concluding at the Delhi Darwaza Matha Temple near the Musi River, where the ghatam will be immersed.
Point of View
BRS's K.T. Rama Rao, and BJP's state president all showed up at the same shrines within hours of each other — something that almost never happens on a political stage. That tells you something about how deeply the festival is embedded in Hyderabad's identity, and how no party can afford to sit it out. What the coverage tends to underplay is the festival's grassroots dimension: it is primarily a women-led ritual, the offerings carried literally on their heads, with roots in a cholera epidemic that killed thousands. The state-festival designation since 2014 has amplified the scale, but the core of Bonalu remains a neighbourhood-level act of collective memory.
NationPress
9 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Bonalu festival celebrated in Hyderabad?
Bonalu is an annual Hindu festival dedicated to Goddess Mahankali, celebrated during the Ashadam month across Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Devotees offer cooked rice, jaggery, curd, and turmeric water in pots carried on their heads to ward off evil and seek the goddess's blessings. It has been Telangana's official state festival since 2014.
Why is Bonalu celebrated and what is its historical origin?
Bonalu is believed to have originated over 150 years ago after a severe cholera outbreak, when communities began propitiating Goddess Mahankali to contain the epidemic. The tradition of offering food to the goddess was seen as a way to placate her anger and restore community well-being.
What happens at the end of Bonalu — what is the Rangam procession?
The two-day Bonalu festivities conclude with 'Rangam,' a traditional oracle prediction at the Akkanna Madanna temple, followed by a grand procession of a caparisoned elephant carrying the ghatam of Goddess Mahankali. The procession passes through the historic Charminar before the ghatam is immersed in the Musi River at Delhi Darwaza Matha Temple.
Which political leaders attended Bonalu 2025 in Hyderabad?
Leaders from multiple parties attended, including Congress ministers Konda Surekha and Ponnam Prabhakar, BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao, Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of State Bandi Sanjay Kumar, and BJP state president N. Ramchander Rao, reflecting the festival's broad political and social significance.
How is Bonalu celebrated across Hyderabad and Secunderabad?
Bonalu is celebrated on four consecutive Sundays during the Ashadam month at different locations across the twin cities. The 2025 cycle began in Secunderabad, where Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy made the offering, followed by the main Hyderabad celebrations at Lal Darwaza and other temples on 9 August.
