Lashkar Bonalu, which symbolises the unique culture of Telangana, began with traditional fervor and gaiety in Secunderabad here on Sunday.

Thousands of devotees offered prayers at Ujjaini Mahankali temple. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his wife Shobha made offerings to the deity and participated in special ‘puja’.

In keeping with the tradition, the chief minister personally presented the silk robes.

Earlier, Telangana’s animal husbandry minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav along with his family members offered first ‘Bonam’ or offering to the deity.

Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, Union minister for tourism and culture and state BJP president G. Kishan Reddy, MLC K. Kavitha and leaders of various political parties in the annual celebrations.

State minister for endowments Indrakaran Reddy, minister for labour Malla Reddy and other leaders also offered worship on the occasion.

Women devotees offered ‘Bonam’, containing cooked rice, jaggery, curd and neem leaves to goddess Mahankali. Kavitha, daughter of Chief Minister KCR, made the offering, after reaching the temple along with several women.

The temple and streets around it wore a festive look as the women clad in their best participated in various cultural programmes.

Authorities made elaborate arrangements for the smooth and peaceful conduct of the celebrations. Separate queues were formed for women devotees.

The festival will conclude on Monday with the famous ‘Rangam’ where predictions about the state’s future will be made by an unmarried woman, followed by the Ghatam procession. This will be followed by a procession of a caparisoned elephant carrying a portrait of the deity. Smeared with turmeric and vermilion, potharajus dance to rhythmic drum beats in the procession that will pass through various areas.

Ashada Bonalu is a festival held in the month of Ashada, according to the Hindu calendar, celebrating goddess Mahankali.Devotees, especially women make offerings in the form of food to goddess Mahankali in specially decorated pots.

During the festival, people also hold ‘rangam’ or forecasting the future, organise processions and cultural events.

Bonalu in Secunderabad, or Lashkar Bonalu as it is called, is the second phase of the nearly month-long traditional festival in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

 The festival began on June 22 at the Jagadambika Temple on Golconda Fort.

The festivities at Sri Simhavahini Mahankali temple in Lal Darwaza and at Sri Akkanna Madanna Mahankali temple in Haribowli in the old city of Hyderabad will be held on July 23.

 It is commonly believed that the festival was first celebrated over 150 years ago following a major cholera outbreak. People believed that the epidemic was due to the anger of Mahankali and began offering Bonalu to placate her.

After the formation of Telangana in 2014, the TRS government had declared Bonalu as the state festival.