Bonalu turns into a glitzy, glossy celebration in Hyderabad

For vibrant Bonalu celebrations in West Marredpally street in Hyderabad, LED installations were placed, music was pumped.

“My car started vibrating. I could feel the rhythm as I held the steering wheel,” says Venkat Swaroop after navigating the West Marredpally street which arguably has the most glitzy Bonalu celebrations in town. On the last evening of the month-long festival, the street was cordoned off as residents trooped to soak in the sensory-overload spectacle.

Bonalu is no longer a festival where colours are limited to the saris of women or the muggu drawn by artists. Whole streets are now lit up with LED panels, light panels, flood lights and laser lights. The air has a sense of a theme park.

A Disney-themed LED installation from Kolkata competed with a Mahabharata-themed arch created by craftsmen from Hyderabad. Above the central courtyard in the middle of the road was a set of LED screens with blinking photographs of politicians and other benefactors.

“While each LED board with design costs between ₹30,000 to ₹50,000 per day, the display in the middle with LED par can (focused LED lights) and sharpy (rotating stage display) has a rent of about ₹3,00,000 per day. We are using a total 2000-KV of energy, which is enough to run 500 homes,” says Sai Kiran who has set up the show. The speakers pack a thump of 24,000 watts (one popular cellphone’s output reaches three watts). 

The vibe at Lal Darwaza Bonalu celebration is different as the sway and rhythm match the beat of rain and teen-maar drummed by hired artistes of Jai Mata Di Brass Band. “The celebration has become bigger as we have more lights and the music is continuous over the three days. Today is the big day and by 4 p.m., you will not be able to enter the street,” says Bhaskar who runs a hosiery store in the area.

The Simhavahini Sri Mahankali Temple has a queue of devotees that stretches for 200 metres as bejewelled potharajus get their act together while inching closer to the temple. The site is among those that get a share of ₹20 crore released to temple committees for celebrating the festival by the Telangana government.

Other temple committees don’t wait for the government largesse. At the edge of the old Picket tank is the Katta Maisamma temple which has been extended this year, albeit at the same level.