Ujjaini Mahankali Temple

A soldier named Suriti Appaiah founded this shrine in 1813, in gratitude after a plague passed, and two centuries on it remains the emotional centre of Bonalu, Telangana's state festival, held through the month of Ashada in July and August. Then women carry decorated pots of offerings on their heads through Secunderabad, drummers ahead of them, and the streets belong to the procession for days. The rest of the year it is simply a busy neighbourhood temple where nobody minds a visitor standing quietly at the back. Free entry; shoes come off at the door.

The shrine where Bonalu begins: pots, drums and a whole neighbourhood on its feet