It was on Saturday when Telangana’s floral festival, Bathukamma went global after its screening on the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The show of light was live across different platforms around the world between 9:30 pm to 10:40 pm IST.
The screening highlighted the map of India, the map of Telangana, Bathukamma flowers, Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao, and also slogans like Jai Hind, Jai Telangana, and Jai KCR with Allipoola Vennela playing in the background, as the heritage of India, and Telangana. The song was composed by A R Rahman and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon.
The visual feast was possible through the efforts of Nizamabad MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha. She also took to her Twitter handle and shared the video. Also, it was attended by Rajya Sabha Member K.R. Suresh Reddy, MLAs A.Jeevan Reddy, J. Surender, Shakeel Ahmad, Dr Sanjay, and TSRTC chairman Bajreddy Goverdhan Reddy.
Telangana Jagruthi is a literary and cultural organization, formed during the statehood movement for Telangana. It is headed by CM’s daughter who is engaged to bring together the Telanganites around the globe to entitle the spirit of the state.
The word Bathukamma is made up of two words, “Bathuku” which means life, and “ Amma” which means mother. Hence, it is a celebration of life and motherhood.
Bathukamma is a flower of festivals, generally celebrated in Telangana and a few parts of Andra Pradesh. It is celebrated according to the Sathavahana calendar for nine days, beginning from Mahalaya Amavasya to Durgashthmi. The women collect together in troops to arrange ornate stacks using local flowers such as Marigold, Senna, Cucurbita, Cucumis, and Celosia, etc. This stack is known as Bathukamma and it represents Goddess Maha Gauri. Finally then on the last day of the festival, Bathukamma is immersed in water bodies. On the formation of Telangana, the new government presented Bathukamma, the status of state festival.
