Bonalu — Dakhni.org

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Deity honouredMahankali

LocationThe old city of Hyderabad

CharacterDraws Muslim shopkeepers as readily as Hindu families^[1]

Bonalu is the Hindu festival honouring the goddess Mahankali, celebrated in Hyderabad's old city. It stands among the clearest signs of the Deccan's plural festival calendar: a Hindu observance that draws Muslim shopkeepers as readily as Hindu families.^[1]

I · The FestivalMahankali

Honouring the goddess

A Hindu observance rooted in the old city

Bonalu honours the goddess Mahankali in the old city of Hyderabad, one of the observances that make up the wider Hindu strand of the Deccan's festival year alongside Bathukamma and Ugadi.^[1]

II · A Plural CalendarAcross Faiths

Muslim and Hindu, together

One of the clearest signs of Hyderabad's plural festival year

Hyderabad's festivals are remarkably plural, and Bonalu is one of the clearest examples: it draws Muslim shopkeepers as readily as Hindu families, standing alongside the urs at Gulbarga and Yousufain Sharif and the Deccan Festival each February as evidence of a shared civic calendar rather than separate ones.^[1]

References

^ ^ ^ ^ Richard M. Eaton, A Social History of the Deccan, 1300–1761: Eight Indian Lives, Cambridge University Press, 2005.