Colorful floral arrangements, devotional songs, and traditional prasadams mark the start of Bathukamma
Hyderabad: Women from all walks of life, in their colourful best, came out in large numbers — at designated spots, colonies and apartment cellars — to celebrate the nine-day Bathukamma festival that began on the auspicious Mahalaya Amavasya on Sunday.
Celebrated as Engili Poola Bathukamma on the first day, the festival honours Goddess Maha Gauri, an incarnation of Goddess Parvati, symbolising feminine energy, nature’s bounty, and the spirit of Telangana.
Women gathered around the unique, conical-shaped arrangements of flowers called Bathukammas, and danced to devotional music and dance. Legend has it that the flowers, often with medicinal properties, indicate the agricultural bounty.
The days that follow Engili Poola Bathukamma are Atkula Bathukamma, Muddapappu Bathukamma, Nanabiyyam Bathukamma, Atla Bathukamma, Aligina Bathukamma, Vepakayala Bathukamma, Vennela Muddala Bathukamma, culminating with Saddula Bathukamma.
Each day, special prasadams are offered to Goddess Gauri, which include rice flour mixed with sesame seeds, flattened rice, boiled lentils, wheat pancakes, Sakinalu (deep-fried rice flour cakes), and an assortment of rice dishes with jiggery and sweets.
The festival concludes with immersing the Bathukammas in water bodies.
Telangana historian Dr Suryanarayana explains that Bathukamma is more than a festival. “It is a celebration of the symbiotic relationship between people, nature, and femininity,” he said and highlighted its roots in ancient agrarian societies where it marked the end of monsoon and praised nature’s fertility, evolving into a vibrant cultural identity for Telangana.
Famous Telugu poet Raj Kishore praised Bathukamma songs in that they echo nature and a call to preserve the environment. The festival also strengthens community bonds and is celebrated by Telangana’s diaspora worldwide.
Government programmes amplify the festival’s grandeur, including a GHMC mega event on September 28 featuring a 52-foot-tall Bathukamma aiming for a world record, a carnival on Tank Bund, cultural programmes in heritage sites, competitions, and a grand rally on September 30 at Bathukamma Ghat, Tank Bund.
The Mahalaya Amavasya also marks the Petramasam during which pujas are held at homes and temples, and ancestors are honoured with food offerings.
