A Testimony to Communal Harmony: Temple, dargah spruced up for Bonalu celebrations

Hyderabad: The 400-year old Sri Akkanna-Madanna Mahankali Mandiram will celebrate the 76thannual Bonalu and Mahankali Jathara festival this year on a grand scale. The temple, situated at Hari Bowli in Shalibanda is famous for its historic significance and has been a starting point of the annual procession of Bonalu for over seven decades. A dargah opposite the temple also gets spruced up along with the temple every year by the organisers.

For this year's celebrations, the temple committee is making all the arrangements with the help of the Police, GHMC, Endowment Department, Electricity, HMWSSB, R&B, Forest and other government departments for large-scale celebrations of the festival and grand procession which is to be held on July 29.

Reflecting the communal harmony prevalent amongst the Hindus and Muslims in Hyderabad, a dargah opposite the Akkanna-Madanna temple continues to get special treatment from the temple committee each year. Besides painting of the shrine, the committee also offers a Chader on the occasion.

The historic temple started celebrating Bonalu from Friday.The dargah is considered to be as old as the temple from the period of Qutub Shahi rulers and attracts the attention of those who visit it, as the temple committee cleans and paints the Dargah-e-Shareef located opposite the temple. “The Bonalu festival in Akkanna-Madanna temple would be incomplete without offering of a Chadar at Dargah-e-Shareef by the committee. The Dargah is painted every year and also lightened-up along with the temple during Bonalu,” said SP Kranti Kumar, organisingsecretary, AMMM.

Speaking to The Hans India here on Tuesday, Kranthi Kumar said that during the 11-day Bonalu festival, even the Dargah is spruced up. During the festivities, prior to the inauguration of the photo exhibition at the temple and after performing pooja, the dignitaries offer Chader to the shrine,” he added. This temple reflects the rich heritage of Hyderabad. A photo exhibition will be held on Wednesday that will trace the origins and evolution of the temple, and other cultural programmes will be held till Monday.

According to the temple committee, the Bonalu festival started from Friday with MahaAbhishekam to Sri Mahankali Matha and ‘Kalasha Sthapana’ followed by ‘Dwajarohana’ and will end on July 29, after the PotharajuSwagatham and Rangam, the ‘Matha Ghatam’ will be taken out in a procession on a fully decorated elephant Rupavathi which was bought from Karnataka. The 11-day festival concludes on July 30 with ‘AshthadalaPadapadmaradhanPavithrosthavam’.

According to the temple committee members, Akkanna and Madanna were two brothers, who served as commander in chief and Prime Minister respectively during the rule of Tana Shah, who ruled Golconda in the 17thCentury and used to worship here. Legend says that both these brothers used to perform pooja before they left for Golconda fort for their day's work. Soon after the killing of two brothers, the temple was closed.

After the merger of Hyderabad into the Indian Union in 1948, the devotees were allowed to enter the temple from September 17, 1948. The Bonalu and Mahankali Jatara have been organised on a grand scale for the last 75 years. The temple authorities take up a grand procession on the occasion of Bonalu where Ammavaru will be placed on a specially decorated elephant.