Ashadha Bonalu
The Bonalu jatara is dedicated to local or village goddesses called the gramadevatalu and began in the city of Hyderabad. It usually takes place during the month of Ashada, which falls between June and July.
The word “Bonalu” comes from “Bonam,” meaning a meal or offering. During this festival, women prepare a special offering of rice cooked with milk and jaggery, which they carry in beautifully decorated pots on their heads to the temple. These offerings are made to thank the goddess for her blessings and to seek her protection from diseases and evil.
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Making the Bonam
Bonalu involves devotees offering meals, known as “Bonam”, which typically consists of rice cooked with milk and jaggery, carried in decorated pots to the temples
Watch as the professional spirit medium, Jogini Shyamala, shows us how to make the bonam below.
Jogini Shyamala Making the Bonam
The spirit medium Jogini Shyamala shows us how to make the bonam to be offered to the deities. They coat two brass pots in vermillion powder, attaching an image of the goddess bedecked in flowers to the bottom layer. Each pot is then filled with food offerings of rice cooked in turmeric and milk. Neem or margosa leaves are then placed on each layer as they are stacked up upon each other before an oil lamp is placed on top.
Possession Rituals
During Bonalu, devotees carrying the bonam walk in procession to shrines of the goddesses to make their offerings. They are led by professional spirit mediums who are possessed by the goddesses en route, allowing the deities to participate with their people in the festivities.
watch as Spirit Medium Nethra Goud enters into the state of possession during the bonalu festivities at Hyderabad’s Golconda Fort.
Nethra Goud, a proffessional spirit medium from the Old City of Hyderabad, enters into the sigam, the state of possession by the goddess Yellamma. They are joined by another spirit medium and collectively carry the large versions of the bonam in procession to the temple of Jagadamba Mahankali, the dual shrines of Yellamma and Mahankalamma, atop the fort.
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