1,354 Women and 63-ft Floral Bathukamma Set Guinness World Record in Hyderabad
1,354 women perform the traditional folk dance around the world's tallest Bathukamma (63 ft) at Saroor Nagar Stadium
Hyderabad: As many as 1,354 women in Hyderabad have entered much-vaunted Guinness World Records on Monday by celebrating Saddula Bathukamma festival with a 63-foot-tall Bathukamma at Saroornagar Stadium. Among them were Miss World 2025 Opal Suchata Chuangsri and the Miss World team and other finalists of the pageant that was held in Hyderabad.
The 63-foot Bathukamma was built using 12 tonnes of flowers. Though 1,500 women practiced for the event, only 1,354 participated in the synchronised dance. Earlier, two trial runs were conducted before the final celebrations on Monday.
Women began to gather at the venue by 3 pm. Though tradition mandates celebrating Bathukamma at home, the women participated with great enthusiasm at the event, which was organised by the Telangana Tourism.
Rithika, a 12-year-old participant, said, "My mother informed me that there will be a competition for Bathukamma. As I have been dancing around Bathukamma from childhood, I showed interest in participating in the programme. I am happy and proud of it."
After five minutes of synchronised dance, Guinness World Records officer Sailesh declared the performance as a world record and presented certificates to ministers Jupally Krishna Rao and Seethakka.
Speaking at the programme, tourism minister Jupally Krishna Rao congratulated everyone who made the record possible.
After the record was set, more than 7,000 women, including ministers and officials, joined in for dancing to folk tunes of A. Vimala Akka and playback singer Geetha Madhuri at Saroornagar Stadium.
Valluru Kranthi, the managing director of the Telangana Tourism Development Corporation (TGTDC), said Guinness has strict rules — only 1,500 women could participate in it and as such the final count of 1,354 participants was accepted.
M. Shirisha from Kothapet, who joined through her Self-Help Group, said, “We practiced on Sunday, and we are very happy to participate and be part of this Guinness World Record.”
Unlike previous failed attempts that relied on chemicals and foam, Bathukamma was built by around 300 workers with metal, bamboo, and flowers. The entire floral structure took 72 hours to complete.
After dismantling it, the flowers will be reused for making incense sticks.