Overview

• The two-day Lashkar Bonalu festival concluded on July 14 with the Rangam ritual at Secunderabad’s Ujjaini Mahankali Temple
• Oracle Swarnalatha forecast bountiful monsoon rains for Telangana and cautioned about a possible new pandemic and fire hazards
• Swarnalatha reproached temple authorities for creating hurdles during the festival and urged devotees to offer prayers for five consecutive weeks
• Head Priest Venugopal Sharma’s questions prompted the oracle to express unhappiness over recurring obstacles to her rituals
• Hyderabad’s in-charge minister Ponnam Prabhakar affirmed that state officials will supervise all rites and act on the goddess’s guidance