Bathukamma a pageant of Telangana tradition

Warangal: The yearly razzamatazz where women take centre stage leaving men sit at home is back with a bang. The folkloric vibrancy of Bathukamma, the pride of Telangana that showcases the unique culture of the region is in full flow here on Wednesday.

As the clock ticked past 5, the thoroughfares leading to Padmakshi hillocks suddenly witnessed a huge surge with women especially girls draped in their traditional attires moving in slow  holding aloft the Bathukammas, conical-shaped stack of seven concentric layers of flowers.

The ambience was electrifying with women occupying every inch aside Padmakshi Gundam (pond) and the serpentine road that merges with the Hunter Road. Adding more colour to the fiesta was the foot-tapping scores of the festival - 'Bathukamma, Bathukamma Uyyalo - Bangaru Bathukamma Uyyalo' and 'Rama Rama Rama Uyyalo – Ramane Sri Rama Uyyalo'.

"Perhaps, Bathukamma is the only festival in the world that gives women their due," former Warangal Mayor Errabelli Swarna told The Hans India. Arranging Bathukamma is not all that easy. It needs a lot of patience and expertise, above all idolatry towards Goddess Gowramma, believed to the protector of grasslands and people, Swarna said, explaining the concept of Bathukamma – Live and Let Live.

Bathukamma is a celebration of seasonal flowers - Gunugu (Celosia Argentea), Thangedu (Cassia Alata), Gummadi (gourd flower), Tamera (Indian Lotus), Jilledu (Calotropis), Dosa (Cucumis), Ganneru (Oleander), Katla (Ipomoea), Beera (Luffa), Gaddi (Tridax procumbens), Banti (Marigold), and Oma (Ajwain) - that are rich in medicinal values. The cone-shaped Bathukamma is topped with a lump of turmeric called Gowramma in a pumpkin flower.

The women in groups who placed Bathukamma in the centre, danced around it symmetrically with claps singing Bathukamma songs. Later, they let Bathukammas into the Padmakshi pond to float. The nine-day festivity came to an end as they shared naivedyam offered to Bathukamma as Prasadam with each other.

Although, the district administration made elaborate arrangements for the conduct of Bathukamma at 19 other locations including Rangaleela Maidan abutting Ursugutta, Bandham cheruvu, Bhadrakali bund, Chinna Waddepally, Dharmasagar, Hasanparthy etc, people throng in large numbers to the festivity at the Padmakshi temple pond.