Cheap Hyderabad Tour Packages, Best Travel Agent in Hyderabad, Local Travel Agent in Hyderabad, TravelHed The festive season in Hyderabad starts with Varalaxmi Vratham, it falls in the month of July/August. It is an important ritual performed by married women. Womenfolk believe that by performing this ritual, goddess Lakshmi would be graceful to give good to all in the family. In Ashada (a month in Telugu calendar, which coincides with July-August), 'Bonalu', a famous festival specific to Hyderabad and nearby areas is celebrated. On every Sunday of Ashada, one area of Hyderabad celebrates the Bonalu. The celebration goes on for a month. Bonalu means offering a meal to the Goddess (Mahankali) for fulfillment of their prayers. Women come to temples with brass or earthen pots on their heads. The pots are decorated with small neem branches, kumkum (vermilion), haldi (turmeric) and limestone and on the top of the pot a diya (lamp) is lit. The pot contains cooked rice with milk, sugar or jaggery. They offer sarees, bangles and all the other items specific to married women. On Bonalu, you see men painted themselves as tigers in yellow with black stripes, they are traditionally called 'potharaju', and they dance to the beats of drummers. Ganesh Chaturthi usually falls in August - September. It is celebrated because it marks the birth of elephant headed Lord Ganesha, the son of Hindu deities Shiva and Parvathi. In Hyderabad, the festival is celebrated with great passion and joy for 10 days. Ganesh idols (from two inches small to 40 feet tall) are placed in every street and even in narrow lanes. People from other religions also participate in the daily events such as the cultural programs that go on for 10 days. The festival ends with immersion of idols in water (on the 11th day). Thousands of crowds carrying Ganesh idols, gather at Tank Bund (a stretch to Hussain Sagar lake in the city) for the immersion. The Ganesh idols are taken on procession in the streets. You can see people dancing to drumbeats, throwing colours on each other and playing loud devotional songs. Later, the idols are immersed in the Hussain Sagar lake and other lakes in the city. Around 1,00,000 idols are immersed every year in the Hyderabad city.
