Ujjaini Mahankali Temple

Getting there

• By air

  Begumpet Airport closed in 2008, so Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad is the nearest airport.

• By train

  Secunderabad Railway Station, one of the oldest and largest in the twin cities, serves the area.

Why devotees come here

Ujjaini Mahankali Temple is in the Secunderabad area of Telangana. The deity worshipped here is Mahankali, and the temple was built in 1815. It is also popular during Bonalu, when women carry bonams to the deity.

Legend ties the temple to an epidemic. It is believed that a doli bearer vowed, during the outbreak, to install an idol of the deity if the people were saved. Lakhs of devotees offer prayers here during Ashada Jathara.

Suriti Appaiah and his associates installed the wooden idol in Secunderabad in July 1814. The temple was built in 1815.

Bonalu is an important festival of Telangana, held in the month of Ashadam to ward off evil and bring peace and harmony. Lashkar Bonalu begins early on a Sunday. A large number of devotees come, especially women in their best traditional attire, carrying bonams to Mahankali. The festival ends with a Rangam performed by a young unmarried woman. The deity then goes in an elephant procession through the localities around the temple. The crowds are not only local. Devotees from the surrounding districts also visit the temple during Bonalu and offer prayers.

Festivals

• Ashadam monthBonalu

  Women carry bonams to the deity. A bonam is a pot of rice, turmeric powder, jaggery and curd, covered with neem leaves and topped with a lamp. The festival ends with a procession of the deity on an elephant through the surrounding localities.

Tips for your visit

• Separate queues were made for devotees carrying bonalu and for handicapped and aged persons, according to a news report.
• Water sachets and prasadam were supplied free to devotees, according to a news report.
• A news report on Lashkar Bonalu describes a large crowd from early on a Sunday morning.

Questions people ask