Celebration of ‘Bathukamma’: The Floral Festival of Telangana

Celebration of ‘Bathukamma’: The Floral Festival of Telangana

October 05, 2016: Telangana in India is known for its rich culture and traditions. Every now and then Telangana stuns us with festivals or religious rituals. One of the most important and hugely celebrated festivals of them all is the famous Floral Festival of Telangana.

The tradition-

This is a vibrant and colourful festival of flowers, that is celebrated by the women with the flowers growing exclusively in the region. This festival is natively known as the "Bathukamma" Festival and it represents the cultural tradition, posing as a cultural emblem of Telangana.

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The festival is observed for a week and the celebration ends two days before the Dussehra Festival. "Sadddula Batukamma" marks the grand ending of the floral festival. All women who take part in the celebration leave the house of their in-laws and go to their parents' for the 'Bathukamma' week.

The celebration-

There, rejoicing their freedom, gear up to celebrate the colours of the beautiful flowers. They create small heaps of the flowers or Batukammas and immerse them in the evening in a nearby pond. After a week, the final day sees the men-folk of each house gather around the plains with the flowering plants and collect flowers such as- Tangedi and Gunuka. After the collection of the gorgeous flowers, the family creates a large Batukamma by arranging them on a brass plate and placing them in alternate colours and circular rows. In the evening they place the Batukamma in their courtyard and celebrate with music and dancing by making a wonderful human circle of unity and love.

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The arrangement of 'Batukamma'. Wikimedia

In the end; resonating the streets with music, the women carry the 'Batukamma' in a large procession and immerse them into the river. This is followed by the sharing of "maleeda" (a dessert prepared with cornbread and sugar) and then they return to their homes while the music echoes in the streets for long during the entire week of the celebration.

Significance of the festival-

The festival is a unique celebration of the inherent bonding between the water, earth, and the humans. Women also create an earthly idol called the "bodemma", of a deity named Gowri or the goddess Durga and immerse that along with the Batukamma.

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The significance of it all can be traced back to the natural way of cleansing and to purify the environment; as the flowers immersed can cleanse the ponds and the immersion of the earthly idols help in reinforcing the ponds.

The floral festival thus purifies the Nature along with heralding the bounty and beauty of Nature. Preservation of the natural resources in a celebratory approach makes the festival even more vibrant! No doubt, the floral Festival or the magnificent 'Bathukamma' Festival is a pride of Telangana.

– by Antara Kumar of NewsGram. Twitter: @ElaanaC

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