Celebrating the Bathukamma festival

October 4 2021 was the first Monday, which didn’t feel like Monday after weeks of online learning as it was the starting day of our October break. The day when Ms. Vasanthi enthusiastically called all the Falaknuma princesses outside their rooms to encourage them about making the holidays productive and more engaging. In addition to the list of ideas she compelled us to think about, one of the ideas she suggested was celebrating the Bathukamma festival approaching on 6th of October. Although most of the girls were clueless about the festival and the dance, there were two of them who were aware of the dance that is performed at the festival.

To understand and get a better idea about the state festival and a desire to show the diversity at the academy while also considering our gardeners and housekeeping staff a part of our community and with a desire to help them enjoy and celebrate their own festival while showcasing the diversity at the academy, we planned to take their interview, the following day, on a Monday afternoon. For us to be able to communicate with the staff members, with Ms.Vasanthi’s support and Nasreen’s interaction in Telugu, it was possible for us to understand and get our questions regarding the festival answered.

The festival began with excitement as the women were dressed in traditional clothes and colourful processions were carried out in Telangana, the Bathukamma festival is celebrated during Durga Navratri. Bathukamma means 'Mother Goddess come alive' and the festival represents the cultural spirit of Telangana, symbolizing the patron Goddess of womanhood. The festival is also regarded as the Spring Festival of Goddess Gauri. Bathukamma festival is a floral festival and during the festival, a beautiful flower stack is arranged in a unique style in the shape of a temple, which usually consists of seasonal flowers, having medicinal values.

To celebrate on campus, we invited our gardening staff to wear their traditional clothes on the day, gather the necessary flowers for the floral art and to perform their religious processions with the folk songs. All the women gathered bright and early on the 6th of October in the amphitheatre, the stage was arranged with speakers and the songs the gardeners wished for, all the students of the holiday club gathered in curiosity to know about the wonderful festival.

 Written by Nasreen Begum, student in Diploma Programme 2