Hyderabad, June 22 -- After a long battle with the COVID-19 second wave, the Telangana government is ready for this year's Ashada Bonalu celebrations which will begin on July 11.

A traditional Hindu festival, Bonalu is known to celebrate the Goddess Mahakali. Special poojas are performed for Renuka Yellamma, one of the many regional forms of Mahakali on the first and last day of the festival. The festival is also considered a thanksgiving to the Goddess for fulfillment of vows.

The name Bonalu means a meal or feast as an offering to the goddess, therefore women prepare rice cooked with milk and jaggery in a new brass or earthen pot adorned with neem leaves, turmeric, vermilion and a lit up diya on top of the pot. Women carry these pots ...