- Nine days before Dussehra
- Telangana state festival
- Flower towers on water
- Saddula Bathukamma finale
Where it began
Bathukamma means mother goddess, come alive. The festival honours goddess Gauri, and the flower stack itself is worshipped as the goddess.
One story tells of a girl who was blessed to live long and was named Bathukamma by her family. Another legend links the name to a prayer for life and well-being after hard times.
The festival comes at the end of the monsoon, when lakes are full and wild flowers like tangedu and gunugu bloom in the fields. The flowers used are said to have healing qualities and to be good for the water.
How it grew over time
Old village custom
Women in Telangana villages kept the festival for generations, gathering flowers from fields and singing folk songs.
Folk songs
Bathukamma songs passed down by mouth tell stories of family, gods and village life.
2014
Bathukamma became the state festival of the newly formed Telangana.
Today
Grand events are held on the Tank Bund in Hyderabad, and Telangana families abroad keep the festival too.
How it is celebrated in different places
Telangana villages
Women gather in the evening with flower stacks and dance in circles at the village square.
Hyderabad
Large gatherings at Tank Bund on Hussain Sagar end with flowers floated on the lake.
Warangal
The Kakatiya heartland holds big community celebrations and folk singing.
Telugu families abroad
Groups in the US, UK, Gulf and Australia gather in parks and halls for the dance.
Bathukamma moments
Bathukamma today
Each day women make a new flower tower and gather to sing and clap in circles around it. On the ninth day, Saddula Bathukamma, the biggest towers are made, and after the songs they are gently floated on lakes and ponds while women share sweet treats.
