Bonalu (Bonam) Dance

Understand

Where Bonalu (Bonam) Dance comes from

Bonalu is the ritual-festival-dance-and-offering of the Telugu regions of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, celebrated in the months of Ashadham (June-July) and partially Shravan — most prominently in Hyderabad and the surrounding districts. The festival honours goddess Mahankali (a form of the village goddess) and involves the women of the community preparing the Bonam (the cooked rice and the animal sacrifice in a decorated brass pot) which is carried in procession to the village shrine. The festival involves a distinct devotional-rhythmic-dance of the women while the pot is in procession. The Bonalu festival is celebrated extensively in the Telugu-speaking districts and is a defining festival of the state of Telangana.

How it's practiced

Bonalu is performed by women of the community (often in small groups), who carry the decorated pot (the Bonam — the brass pot filled with cooked rice and the female goat for the sacrifice) on the head while dancing in procession to the village shrine. The dance is devotional and rhythmic, with the women's feet moving in coordinated steps and the small brass pot held steady above the head. Music is the dhol, the dholak and the shehnai, with devotional-songs sung by the women in chorus. Costume is the Telugu women's festive dress — the sari in red and yellow, the heavy silver jewellery and the floral hair ornaments. Performances run for several hours through the procession and at the temple courtyard.