Warangal: Off to a dazzling start

Warangal : The pride festival of Telangana - Bathukamma got underway here on Saturday. As per the tradition, the nine-day mega festival began with Engili Poola Bathukamma with women clad in colourful clothes turning in large numbers to the temples. It may be mentioned here that the fiesta begins on Mahalaya Amavasya, also known as Pethra Amavasya. Women celebrated the first day of Bathukamma by offering naivedyam prepared with sesame seeds with rice flour.

The Thousand Pillars Temple dazzled with women singing Bathukamma songs and dancing around the Bathukamma. The festival ends with the Saddula Bathukamma also known as Durgashtami on grand note on the ninth day with the women immersing Bathukamma in water bodies.