Bonalu is a famous festival of Andhra Pradesh which is especially celebrated with great aplomb in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The term Bonalu comes form “Bhojanalu” or food offering which is made to the Goddess Mahakali.
During this festival women dress colorfully and perform a dance balancing exquisitely painted pots on their head. These women dance along with the mellifluous beats of the tunes sung in the praise of Goddess Mahakali. In these pots usually an offering for Goddess Mahakali is taken which includes cooked rice, water and sometimes pickles and onions. Usually this vertical Battery of pots is decorated in sacred colours (White, Yellow and Red). This colours are called as PASUPU, KUNKUM, and KADI. The pots, once ritually dedicated to the goddess before they are lifted on to the heads of the women carrying them, are considered to have got charged with the spirit of the Goddess. This woman walks with a intense feeling of being possessed by the spirit of the Goddess. Because of this mood in her, she is easily gets into trance and begins to move rhythmically in tune with the drum beat.
In 2009, the date of Ujjaini Mahankali Bonalu is July 12, Sunday and the Rangam will be celebrated on July 13, Monday.
