Celebration of Dussehra (the victory of good over evil) and Bathukamma which is a flower festival of Telangana (state of India) that is celebrated for 9 days and comes during the second half of the monsoon, before the onset of winter. Monsoon rains often bring abundant water to ponds, it is also the time when wildflowers bloom in various vibrant colors. For a whole week, small “Bathukammas” are made of flowers, in Telugu language “Bathukamma” means “Mother Goddess comes alive”. The flowers, most of them with medicinal properties, are placed on a square wooden plank or a square bamboo frame that shrinks in size until forming a pinnacle at the top. They resemble the shape of a “Gopura” temple. Gauramma (a symbolic idol of Gowri made of turmeric) is placed on the flowers. As the night approaches, the women dress up colorfully in their best outfits and place the Batukamma in their courtyard. The women of the neighborhood gather in a large circle and begin to sing, circling around them repeatedly. Before nightfall, the women carry the ‘Bathukammalu’ on their heads and proceed in a procession towards a nearby pond and slowly immerse them in the water. This helps strengthen the ponds and helps them retain more water. The flowers used in Bathukamma are of great quality for purifying water in ponds and tanks, and the flowers dipped in abundance are environmentally friendly. The festival heralds the beauty of nature, the collective spirit of the people of Telangana, the indomitable spirit of women and also the ecological spirit of the agrarian people in preserving natural resources in a festive manner.

Dussehra and Bathukamma Festivals